Address at the World Association of Former United Nations Internes and Fellows (WAFUNIF) General Assembly, Monday 14 November 2011
David Stillman, PhD
Executive Director, Public-Private Alliance Foundation
When we think of international perspectives on sustainability, the United Nations and the members of the UN System of agencies and organizations have a prominent place. The UN is, of course, the premier international institution. Its members today represent 193 countries of the world. Thousands of non-governmental organizations are also associated with the UN.
One of the main purposes of the UN is “to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.”
An important vehicle that focuses international and national action for this purpose is the Millennium Development Goals, which has the endorsement of all the UN Members States to try to achieve them by 2015.
The 7th of the 8 goals seeks to ensure environmental sustainability. Read more…
The Public-Private Alliance Foundation, working with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, held its Fifth Annual Partners Against Poverty Event at the UN on June 3, 2011. This followed the Global Summit on electricity on June 2, organized by the Global Sustainable Energy Partnership (formerly e8) and UN-Energy (see article below). Over 30 people from business, investment, diplomatic missions to the UN, non-governmental organizations and international organizations participated in the June 3 discussions. Participants and their organizations are listed either within presention sections or at the bottom of this article.
We asked these experts to come because whether we are working in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Madagascar, people want and need clean energy and local electrification, simple, affordable housing, and better cookstoves.
PPAF Executive Director Dr. David Stillman opened and moderated the session. Presenters included BioGen (Dominican Republic and U.S.), Medesco (U.S.), Habitech International (U.S. and Dominican Republic), WECAN, Inc., and Project Gaia (U.S., Ethiopia and Brazil). A presentation was also made on Viridian Energy, whose program for non-profits will benefit the Foundation. (See article.) Read more…
The Public-Private Alliance Foundation encouraged over 30 colleagues from the U.S., the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Madagascar to attend the Global Summit to Strengthen Public-Private Partnerships to Accelerate Global Electricity Technology Deployment on June 2 at the United Nations. The Summit focused on discussing learning new actions in the field of electricity. It also served as background for the Foundation’s Fifth Annual Partners Against Poverty Meeting, held at the UN on June 3 (described elsewhere).
Organizers of the event were a group of major electric companies known as the e8, now the Global Sustainable Energy Partnership (GSEP), and UN-Energy, which brings together more than 20 UN system agencies working on various aspects of energy. Several hundred attended the day-long summit. The organizers distributed results of a survey, published as Recommendations from the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership Survey Read more…
Following the Global Summit for Public-Private Partnerships on Energy, on June 2 at the UN, the Public-Private Alliance Foundation will hold a Partners Against Poverty meeting also at the UN on Friday, June 3. This will cover specific business prospects for community-scale electricity in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Madagascar. The meeting will discuss issues arising from the Summit and introduce two technology companies with relevant business interests. Seating for the June 3 meeting is limited. If you would like to learn more, contact David Stillman, ppafoundation@gmail.com
On June 2, Public-Private Alliance Foundation colleagues plan to attend a major summit on expanding electricity availability in developing countries, to be held at UN Headquarters. Government, private and civil society sectors will discuss and agree on best practices and the path forward for accelerating global electricity technology deployment. If you or your colleagues are interested, and especially if you are practitioners or have experience in energy issues, feel free to register and to invite them to do so as well.
WHAT: Global Summit for Strengthening Public Private Partnerships to Accelerate Global Electricity Technology Deployment
WHERE: UN Headquarters.
WHEN: June 2, 11 am to 6 pm.
HOW TO REGISTER: https://www.SignUp4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=E8GL10E
Registration will close soon. Also, please notify David Stillman, ppafoundation@gmail.com so we will know that you are attending. We look forward to seeing you there. Read more…
This article updates materials on climate change originally posted in this blog in 2009. It was the basis for the handout given to faculty and administrators at Maricopa Community College on Sustainability Dialogue Day. The Public-Private Alliance Foundation is a partner in the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, in the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air and has applied to join the Global Gender and Climate Alliance.
Climate change is any long-term change in the statistics of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can express itself as a change in the mean weather conditions, the probability of extreme conditions, or in any other part of the statistical distribution of weather. Read more…
The Public-Private Alliance Foundation seeks to work sustainably and to promote sustainable development wherever it works. The Foundation has endorsed the Earth Charter, which emerged from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.
