Category Archives: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

World Bank Group Announcement at One Planet Summit

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from The World Bank (bold face added by CPNN)

At the One Planet Summit [Paris, 12 December, 2017] convened by President Emmanuel Macron of France, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank Group made a number of new announcements in line with its ongoing support to developing countries for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement’s goals.

1. WBG and upstream oil and gas

As a global multilateral development institution, the World Bank Group is continuing to transform its own operations in recognition of a rapidly changing world.  To align its support to countries to meet their Paris goals:

The World Bank Group will no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019. 
(In exceptional circumstances, consideration will be given to financing upstream gas in the poorest countries where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access for the poor and the project fits within the countries’ Paris Agreement commitments.)

2. Ramping up WBG climate ambition through its Climate Change Action Plan

The WBG is on track to meet its target of 28% of its lending going to climate action by 2020 and to meeting the goals of its Climate Change Action Plan – developed following the Paris Agreement. 

In line with countries submitting updated and potentially more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the World Bank Group will present a stock-take of its Climate Change Action Plan and announce new commitments and targets beyond 2020 at COP24 in Poland in 2018.

3. Transparency and disclosure to drive our own decarbonization

The World Bank Group is working hard to ensure that climate accountability is mainstreamed throughout its operations. In addition to measures already in place:

I) Starting next year, the World Bank Group will report greenhouse gas emissions from the investment projects it finances in key emissions-producing sectors, such as energy. The results will be published in late 2018, and annually thereafter.

II) The World Bank will be applying a shadow price on carbon in the economic analysis of all IBRD/IDA projects in key high-emitting sectors where design has begun since July 2017.  IFC started using carbon pricing in key sectors in January 2017 and will mainstream the same starting January 2018″

4. Mobilizing Finance for transformation in mitigation and climate resilience

To accelerate the mobilization of finance:

I) IFC will invest up to $325 million in the Green Cornerstone Bond Fund, a partnership with Amundi, to create the largest ever green-bond fund dedicated to emerging markets. This is a $2 billion initiative aiming to deepen local capital markets, and expand and unlock private funding for climate-related projects.  The fund is already subscribed at over $1 billion.

II) Last week, the World Bank and the Government of Egypt signed a $1.15 billion development policy loan aimed at reducing fossil fuel subsidies and creating the environment for low-carbon energy development.

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Question for this article:

Divestment: is it an effective tool to promote sustainable development?

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III) The World Bank Group will continue to support investments highlighted at the One Planet Summit which demonstrate opportunities to crowd in different kinds of finance in transformational areas. This includes accelerating energy efficiency in India; scaling up solar energy in Ethiopia, Pakistan and Senegal among other countries; establishing a West Africa Coastal Areas investment platform to build resilience for coastlines of West African countries (partnering with WAEMU, NDF, GEF, GFDRR, AFD, AfDB); and introducing the City Resilience Platform (partnering with the Global Covenant of Mayors) so that up to 500 cities will have access to finance for resilience to climate change.

IV) The World Bank Group will continue to work with the United Nations and other partners on the implementation of the Invest4Climate platform, which will systematically crowd in multiple sources of finance, with a major event showcasing investment opportunities planned for May 2018 at the Innovate4Climate conference in Frankfurt.

V) IFC will work to set a single unifying global standard on green bonds, similar to the Equator Principles, as a means to facilitate the development of the green bond market to crowd in private finance into climate business. And to stimulate the greening of the financial sector, the World Bank Group will partner with the Sustainable Banking Network (SBN) to provide technical support to develop and implement national Roadmaps for Sustainable Finance in six countries. These roadmaps are based on a framework developed jointly with UN Environment.

VI)   AXA Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP) will allocate a substantial portion of projects to climate-smart infrastructure investments.  IFC and Finland launched the Finland-IFC Climate Change Program, a €114 million returnable capital contribution to spur private sector financing for climate-change solutions,targeting low-income countries focused on investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, climate-smart agriculture, and forestry.

5. Working in partnership

To further accelerate climate action, the World Bank Group will be working with various partners to deepen climate action:

I) For the first time, all the Multilateral Development Banks and all International Development Finance Club Members issued a joint statement aligning their finance with the Paris Agreement and identifying areas where they will work together to advance climate-smart development.

