Pardee Center Director leads U.N. e-discussion

Prof. Adil Najam is one of the three co-moderators of an electronic discussion (e-discussion) on “Achieving Sustainable Development” from February 25-14, organized by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

The e-discussion is a contribution toward the 2008 ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review process. The discussion will solicit the views of leading experts and practitioners from all over the world on how best to inform the intergovernmental process on how to make real progress on the sustainable development agenda, including on: sound policies, institutions and investments enabling markets to work for sustainable development, predictable financial resources from ODA and access to environmentally sound technologies.

In particular, the e-discussion asks participants three specific questions:

1. How can the international community ensure that more funding for advancing sustainable development is made available on a predictable basis? What steps by which actors can be taken to facilitate, on a concessional and preferential basis, the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, especially to developing countries?

2. What specific initiatives can ECOSOC promote to be launched to facilitate realization of the goal of sustainable development? How can we foster human and institutional competencies to execute supportive policies?

3. How can we promote equity in the distribution of benefits from environmental resources? Is it advisable to promote payment for environmental services? If so, what is/are the most effective way(s) to do so?

The other two co-moderators of the e-discussion are Dr. Al Binger, Director of the Center for Environment and Development at the University of West Indies and Dr. Linda Ghanime, Senior Policy Advisor on Environment and Energy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).