RIO+ Centre Newsletter - No.5 - March | 2014 - rio.plus@undp.org

UN Photo/Marco Dormino

Seeking to improve the sustainable development debate and practice at the international level, RIO+ and

the Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) will work together to implement international climate-smart agriculture (CSA) projects in 2014, focusing on dialogue promotion

and on the production of quality assessments on gender-based issues in Africa. Read full article here.

RIO+ participates in high profile event to launch the Sustainable Development Solutions Network in the Amazon

- RIO+ Deputy Director Layla Saad participated as a panelist in the Launch of the Sustainable

Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Amazonia, in the northern city of Manaus, Brazil on March 18. Also speaking at the event were H.E. Izabella Teixeira, Minister of Environment of Brazil and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of SDSN and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who gave a keynote address. The objective of the initiative is to develop a sustainable development solutions network for the Amazon (SDSN- Amazonia). The SDSN-Amazonia will convene a regional network of knowledge centers. This knowledge network will focus on accelerating the design and implementation of sustainable development solutions.

RIO+ and the BRICS Academic Forum

RIO+ promotes debate about BRICS and

the Green Transformation

- RIO+, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the Steps Centre hosted, on March 20th, an international round-table to explore the BRICS constribution regarding green transformation. More details to come in the next newsletter issue, as RIO+ will release the full conferece report.

Civil Society and the Global Agenda

- RIO+ Deputy Director, Layla Saad, spoke as a panelist at an event entitled: Civil Society and the Global Agenda: reshaping the development policy paradigm, on March 20, in Rio de Janeiro. The event was co-hosted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex and Articulação SUL and it sought to trigger debate on the roles played in effective development cooperation by Civil Society Organizations, think-tanks and businesses from middle-income countries particularly in the lead up to events such as the BRICS Summit and the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) High Level Meeting to take place in Mexico City in April 2014. Ms. Saad spoke about CSO action and cooperation around sustainable development and the intergovernmental process around the SDGs and post 2015. The event was attended by several national and international NGOs from India, South Africa and the UK.

Is 'going green' enough?

By Leisa Perch - Policy Specialist, RIO+ Centre - There is no doubt that the green economy as a paradigm is picking up pace, as more and more countries undertake scoping assessments, declare green intentions

Events

- RIO+'s Director, Dr. Rômulo Paes de Sousa, coordinated two sessions of World Bank's South-South Learning Forum 2014, on 17th March, in Rio de Janeiro. One panel discussed Brazil's social protection programs, presented by H.E. Tereza Campello, Brazil's Social Development Ministry. The other panel debated social protection and labor systems and the ways to overcome fragmentation and achive better results, presented by Dr. Arup Banerji, the World Bank's global Director for Social Protection and Labor.

On the News

Shigeru Ban wins world class architeture award

- Japanese architect Shigeru Ban won the 2014 Pritzker prize, a world-class recognition of the importance of sustainability in architecure. Read full article in The Guardian. In September 2013, RIO+ brought the renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban to Rio de Janeiro to discuss innovative solutions for urban architecture, including energy efficient buildings and temporary structures for events and for humanitarian relief in conflict and disaster areas.

through zero or low-carbon targets, pledge to make development greener or simply explore the opportunities for cleaner development and business opportunity through renewable energy. According to all of the mainstream green thinking, which is largely economic, greening is the key for low-income countries, particularly for energy. Read the full article here. _________________________________________________

By Popolon (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

BRICS could lead the way on green transformation

By Adrian Ely - STEPS Centre, University of Sussex - On the sidelines of the World Cup in Brazil this year, another competition will be the subject of conversation amongst the delegations attending this year’s BRICS summit, also in Brazil. Which of the ‘rising powers’ is winning the ‘clean energy race’? The sixth summit meeting of the group known as the ‘BRICS’ (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was recently postponed from March to July, which will have seen the culmination of a month of football, with the world's eyes on Brazil. Read full blog here.

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UN Photo/Albert González Farran

RIO+ participates in UNEP event on the Global Gender and Environment

- RIO+ participated, between February 18 and 21st, in

the Expert Group meeting on the development of the

first ever Global Gender and Environment Outlook

(GGEO), hosted by United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP), in Geneva.

Read about it here.

The World Centre for Sustainable Development (RIO+ Centre) is a legacy of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development and was set up to inspire and inform policies and practices that lead to greater social, environmental and economic justice. It works with governments, civil society and the private sector to stimulate dialogue and action on alternative development pathways. As a global Centre based in the South, RIO+ aims to bolster South-South Cooperation and facilitate the participation of the global south in international efforts on sustainable development.

RIO+ Centre team:

Director: Romulo Paes de Sousa Deputy Director: Layla Saad Policy Specialist: Leisa Perch

Rio Dialogues Specialist: Laura Hildebrandt (on assignment) Program Associate: Ione Nascimento

SDGs Advisor: Marcio Pontual Administrative Clerk: Wilians Alves

Communications: Sérgio Spagnuolo rio.plus@undp.org