II) Canada and the World Bank will work together to accelerate the energy transition in developing countries and, together with the International Trade Union Confederation, will provide analysis to support efforts towards a just transition away from coal.

III) Working with France’s AFD and the Kingdom of Morocco, the World Bank will work to accelerate adaptation in agriculture for Africa.

IV) The World Bank will support a unique partnership between Caribbean leaders and people, multilateral organizations, and local and international private sector to define a vision for the world’s first climate-smart zone. The key priority areas for action include renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, innovative financing, and capacity building.

V) The World Bank Group will support, through the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, the proposed Carbon Markets of the Americas initiative.

VI) Together with Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, the United Kingdom and other government, NGO and private sector partners so far, the World Bank will support the new InsuResilience Global Partnership with the goal  of significantly scaling up climate risk finance and insurance solutions in developing countries, with a focus on poor and vulnerable people. It will stimulate the creation of effective climate risk insurance markets and the smart use of insurance-related schemes to protect lives and livelihoods from the impacts of disasters. More than $125million has been committed to the initiative so far. It is built on strong G20 and V20 support and has 40 members so far.

VII) The Principles on Blended Concessional Finance, first published in 2013, have been recently enhanced with more detailed guidelines developed by a working group (chaired by IFC) representing Development Finance Initiatives (DFIs) that annually invest more than $35 billion a year in private sector solutions. These principles include promoting commercially sustainable solutions so that the use of scarce public concessional finance is minimized; and state the need for high social, environmental, and governance standards.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations,

Greenpeace: Great news for the Arctic AND the Antarctic!

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A blogpost by Louisa Casson for Greenpeace (reprinted for educational purpose)

Last night, [November 30] governments from around the world agreed to protect a huge part of the Arctic Ocean against all commercial fishing. Thanks to the millions of you who supported our Save the Arctic campaign, an area roughly the size of the Mediterranean Sea will be safe from industrial fishing for at least the next 16 years.


caption: Polar Bear on Sea Ice in Baffin Bay. Copyright Greenpeace.

This means we have an even stronger platform to push countries to commit to more long-term protection for this vulnerable ocean and remove the threats of destructive fishing and fossil fuels for good.

On the other side of the planet, a massive ocean sanctuary in the Antarctic’s Ross Sea comes into force today. An area of ocean twice the size of Spain is now protected from all kinds of extractive industries and can remain one of the most exceptional shallow oceans left on Earth.

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Question for this article:

What is the relation between the environment and peace

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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This is amazing news for polar bears AND penguins – as well as all of us who depend on healthy oceans across the world.

These two victories are proof that people power works. When we work together, incredible things can happen. So if anyone tells you it’s impossible to save the Arctic or create the biggest protected area in the Antarctic, show them this blog. It always seems impossible until it’s done.

But we’re not stopping here. Back in the 1980s, millions of people persuaded their governments to ditch plans to open up the continent of Antarctica for mining and protect it forever. Now we have an opportunity to make history by creating the largest protected area on the planet, in the Antarctic ocean.

An Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary would not only be a safe haven for penguins, whales and seals, but it would keep those waters off-limits to huge industrial fishing vessels sucking up the tiny shrimp-like krill, on which all Antarctic sea life relies.

This historic day for the protection of polar oceans is a reminder that together we can succeed.

So celebrate these decisions, keep going and help us restore our blue planet – all the way from the Arctic to the Antarctic!

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Norway: ‘Biggest Pile of Money on the Planet’ To Dump Fossil Fuels Holdings

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Julia Conley for Common Dreams (reprinted according to terms of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)

Environmental advocates on Thursday applauded the latest organization to shift away from continued support of the fossil fuel industry—Norway’s national bank.

In a move 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben called “astonishing,” Norges Bank, which oversees the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, advised the Norwegian government to dump all of its shares in oil and gas companies, leaving those entities out of its $1 trillion fund.


About six percent of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is invested in oil and gas companies—but the countries central bank advised that all those shares be dumped, amid falling oil prices and expectations of a dim future for fossil fuels. (Photo: Guy Beauchamp/Flickr/cc)

The bank’s decision comes two years after Norway’s parliament approved a measure calling for the fund to begin divesting from coal companies.

