Workshop: Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development

To support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development, an informal government group, was created in the autumn of 2011. The main objective of the Friends group is to create an informal space for governments to have discussions among themselves, backed up by expert papers when requested, on issues relating to good governance and the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) in relation to the development and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It builds on a rich tradition of ˜Friends of Groups” in New York which serves as a useful informal space for governments to discuss ideas and papers relating to a particular topic.

The Group is chaired by the governments of Germany, Indonesia, Nigeria, Morocco, the Republic of Korea, and Romania. Over the last four years, it hosts a series of workshops each year and publishes a book based on the papers. It is supported by ARTICLE 19, a UK charity, as the secretariat.

The next workshop for the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development will be on the 15th of December 9am to 1pm (EDT).

This workshop will have three sessions:

Session 1: Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution at UNEA-5.2, with the aim of achieving a new Global Agreement

Session 2:: Strengthen Environment Governance and Law (formerly The Global Pact on the Environment)

Session 3: Glasgow Climate Summit COP 26 outcomes – where are we?

Presenters and Respondents will include:

Liz Thompson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary with responsibility for Climate Change, Small Island Developing States and Law of the Sea

Mr. Sérgio Carvalho Counsellor Permanent Mission of Portugal

Yunus Arikan, Director of Global Advocacy ICLEI World Secretariat

Craig Jones, Executive Director, Government & Corporate Affairs, General Electric (GE)

Layalee Ramahi North America Network Coordinator United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)

Alberto Quesada Policy Advocacy Advisor Technical expert on single-use plastics and marine litter, Fundacion MarViva

Dr Michael Dorsey, Club of Rome and Limited Partner at Ibersun

Prof Felix Dodds, Water Institute UNC