Partners

 

 

UN Millennium Project Taskforce on Environmental Sustainability: The UN Millennium Project is an independent advisory body commissioned by the UN Secretary-General to advise the UN on strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the set of internationally agreed upon targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015. Task Force 6 focuses on identifying ways in which MDG Target 9, "Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources."

Documents and Reports
Coordinators and Members

Area of Focus: The Task Force sees a root cause of human deprivation and a key obstacle to achieving the MDGs in the accelerating degradation of biological systems upon which life depends. It therefore seeks to identify appropriate policy measures that will reverse environmental degradation and ensure more productive management of ecosystems as a basis for enabling the other MDGs to be met. To do so the Task Force concentrates on developing recommendations to meet three key objectives:

• Ensure that development planning at all levels incorporates, by 2015, the principles of the sustainable management of ecosystems, their constituent species, and the ecosystem services they provide, specifically in the sectors of water management, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, transportation, health, and industrial production;
  
• Minimize the loss of biodiversity and threats to the provision of ecosystem services by 2010; and
  
• Integrate environmental considerations, securing organized ways of tradeoffs, into the process of achieving Millennium Development Goals 1 through 6.

 

 

The Initiative for Policy Dialogue: Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) in July 2000 to help developing countries explore policy alternatives, and enable wider civic participation in economic policymaking.

IPD is now a global network of more than 200 leading economists, political scientists, and practitioners from the North and South with diverse backgrounds and views. The process of globalization has inspired widespread international protest, as many developing countries have struggled to achieve sustainable and equitable growth.

All economic policies entail trade-offs that benefit some groups more than others, and there is no one set of policies that is best for all countries. Yet instead of exploring the full range of economic solutions, the international debate has often centered on a narrow range of policy alternatives. Government officials in many developing countries have expressed concern with the lack of policy options. IPD represents a positive response to these concerns. IPD analyzes the trade-offs associated with different policies and offers serious economic alternatives, while allowing the choice of policy to be made by the country's political process.

IPD efforts are intended not only to help countries find solutions to pressing problems, but also to strengthen their institutions and civil societies. Diverse stakeholders with a legitimate interest in policy outcomes often lack access to the process, information, and even the language necessary to participate effectively. IPD emphasizes diverse participation to enable broad civic involvement in economic policy making.

 

 

The Earth Institute at Columbia University brings together talent from throughout Columbia University to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the world's poor. The Earth Institute is motivated by the belief that science and technological tools already exist, and could be expanded, to greatly improve conditions for the world's poor while preserving the natural systems that support life on Earth.

Under the direction of international economist Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Earth Institute supports pioneering projects in the biological, engineering, social, and health sciences, while actively encouraging interdisciplinary projects--often combining natural and social sciences--in pursuit of solutions to real world problems.

Responding to the particular challenges of sustainable development, Earth Institute faculty have recently focused on such topics as:

• Carbon cycle and energy
• Water access and safety
• Hazards mitigation
• Climate change and climate/society interactions
• Global health
• Ecosystems
• Agriculture, ecology, and nutrition
• Urbanization

 

 

The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation offers an unrivaled consortium of world class scientific institutions: Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, The New York Botanical Garden, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Wildlife Trust.

CERC's Mission is to prepare the next generation of environmental leaders and to find long-term solutions to combat the loss of biological diversity and natural resource depletion - while meeting the needs of a growing worldwide human population.

CERC institutions collaborate to address major challenges in conservation science and research that are either too complex or too broad in scope to be effectively addressed by individual organizations. From studying the population dynamics and genetics of elephants across Asia, to compiling data on the nutritional needs of wild and captive animals in Latin America, CERC researchers extend their efforts worldwide to provide scientifically sound information to assist in policy-making on local and regional levels.

 

 

 

More Partner Information coming soon.