Norges Bank made the new recommendation in light of falling oil prices. Oil and gas are seen as increasingly risky investments as more countries turn to cleaner energy sources in order to meet requirements under the Paris climate agreement, which aims to keep global warming under two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

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Question for this article:

Divestment: is it an effective tool to promote sustainable development?

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While Norway has built much of its sovereign wealth through oil and gas development in the past—six percent of the fund is invested in fossil fuels—it’s now home to a fast-growing solar power sector, with solar installations rising by 366 percent from 2015 to 2016.

“It is not surprising that we see the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund managers no longer prepared to take the increasing risk associated with oil and gas assets, which do not have a long-term future,” said Paul Fisher of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, in an interview with the Guardian.

McKibben compared the bank’s recommendation to “the moment when the Rockefellers divested the world’s oldest oil fortune” in 2014, when the heirs to Standard Oil said that if founder John D. Rockefeller were alive in the 21st century, “he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy.”

“This is the biggest pile of money on the planet, most of it derived from oil—but that hasn’t blinded its owners to the realities of the world we now inhabit,” said McKibben.

Nicolò Wojewoda of 350.org Europe was also hopeful about the implications of Norges Bank’s decision, calling it “yet another nail in the coffin of the coal, oil, and gas industry.”

“To stop climate catastrophe, fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. Investing in them is no longer financially sound, nor morally acceptable, and this proposal is a clear recognition of that,” Wojewoda added.

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Tunis: Strengthening the scientific partnership between Iran and the Arab countries

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An article from Web Manager Center (translated by CPNN)

Arab and Iranian academics who attended the third international scientific congress of universities in Iran and the Arab world, held in Tunis on November 11-12, stressed the importance of strengthening the cultural and civilizational exchange between the countries of the Arab world to break the stereotypes created by politicians and the media that no longer fit the reality of today.

The conference culminated in the publication of a press release containing scientific recommendations, including the valorization of the fruitful scientific partnership between Arab and Iranian universities and the need to engage in in-depth dialogues to develop scientific strategies capable of strengthening academic relations between both parties for a better and promising future to the Arab-Persian academic partnership.

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(Click here for the original French version of this article.)

Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

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The recommendations also emphasized the importance of science as a human heritage that transcends ethnic conflict, calling for enhanced exchanges and the promotion of objective information and the culture of peace and tolerance.

The participants also called for a real debate among Muslims to better position Islam with other religions and to promote the common scientific heritage to educate young people with common civilizational foundations and spread the Arabic and Persian languages. They also stressed the importance of promoting the efforts of translation as a means of spreading the culture and science of the countries and the intensification of academic meetings and exchanges between Arab and Iranian students, professors and researchers.

It should be noted that this congress, organized under the supervision of the University of Manouba, saw the participation of presidents of Arab universities in Tunisia, Lebanon, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Iraq and Tunisia. Syria in addition to the participation of 11 Iranian universities.

Conferences on the sidelines of this event focused on ways to strengthen the university partnership between the countries of the Arab world and Iran.

Mideast, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Jordan: Peace through science

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An editorial from the Jordan Times

His Majesty King Abdullah inaugurated on Tuesday at the Dead Sea the World Science Forum 2017, which this year had “Science for peace” as its theme, a topic strongly supported by this distinguished meeting that normally seeks to highlight the role of science in building and fostering a culture of peace at all levels of society, and the potential of science to create mechanisms that promise peaceful opportunity.


Jordanian Princess Sumaya, chair of the World Science Forum 2017 and president of the Royal Scientific Society, speaks during the opening ceremony of the World Science Forum 2017 in Sweimeh, Jordan, on Nov. 7, 2017. Photo from Xinhua Net

The forum, first held in Hungary in 2003, was attended this year by visiting Hungary President János Ader, who joined some 3,000 scientists, policymakers, Nobel laureates, academics and investors from over 120 countries at this meeting held for the first time in the area.

The King honoured several prominent Jordanian scientists who made remarkable achievements in various fields and said, on the occasion, that knowledge can help realise stability and development for “our world and the future of our generations”.

With so much turmoil and fighting laying the Middle East to waste, it is no wonder that this year’s forum wishes to highlight the role of science in building and fostering peace.

