News

Call for input, sustainable development report

20.11.2017

An opportunity has arisen to propose an inclusion on mountains in the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) 2019, which has been mandated by the United Nations Member States and is being drafted by the Independent Group of Scientists and Experts (IGSE). The GSDR aims to strengthen the science-policy interface and provide a strong evidence-based instrument to support policymakers in promoting poverty eradication and sustainable development. It will serve as a key means to follow-up on and review the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The IGSE is soliciting inputs to the GSDR from scientific and non-scientific communities around the world around the world in the form of publications and descriptions of case studies that should contribute to the following four major areas:

(1) Interactions among SDGs and their targets;
(2) Transformation pathways towards sustainable development;
(3) Looking beyond Goals; and
(4) The role of science for sustainable development.

To highlight the three mountain targets of the SDGs in the GSDR, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat suggests submitting reports or case studies by Mountain Partnership members both individually to the IGSE and to the MPS, to prepare one consolidated input.

Individual approach:
Please submit individual reports directly to the IGSE that conform to the requirements stipulated in the call for inputs. In this case, the Secretariat suggests that individual submissions include a preamble highlighting the mountain targets followed by the individual report itself. As one of the variants of the preamble, we propose the following language:

“The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain three targets under two SDGs that specifically mention mountains: (6.6) protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes, (15.1) ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements, and (15.4) ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development. The Mountain Partnership Secretariat is directly involved in supporting the monitoring of target 15.4, having developed one of the official indicators, the Mountain Green Cover Index, of which the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the custodian agency. As a member of the Mountain Partnership, we submit the following report, emphasizing…”

Consolidated approach:
The Secretariat also calls for the submission of a consolidated joint report of inputs. Due to time constraints, the joint report will focus its content on two of the four major areas mandated by the IGSE: 1) interaction among SDGs and their targets, and (2) transformation pathways towards sustainable development. Any reports with such a focus should be uploaded at the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10dbMdGLpHV4_78v8E5H4mcodyTx8i7Dk?usp=sharing. In this case, submissions should be limited to 400 words or less. It will be further compiled in one consolidated document by the members of the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University (UVU), as a student engaged learning initiative.

After uploading your submission at the link above, please send a confirmation message both about the submission and specific area of its focus to one of the members of UIMF team: Derek Garfield at [email protected], Lacee Meyer at [email protected]; or Matthew Rands at [email protected].

Please keep in mind that the deadline for submissions to the call for inputs for IGSE is 1 December 2017. Submissions to be included in the consolidated joint report from the MPS must be uploaded to the link by Sunday, 26 November 2017.

Photo: FAO/Ali Asghar Mohammadi