In the lead-up to the international environmental meeting Stockholm+50: A healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity, which took place on 2 – 3 June 2022, the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organised the #GGKPwebinar series: The road to Stockholm+50.
This four-part webinar series included sessions on inclusive growth and prosperity through climate action, green recovery and resilience, the transition from climate commitments to action, and reflections on how the world should move forward post-meeting. All four sessions were facilitated by moderator Nozipho Tshabalala, whose excellent contributions and expertise as a conversation strategist for discussions of international importance made the series engaging and successful.
#Stockholm+50: Insights and actions to achieve a healthy planet for the prosperity of all
This first webinar on 22 February 2022 explored the theme of the first Stockholm+50 leadership dialogue: “Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all."
Speakers included UN special rapporteur David Boyd, who highlighted a recent UN resolution to designate access to a healthy environment as a human right. Approaching environmental action from an equal rights perspective may prompt the transformative changes we need, he noted. Anil Markandya, a professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change, supported the importance of a just transition and of avoiding placing disproportionate or additional burdens on the vulnerable.
To create healthy and sustainable ecosystems and economies, traditional political structures and business practices must change. Eva Zabey of Business for Nature put it simply: “There is no business on a dead planet.”
Joji Cariño, Senior Policy Advisor at the Forest Peoples Programme, explained further: “Continuous growth builds on exploitative agendas,” characterized by disregard for both people and nature. She pointed out that youth and indigenous peoples are often still shut out of the decision-making processes about their own lands. “Global agendas necessitate local engagement,” and the diversification of leadership is key in making this happen. Izabella Monica Teixeira, Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel, agreed with this idea, but provided a more positive perspective: there is currently more momentum and desire from local people to lead action than ever before.
#Stockholm+50: A green and inclusive recovery: Building sustainable responses to emergencies
Tied to the theme of the second Stockholm+50 leadership dialogue, “Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the second webinar reflected on creating a lasting, equitable and sustainable recovery from the pandemic. It was held on 29 March 2022.
The world has put 10 trillion USD into COVID recovery, of which only a small fraction is going to inclusive recovery – we are heading back to business as usual, remarked Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Instead, the world must take the opportunity to change. This is a unique opportunity to direct investment for positive impacts, but it requires a commitment to support innovation for sustainability in small businesses and local settings. Kyesubire Greigg of the SME Founders Association discussed the shift in mindset necessary: we need to provide financing and access to markets for new sustainable SMEs while allowing innovators to retain control over their own production. “COVID containment measures probably killed 30% of SMEs,” Griegg continued, “and that’s only for the documented [ones].”
Sustainable emergency responses must include a central role for those most affected, including women, youth, indigenous peoples, and rural communities. Elisa Tonda from the UNEP Economy Division highlighted the importance and vulnerability of the informal sector in disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaker Dominic Waughray agreed with this sentiment, suggesting that the path to recovery involves enabling policies and financing for business innovation in sustainable sectors, rather than amassed government aid. Governments must take recovery responses as an opportunity to drive growth in the right direction, bridging the gap between aspiration and implementation.
#Stockholm+50: Turning commitments into action in a new digital, financial and policy landscape
The third session in the GGKP's S+50 series on 26 April 2022 aligned with the theme of leadership dialogue 3: “Accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of Sustainable Development in the context of the Decade of Action.”
There is a large gap between environmental commitments and pledges made and the rate of their fulfillment. “The right conversations are happening, but conversations are not enough,” said Luca De Lorenzo from the Nordic Investment Bank – we need to turn these conversations and commitments into action. In scene-setting for the discussion, Asad Naqvi, Head of Secretariat for the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) and the GGKP, emphasized the point that finance or policy alone are not enough; a siloed approach to environmental conservation or sustainable economic development has failed to deliver the future we want.
The same can be said of creating inclusive action. Other speakers in the session covered the importance of gender and youth inclusivity in future policymaking and decision processes, as well as the need to address the inequalities in engagement opportunities due to the digital divide. David Jensen of the UNEP Digital Transformation Task Force highlighted the importance of digitalisation in enabling sustainable transition. He introduced the Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES), a global, multi-stakeholder alliance of governments, companies and civil society, which launched a nine-point impact initiative action plan at the Stockholm+50 conference. The mission of CODES is “to catalyse strategic shifts needed to harness digital transformation to become a positive and exponential force for environmental sustainability and climate action.”
The session wrapped up with each of the speakers completing the prompt, “The action we want is...”. Responses ranged from finance mobilisation to more female leadership, with the final comment from Tanzanian young leader Antidius Raphael covering the overall sentiment: “Include everyone, live sustainably”.
Forward from #Stockholm+50: What’s next?
The fourth and final session of the Road to Stockholm+50 #GGKPwebinar series took place on 30 June 2022, inviting sustainability leaders to reflect on what was achieved and what was missed at the international Stockholm+50 meeting at the beginning of June. This session functioned as a moment to regroup and renew focus on the goals we must achieve to secure a healthy planet and prosperity for all.
Opening the webinar was a statement from former UN Secretary-General and current President of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Ban Ki-moon, who reflected on the importance of multilateral partnerships: “The climate crisis is just too big for just one country, one industry or one age group. And no one country, industry or demographic group is immune from its consequences,” he said in a conversation in the lead-up to the Stockholm+50 meeting. Inclusivity and collaboration were key themes throughout the discussion.
Ligia Noronha, UN Assistant Secretary-General, pointed out that Stockholm+50 came at a time of growing public distrust of the multilateral system and suggested that it provided an opportunity to not only rebuild trust, but also create new systems of engagement and action. She reflected that at the meeting “we saw the energy of youth putting many ideas on the table,” ensuring that it was “an open space for alternative paradigms.”
Inter-generational conversations were a key part of the Stockholm+50 agenda, demonstrated in the report “Charting a Youth Vision for a Just and Sustainable Future”, which was prepared ahead of the international meeting. Indigenous activist Emmanuela Shinta brought this perspective to the dialogue, asking for trust and guidance for young people working against the climate crisis in their own communities. She also emphasised the need for more youth involvement with policymaking dialogues, something that David Passarelli of the UN University highlighted as an achievement of Stockholm+50. He said, “It set the bar for best practice on inclusivity,” so we need to maintain the momentum and direction for future meetings. As an example, he invited attendees to participate in the public consultation for the UN High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, which is open until 12 August 2022.
Swedish Ambassador for Stockholm+50, Johanna Lissinger Peitz, focused on the importance of moving forward from the meeting with a focus on implementation over new negotiation. Negotiation was not a central function of Stockholm+50, which Clea Kaske-Kuck of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) felt removed pressure from the meeting. Instead, it was an opportunity to create an action agenda to enact the changes the world needs. WBCSD identified three action priorities: a global corporate accountability and transparency mechanism; a global circularity protocol; and a global sustainability skills for action initiative.
The webinar series concluded on a hopeful note for the future of climate action, which will be enabled by inclusive discussions across generations, demographics, regions, and national boundaries.
The full recordings of each webinar are available on the GGKP website:
- #Stockholm+50: Insights and actions to achieve a healthy planet for the prosperity of all
- #Stockholm+50: A green and inclusive recovery: Building sustainable responses to emergencies
- #Stockholm+50: Turning commitments into action in a new digital, financial and policy landscape
- Forward from #Stockholm+50: What’s next?