But equally important to achieving peace is food, water and security, as highlighted by the Hungarian president who, mentioning the region’s rich historical lessons, pointed out the reasons this year’s forum focuses on these issues: “If we look at only its past 100 years, we can see that competition for natural resources — like arable land, water and energy — has almost always contributed to conflicts within and between countries. It is no accident that this year’s forum focuses on the issues of food security, water and energy. All three of these areas are fundamental to security.”

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Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

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They certainly are, particularly when knowing that, as the president said, 2 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, 4 billion have no access to adequate sanitation, in 36 countries, per capita water supplies have fallen to a critical level and around 80 per cent of waste water is dumped, untreated, into the biosphere, all problems with great potential to create instability or worse.

As such, HRH Princess Sumaya, chairperson of this year’s forum and president of the Royal Scientific Society, expressed hope that the “stark and shared” challenges and “critical needs of our world” can be addressed, “to create a future that is worthy of our human spirit”.

As she also aptly put it, “knowledge is the key to our future, and science and technology must be empowered to acknowledge those truths that are challenged today”.

Indeed, only through knowledge and daring pioneering work can mankind hope to better its lot, harness nature’s bounty and caprices, overcome petty instincts and avoid savage conduct; only thorough scientific knowledge can it understand the world around, live harmoniously and succeed in combating the scourges of our days: radicalism and terrorism.

Only through it can it hope to survive as a species and save this planet so aggressively exploited.

Theoretical physicist, best-selling author and renowned futurist Michio Kaku said it better: “The future belongs to the educated, dreamers and the curious young people… .”

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is now considering articulating a “general comment” on the right to science as a means to upgrade human thinking and intellectual integrity, an issue on which the forum organisers might wish to collaborate with the UN.

Knowledge means power, progress and emancipation. Spreading it is the duty of all those who possess it. The forum is essential to that endeavour.

Mideast, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

World’s Largest Tropical Reforestation to Plant 73 Million Trees in Brazilian Amazon

. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Ecowatch

The largest tropical reforestation effort in history aims to restore 73 million trees in the Brazilian Amazon by 2023. The multimillion dollar, six-year project, led by Conservation International, spans 30,000 hectares of land—the equivalent of the size of 30,000 soccer fields, or nearly 70,000 acres. The effort will help Brazil move towards its Paris agreement target of reforesting 12 million hectares of land by 2030.

“This is a breathtakingly audacious project,” Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, said in a statement. “Together with an alliance of partners, we are undertaking the largest tropical forest restoration project in the world, driving down the cost of restoration in the process. The fate of the Amazon depends on getting this right—as do the region’s 25 million residents, its countless species and the climate of our planet.”

The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, home to indigenous communities and an immense variety and richness of biodiversity. The latest survey detailed 381 new species discovered in 2014-2015 alone.

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Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

When you cultivate plants, do you cultivate peace?

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But this precious land has been threatened by decades of commercial exploitation of natural resources, minerals and agribusiness, as Conservation International editorial director Bruno Vander Velde writes, “leading to about 20 percent of original forest cover to be replaced by pastures and agricultural crops, without securing the well-being of the local population.”

“The reforestation project fills an urgent need to develop the region’s economy without destroying its forests and ensuring the well-being of its people,” he notes.

Fast Company reports that instead of planting saplings—which is labor- and resource-intensive—the reforestation effort will involve the “muvuca” strategy, a Portuguese word that means many people in a small place. The strategy involves the spreading of seeds from more than 200 native forest species over every square meter of deforested land and allowing natural selection to weed out the weaker plants. As Fast Company notes, a 2014 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization and Bioversity International found that the muvuca technique allowed more than 90 percent of native tree species planted to germinate. Not only that, they especially resilient and suited to survive drought conditions for up to six months.

According to Rodrigo Medeiros, vice president of Conservation International’s Brazil office, priority areas for the restoration effort include southern Amazonas, Rondônia, Acre, Pará and the Xingu watershed. Restoration activities will include the enrichment of existing secondary forest areas, sowing of selected native species, and, when necessary, direct planting of native species, Medeiros said.

The Brazilian Ministry of Environment, the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund, and Rock in Rio’s environmental arm “Amazonia Live” are also partners in this effort.

