April 2017 Sustainable Development
Read the articles selected in April 2017
Sostenibilità e Pubblica amministrazione per Agenda 2030: tre giorni al Forum Pa
by Elis Viettone
Source: http://www.asvis.it/, 21 April
From 23 to 5 May it will take place at the Rome Convention Center “La Nuvola” the meeting on the Public Administration, focused on the Sustainable Development, and how its link with public activities and technological innovation is important in the wellbeing perception within the whole society.
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Festival dello sviluppo sostenibile, già oltre 150 eventi in programma
Source: http://www.asvis.it/, 5 April
Now that the SDGs shape the framework of European politics, a few months before the Italian political elections and in connection with the summit G7 in Taormina, the Festival dello Sviluppo Sostenibile that will take place from 22 May to 7 June is going to stage 150 events for the spread of sustainable culture in Italy.
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International Mother Earth Day 22 April
Source: http://www.un.org
The theme for 2017 Mother Earth Day is “Environmental and Climate Literacy”. Education gives awareness around the gift of life and sustenance that the Earth provides us and the challenges regarding the present and future inhabitants of the Planet to trigger a social and economic progress in harmony with nature.
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http://www.un.org/en/events/motherearthday/index.shtml
Mobilising bond markets for a low-carbon transition
Source: http://www.oecd.org/
Bond finance fits for investments in low-carbon and climate resilient infrastructures, charachterised by high upfront capital costs, but with a wider set of benefits and returns. As low-carbon technologies mature and become more cost-competitive, the share of low-carbon bonds is expected to grow.
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New technology brings Star Wars-style desert moisture farming a step closer
by Amin Al-Habaibeh
Source: Scientific American, 18 April
Researchers have invented a device to provide drinking water in arid or desert regions using frameworks of metal and organic molecules empowered by sunlight, that are able to draw from air water vapour. Alternative technologies recycle old fridges and electronic waste to capture moisture.
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Famine looms for millions: UN Member States urged to “dig deep into reserves of common humanity”
Source: http://www.un.org, 13 April
An humanitarian crisis has hit 20 millions of people that suffer from famine and is killing 1.4 million children for severe acute malnutrition. General Secretary calls on to raise international awareness of this situation in the Member States, as well to mobilize the world with its resources of common humanity and empathy.
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56564#.WPB_vIiLQdU
Depression and other common mental disorders
Source: http://www.asvis.it, 7 April
Depressive and anxiety disorders are going up across the world. Globally, the people affected by these deseases, that have huge consequences in terms of social cost and disability, were 300 million in 2015. This epidemiological study by WHO provides country-specific estimates for an appropriate public health response.
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http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254610/1/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf
Malala Yousafzai designated youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace
Source: http://www.un.org, 10 April
UN secretary-General António Guterres ha designated Malala Yousafzai as an UN Messenger of Peace for her fight for children’s rights, in particular the right to education, especially of girls. After Malala words, education makes people in the condition to raise their voice against terror.
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56536#.WOyZGYiLQdV
Greening household behaviour
Source: http://www.oecd.org
Households behaviour has an impact on environment. Governments are studying how influencing households attitudes in areas with an environmental footprint. An OECD survey conducted in 11 countries analysed the role of financial incentives and the provision of infrastructures and services in shaping eco-friendly choices.
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Do environmental policies affect global value chains?
by Tomasz Kozluk, & Christina Timiliotis
Source: http://www.oecd.org/
Environmental policies can influence those industrial activities fragmented in countries with laxer environmental standards. Though green policies don’t have an influence on the pattern of international trade, more stringent domestic policies can be turn out in a comparative advantage for "clean" industries.
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Nasce il “Gender gap analysis tool” per la parità di genere nelle imprese
by Lucilla Persichetti
Source: http://www.asvis.it/
Gender equality can potentially add more than $12 trillion dollars to global GDP and is crucial to sustainable growth. UN Global Compact has launched a platform for companies, inspired by “Womens empowerment principles” to assess gender equality good practices in leadership, workplace, marketplace, and community.
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World Economic Situation Prospects
Source: http://www.asvis.it/, 20 March
The prolonged slowdown in global economic growth hampers the mobilization of significant financial resources required to achieve the SDGs. Aligning institutional investments with sustainable development requires to address financial governance patterns and regulatory frameworks.
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Primary microplastics in the Oceans: a global evaluation of sources
by Julien Boucher & Damien Friot
Source: http://www.asvis.it, 9 March
Every year flow in the oceans 9.5 million tonnes of new plastic waste, putting the ecosystem and our health at risk. Marine plastics pollution has a multitude of sources that require a holistic approach to change the way we design, produce, consume and dispose of plastics.
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https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2017-002.pdf
The intertwining of Romanticism and science through metaphor
by Oliver George
Source: https://green.harvard.edu, 23 February
The recent environmental literature written by scientists to demonstrate in a scientific and rational discourse how pollution is worsening the Earth and its inhabitants, draws from Romanticism metaphers that represent the Planet like a living organism in symbiosis with all beings and things.
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https://green.harvard.edu/news/intertwining-romanticism-and-science-through-metaphor
La finanza per il clima offre opportunità importanti per le imprese
Source: http://www.asvis.it/, 24 March
The industrial system is elaborating a new model of finance for a sustainable development closely linked with technological innovation. A new Confindustria’s web portal focused on climate, renewables and energy efficiency is going to spread information and certainties for investors.
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Health policy in Italy
Source: http://www.oecd.org/, November 2015
An OECD report on Italy’s health system highlights a large regional variation in outcomes and health care quality, increased chronic illnesses related to the ageing population, the highest OECD average of overweight children, and a high volume of antibiotics prescribed correlated with bacterial resistance.
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http://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/Health-Policy-in-Italy-November-2015.pdf
Prima presentazione del programma governativo per il G7 Ambiente
by Giulia D’Agata
Source: http://www.asvis.it/, 27 March
On 11 and 12 June in Bologna will take place the G7, a dialogue on sustainable development and climate change, open to the delegations of other States and based on the New York and Paris agreements to face issues like marine litter, Carbon tax and the multilateral development banks.
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Diffuse pollution, degraded waters
Source: http://www.oecd.org, 22 March
Water pollution comes from diverse sources, mainly agricultural and urban. It affects human health, water security, economic productivity, freshwater, ecosystem services. Completely eliminating water pollution is technically and costly impossible but it is up to a political decision to set a society’s level of acceptable risk
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President Trump rolls back progress made on crucial climate change policy
Source: https://www.worldwildlife.org, 28 March
President Trump has revoked the Clean Power Plan, a law to reduce carbon emissions in the production of the US, the largest contributor worldwide to carbon pollution. While the renewables economy is already creating millions of jobs, the safeguard of our planet is a priority for all.
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World Autism Awareness Day (2 April)
Source: http://www.un.org/
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first comprehensive human rights Treaty , entered into force on 23 May 2008. On 2 May the UN celebrates the World Autism Awareness Day. Autism is a neurological condition irrespective of gender, race or socio-economicus status.
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http://www.un.org/en/events/autismday/index.shtml
Euro area unemployment at 9.5%
Source: Eurostat, 3 April
19.750 people in the EU were unemployed in February 2017, for a rate of 9,5%, the lowest recorded in the euro area since 2009. Within the EU, the highest unemployment rates are recorded in Greece and Spain; the lowest ones are reported in the Czech Republic, Germany and Malta.
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