The points below in this blog entry summarize are a summary by the Foundation of work in relation to sustainable development.
Sustainable development seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. We have to learn our way out of current social and environmental problems and learn to live sustainably. Sustainable development is a vision of development that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources and that integrates concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, human rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue, etc. (UNESCO)
- UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs – Division for Sustainable Development (New York)
DSD promotes sustainable development as the substantive secretariat to the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) and through technical cooperation and capacity-building at the international, regional and national levels. The achievement of sustainable development requires the integration of economic, environmental and social components at all levels. This is facilitated by continuous dialogue and action in global partnership, focusing on key sustainable development issues. The Division’s website links to reports of the annual meetings of the CSD http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/ The Division is the substantive secretariat for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, to be held in Rio de Janeiro. http://www.uncsd2012.org/ Read more…
On March 4 David Stillman will be the keynote speaker at “Sustainability Dialogue Day” at Maricopa County Community College District (10 community colleges in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, with about 250,000 students). The audience will include the system chancellor and vice chancellors, college presidents and faculty. The Chancellor is signatory to the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment. http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/
Stillman’s presentation “International Perspectives on Sustainability” will include information on the work of the United Nations and its agencies in this area, as well as a case example of the work of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation and its partners to bring ethanol-burning cookstoves to Haiti. He will also lead a breakout session on the topic “International Resources for Sustainability.”
Stillman’s participation in the Day has been arranged by the Higher Education Alliance (HEA), a new program of the Humpty Dumpty Institute. The Institute forges public-private partnerships to find solutions to humanitarian problems. HDI fosters dialogue between the United Nations and the U.S. Congress, supports mine-action programs, and works to alleviate both domestic and international hunger.
The HEA Program aims to assist universities and colleges across the United States to obtain a more global perspective for their students, including interaction with the United Nations and other international institutions, and possibilities for studies and internships abroad. The program targets historically black colleges and universities and community colleges, as these traditionally have had less opportunity for such exposure.
Leslie Black Cordes, Acting Director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, which is housed in the UN Foundation, took part in a panel on energy and climate change at the United Nations Association of the USA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference / Members Day at the UN. This day-long conference brought some 550 participants to hear presentations on issues of great importance to the U.S., the UN and globally.
Cordes emphasized the impact of dirty, inefficient cookstoves and open fires on health and environment, as half the world’s population continues to depend on wood and other biomass for cooking. She pointed out that exposure to such smoke kills almost two million young children and women a year and sickens millions more. Cookstove smoke is one of the top five worst overall health risk factors in the developing world. Reliance on wood and charcoal is a major contributor to deforestation.
Cordes described the recent establishment of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, its program focus and the technical working groups that are being established. She declared that the Alliance hopes to promote adoption of 100 million clean, efficient cookstoves in ten years, which would be approximately 20% of the globally affected population. She invited expanded government, private sector, philanthropic, academic, NGO and other institutions to engage in partnership opportunities. For more information, see http://cleancookstoves.org and http://www.flickr.com/photos/ppaf For information on the UNA-USA Conference, see: http://unasouthernny.wordpress.com
The Public-Private Alliance Foundation organized meetings from January 13 through 17 for representatives of Blume Distillation, LLC, which is planning to manufacture community-level distilleries for alcohol production that fuel clean cookstoves, motorbikes, etc. The distilleries will accept sugar cane and a variety of other feedstocks and can receive support through distance monitoring. The aim is to encourage agribusiness both in feedstock production and in co-products of the distillation process which can enrich the soil and support secondary markets.
Meetings were held with several potential private investors, with Ambassadors to the UN from Madagascar and Haiti, and with UN officials. On the 15th SImACT, a Haitian-American investment group, organized a session with more than 50 participants at their Brooklyn headquarters for discussions on both the clean cookstoves and the distilleries.
On January 14, Blume Distillation represented and investors joined Stillman at the Conference for Teaching About the UN. Blume staffed a display table at the conference along with Project Gaia. Stillman addressed the conference on the topic “Fighting the Silent Killer in the Kitchen: Achieving the MDGs.”
Photos are available on the Foundation’s Flickr account.