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Catholic Institutions Announce Largest-Ever Joint Divestment from Fossil Fuels

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A press release from The Global Catholic Climate Movement

A coalition of Catholic institutions has today [October 4] announced its divestment from fossil fuels. The coalition of 40 is the largest joint announcement of divestment by Catholic organizations to date. The institutions are located on five continents, and represent fields ranging from a holy site to finance to church hierarchical entities.

Catholic institutions’ decision to remove their support for fossil fuels is based on both their shared value of environmental protection and the financial wisdom of preparing for a carbon-neutral economy.

In Assisi, Italy, the home of St. Francis and a deeply significant place for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, three institutions and a municipal government have divested. The Assisi group includes the Sacro Convento, a monastery complex and holy site that houses the remains of St. Francis, from whom Pope Francis took his name. The Sacro Convento is considered the spiritual home of the world’s Franciscan brothers.

Along with the Sacro Convento, the diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino has divested. The diocese, which includes more than 80,000 people and the town of Assisi, is the site of several important pilgrimages each year. Assisi’s Seraphic Institute, a religious medical center that provides care for disabled children, has also joined the divestment announcement.

In a complementary move, the mayor of the town of Assisi has announced its divestment from fossil fuels.

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Question for this article:

Divestment: is it an effective tool to promote sustainable development?

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In addition to divestment in the highly significant home of St. Francis, church entities around the world are stepping away from fossil fuels. The Episcopal Conference of Belgium, which is the Catholic Church’s policy arm in Belgium, has divested. This is the first Catholic episcopal conference in the world to divest. In South Africa, the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town has invested in social and ethical funds. Within the Church hierarchy, a total of one episcopal conference, one archdiocese, three dioceses, and a vicariate have divested.

These spiritual leaders are joined by business leaders. Two financial institutions have announced their divestment. Germany’s Bank für Kirche und Caritas eG (Bank for the Church and Caritas) is one of the first Catholic banks in the world to divest from fossil fuels. The bank, which has a balance sheet of €4.5 billion, is breaking from coal, tar sands oil, and oil shale because it is both morally imperative and fiscally responsible.

The bank is joined in its divestment by Oikocredit Belgium, an ecumenical financial institution and one of the world’s largest sources of private funding for microfinance. Oikocredit is joined by 12 other Belgian institutions.

These institutions are among the 40 that have divested in total. The joint commitment by 40 Catholic institutions more than quadruples the size of an announcement made in May, when nine Catholic organizations divested. Worldwide to date, the total value of those institutions that have committed to divest surpasses $5 trillion.

This divestment announcement comes amid united Christian action to protect the environment during the Season of Creation. The Season of Creation is a monthlong celebration of prayer and action for the environment, and it is embraced by a broad ecumenical community.

Global Catholic Climate Movement is a community of hundreds of thousands of Catholics and a global network of member organizations responding to Pope Francis’ call to action in the Laudato Si’ encyclical.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

How Rwanda’s Amahoro Tours has established itself as a leader in eco and community-based tourism

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An article from eTurbo News

“Amahoro” is Kinyarwanda for “peace.” Literally translated, Amahoro Tours would translate to “Peace Tours.” The word is also used as a form of greeting – to mean “hello.”

At Amahoro Tours, “Amahoro” denotes not just the company’s name, but its motto as well. The company strives at nurturing interaction between members of local communities and visitors with a view to promote sustainable development locally.


Greg Bakunzi at the Kwita Izina 2017 ceremony

Of primary focus to the company is local tour itineraries. “We do it with a view to not only contribute to the economic development of the region and the prosperity of all those involved, but also to raise awareness and help visitors understand better the Rwandan way of life,” explains Greg Bakunzi, the founder and CEO of Amahoro Tours.

This fidelity to the local community out of which it operates has not gone unnoticed.

On September 1, 2017, on the occasion of the 13th baby gorilla naming ceremony (Kwita Izina) in Rwanda, Amahoro Tours and sister company, Red Rocks Rwanda, received a special and rare joint pat on the back. The pat came in the form of the privilege and honor by the founder Greg Bakunzi to be among the 19 distinguished individuals that bestowed names upon the newly-born members of the gorilla family.

