Breakfast Dialogue on Climate Change in the Sustainable Development Agenda
NEW YORK – 3 October 2013 – by Alison Patt: Since July 2013, International Movement ATD Fourth World, along with Baha’i International Community, has organized monthly informal breakfast dialogues on topics related to the follow-up to Rio+20 and the Post 2015 agendas. These dialogues aim to provide a space for stakeholders to help develop a unified vision for the post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda. Participants of these dialogues include Member States, civil society groups, and UN agencies and some of the topics already discussed include: the future of children, gender equality, multilateralism, human rights, poverty, and inequalities. Each breakfast begins with expert guest speakers and is followed with an open discussion including all participants. Despite the variety of issues and diverse views of attendees, all stakeholders agree that a transformative agenda is necessary to provide systemic changes.
The thirteenth informal breakfast dialogue co-convened by International Movement ATD Fourth World and the Baha’i International Community took place on September 20, 2013 and focused on concrete proposals for climate change in the sustainable development agenda. Opening remarks were made by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and by Ms. Bernadette Fischler, a Post-2015 Policy Analyst for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). Participants stressed the delicate situation of climate change and the importance of putting it at the forefront of the agenda with concrete targets. Central to the discussion were clear connections between climate change and other development issues such as development finance, poverty, violence and security, and human rights. A critical point made was that the FCCC is already addressing which elements of climate change to be addressed, so SDGs need to focus on how specific targets will be reached. Responses must be urgent and universal while making considerations for each individual country.
The next dialogue will take place the third week of October and will present the topic of implementing and financing sustainable development.