UN Secretary-General releases Synthesis Report on Post-2015 Agenda

World on Track to New Universal Climate Agreement with Lima Call for Climate Action

Governments Agree Ground Rules on Contributions to Paris 2015 Agreement and Boost Adaptation

Clearer Elements of New Agreement Evolved in Peruvian Capital

Two books just published in the month of November by leading academic publishers include chapters by members of the International Environment Forum.

Eleven by Paul Hanley. Friesen Press, Victoria, BC, Canada, 2014. 400 p.

"Eleven billion people will populate this marvelous planet by the end of this century. Adding almost 4 billion to an already overburdened world will force everyone to change everything. The sweeping changes that make an 11 billion-world work will wholly transform humankind, reshaping its inner life and external conditions. This process will result in the emergence of a new culture, a new agriculture, and ultimately a new human race." This is how Paul Hanley introduces his new book and explains the title "Eleven".

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) completed the work on its Fifth Assessment Report with the approval of the Synthesis Report in Copenhagen on 1 November 2014. On 3 November I was able to attend a presentation of the most important findings of the report during four hours at the University of Bern, Switzerland, by the Chair of the IPCC, the Co-Chairs of Working Group I and key contributors to the report, in the presence of the Swiss Minister for the Environment, Transportation, Energy and Communication.

Mid-September has been an important time for action on climate change, with a report on the New Climate Economy, People's Climate Marches around the world, and a Climate Summit at the United Nations.

Small Island Developing States

Representatives from 115 countries attended the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, held in Apia, Samoa, on 1-4 September 2014. This was the third global conference to tackle sustainable development on islands, and the first to be held in the Pacific region, after conferences in Barbados in 1994 and Mauritius in 2005, where IEF was active (see http://iefworld.org/mim05.htm). IEF President Arthur Dahl included the proposal for international conferences on Small Island Developing States when he was drafting chapter 17 of Agenda 21, adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and contributed to the two previous conferences.

John H. Knox, the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment named by the Human Rights Council, has recently reported the following news items. For more information, see his website, http://ieenvironment.org/, and the UN website on his mandate, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/IEEnvironment/Pages/IEenviro…, including his reports to the Human Rights Council.

The United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals issued its outcome document on 19 July 2014, with proposals for 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be considered by the UN General Assembly at its 68th session. The Open Working Group held 13 sessions and consulted widely in preparing its proposals.