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Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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This was basically in honor of Amahoro Tours and Red Rock’s firm commitment to a community-based tourism business model that seeks to position the local communities meaningfully at the heart of the tourism food chain.

The inspiration for setting up a tour operation had struck Bakunzi way back in 1997, following his first trip to see gorillas in the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Southwestern Uganda.

Spotting an opportunity, he started working as a freelance local guide the following year, taking tourists to see the mountain gorillas. This went on until 2001, when he created Amahoro Tours.

It is with the creation of Amahoro Tours that Bakunzi attained the clarity of vision that has since helped cement the company’s hard-earned credentials as a community-focused tourism business.

“When I started my own tour company, it was not only for the purpose of gorilla trekking, but a combination of community, tourism, and conservation around the Volcanoes National Park,” Bakunzi said.

Over the years, Amahoro Tours has established itself as a market leader in eco and community-based tourism in Rwanda. The company’s dynamic and tailor-made tour packages have been designed to offer tourists as much interaction with the locals and likeminded visitors as possible, while at the same time enabling guests to enjoy the trappings of nature.

Since then, Amahoro Tours birthed a sister tourism entity, Red Rocks Rwanda, a backpackers’ campsite and hostel located some seven kilometers outside Musanze town, where Amahoro Tours is based.

The introduction of Red Rocks was a well-orchestrated strategy to incorporate the local communities around Volcanoes National Park into the tourism value chain and, as Bakunzi notes, “we are proud that our dreams are coming true.”.

To achieve this, Amahoro Tours works in partnership with an extensive network of likeminded community-based organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and volunteers from all the far corners of the world.

The company tasks itself with turning a traveler’s sojourn, however brief, into a splendid journey of exploration, “through prompt, efficient, engaging, and safe service,” Bakunzi guarantees.

He concluded: “Amahoro Tours would like to call upon all well-wishers to join hands in order to bring community, conservation, and tourism together for future sustainability. Without the involvement of the local community, our tourism sector won’t move forward, and conservation might soon be history. We invite other conservationists, universities, and institutions, to join us as we move to address conservation issues through tourism initiatives.”

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Costa Rica A Role Model for Sustainable Tourism to the World

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from The Costa Rica News

On October 9 to 11, the Sixth International Conference: Planet, People, Peace (P3), the most important international venue on sustainable tourism, will be hosted by Costa Rica. This conference is organized by the Costa Rican Chamber of Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism (CANAECO) together with the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT).


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P3 International Conference will mark the high point to celebrate in this country the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, so declared by the United Nations General Assembly. 25 keynote speakers –from Costa Rica and other 15 countries such as Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Germany, Island, Jordan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, South Africa and the United States, will participate in this conference.

“P3 contributes to positioning Costa Rica as a leading destination for sustainable tourism, ensuring the wellbeing of communities while being the driving force of the social and economic development in the country. In this way, our commitment transcends words, and by hosting this event, the eyes of the world will be in Costa Rica, as it will be developing a high-profile activity attended by world leaders, renowned lecturers, and the world’s highest authority on tourism, the Secretary-General of the UNWTO,” stated Mauricio Ventura, Minister of Tourism.

“P3 strengthens the position of Costa Rica as a responsible destination, highlighting the efforts, best practices and innovative initiatives of the public and private sector in the country, while being the most important venue in the region to discuss what is happening in other parts of the world,” explained Jackeline López, President of CANAECO.

At the invitation of the Costa Rican Tourism Board, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), will attend the conference to talk about the sustainable tourism as a driver for development.

Costa Rica has been more involved and active in the World Tourism Organization. The country has a seat at the UNWTO Executive Council representing countries in the American continent and The UNWTO also recognized Costa Rica, of 55 countries and 139 nominees, with an award for Tourism Innovation and Excellence, where it took second place in the Public Policies and Governance category, becoming the first country to measure the Social Progress Index in Tourism Destinations.

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Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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In addition, the United Nations General Assembly appointed Luis Guillermo Solís, President of Costa Rica, as Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, and for the first time ever, the ICT partnered with UNWTO and CNN International to build a new tourism identity: “Costa Rica. My Choice, Naturally.”

Mr. Rifai has been Secretary-General of the UNWTO since 2010. Earlier, from February 2006 to February 2009, he was Deputy Secretary-General.

Cooperation on sustainable tourism and climate change

In its five years of existence, this conference has become one of the largest and most prominent events on sustainable tourism in the region. A triangular cooperation project among Uruguay, Costa Rica and Spain has been one of the outcomes, starting learning exchange on climate change and sustainable tourism.

This contact resulted in an exchange that allowed the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and key stakeholders to share the Sustainable Tourism Certificate with the Ministry of Tourism in Uruguay (MINTUR), the Ministry of Housing, Land Planning and Environment in Uruguay (MVOTMA), the National Climate Change Response System (SNRCC) and Uruguayan stakeholders in tourism, who are working on a sustainable tourism certification for Uruguay –Green Tourism Certificate (SVT).

Under this project, Uruguay has shared experiences on a recovery of beaches through ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) techniques, implementing train-the-trainers activities with experts from the ICT and representatives from local committees of the Programa Bandera Azul Ecológica de Playas (Ecological Blue Flag Programme for Beaches), running this institute.

About the conference

The conference will be structured around four themes. The Earth theme will analyze how tourism –one of the largest and most dynamic economic sectors– can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), pervading local communities and destinations.

The Water theme will focus attention on new market trends and how the tourism industry evolves. The Air theme will address climate change and how it affects tourism. Experts will share precautionary and mitigation measures through best practices and new technologies.

Finally, the Fire theme will explore the main challenges in the sector, such as sharing economy and the carrying capacity of destinations against the decision whether to bet on quantity or quality of tourists.

For the second consecutive year, P3 International Conference has been declared an event of cultural interest by the Ministry of Culture in Costa Rica and for the third time, awarded the declaration of tourist interest. Registrations are open.

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

An article from the Transcend Media Service

Nuclear power was born in a sea of euphoria out of a collective American guilt over dropping the atomic bomb. And for at least two decades it was the “clean” alternative to coal that was going to meet all of our energy needs forever. The Three Mile Island meltdown, in 1979, ended the euphoria but the dream continued and it still goes on without much regard to contrary facts.


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The opponents of nuclear power have shown a similar disregard for changing facts. They largely ignored the fact that many well-meaning people viewed local air pollution and climate change more of a danger than nuclear. In those years shutting down a nuclear plant did mean increased emissions of local pollutants and green house gases.

The debate about nuclear power was similar to talking about a religion. It was seldom grounded in all the relevant facts- each side had a religious belief in their point of view boosted by whatever ad hoc facts supported their view.

Because of that history, this 2017 World Nuclear Industry Status Report is perhaps the most decisive document in the history of nuclear power. The report makes clear, in telling detail, that the debate is over. Nuclear power has been eclipsed by the sun and the wind. These renewable, free-fuel sources are no longer a dream or a projection-they are a reality that are replacing nuclear as the preferred choice for new power plants worldwide.

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Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

Is there a future for nuclear energy?

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It no longer matters whether your greatest concern is nuclear power or climate change the answer is the same. The modern-day “Edisons” have learned to harness economically the everlasting sources of energy delivered to earth by Mother Nature free of charge.

The value of this report is that this conclusion no longer relies on hope or opinion but is what is actually happening. In country after country the facts are the same. Nuclear power is far from dead but it is in decline and renewable energy is growing by leaps and bounds.

The entire Report is must reading so that the facts of nuclear decline in the U.S., Germany, Japan, and France –indeed just about every country- really sinks in. It is more than symbolic that the Japanese Government has formally accepted the death of its breeder reactor, which was the original holy-grail of nuclear power.

Most revealing is the fact that nowhere in the world, where there is a competitive market for electricity, has even one single nuclear power plant been initiated. Only where the government or the consumer takes the risks of cost overruns and delays is nuclear power even being considered.

The most decisive part of this report is the final section- Nuclear Power vs Renewable Energy Development. It reveals that since 1997, worldwide, renewable energy has produced four times as many new kilowatt-hours of electricity than nuclear power.

Maybe the Revolution has not been televised, but it is well underway. Renewable energy is a lower cost and cleaner, safer alternative to fossil fuels than nuclear power.

The world no longer needs to build nuclear power plants to avoid climate change and certainly not to save money. If you have any doubt about that fact please read the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Uncategorized