Key Points

1. many environmental groups have political agendas other than finding common ground on how to improve and sustain the environment
2. if the environment is going to improve, it will take consensus from a majority of reasonable people, not extremists
3. environmentalism is one priority but not the only one for human society
4. environmentalism can succeed where a community stakeholder view exists

References

Key Survey

How do you identify and align yourself?  demographically, groups, countries, socieites, other?

What is YOUR mission? code of conduct? prioritized goals?

What are your 3 best opportunties now?

What are your 3 best opportunties long-term?

What are your 3 biggest challenges now?

What are your 3 biggest challenges long-term?

What are your 3 best strategies and priorities now?

What are your 3 best strategies and priorities long-term?

Who are your key partners in your goals, plans?

What are society's 3 best opportunties now?

What are society's 3 biggest challenges now?

What are society's 3 best strategies and priorities now?

How do you help?  CTA

Key Concepts

Group Purpose

Code of Conduct > Recognize and respect differences between us as people, countries on values, goals, plans, commitments

• We are committed to offering a safe and welcoming forum for all.
• We treat each other with respect, professionalism, fairness, and sensitivity for our many differences and strengths at all times.
• We do not tolerate particlpation by individuals or groups that don't meet these standards

Mission

• Understand key opportunities, challenges and solutions available to improve health, wealth, environment sustainability for all 

How we do it

• Connect with many communiities and stakeholders to understand their opportunities, challenges and solutions to meet their sustainability goals, plans
• Identify, research opportunities, challenges and solutions to meet sustainability goals, plans of different communities and the related impacts
• Identify common areas on goals, plans, solutions across communities to share that can improve effectiveness and efficiency in meeting their goals

Comparison to WEF Code of Conduct, Mission, Principles

WEF Code of Conduct

• The World Economic Forum adheres to the principles of independence, impartiality, moral integrity and intellectual integrity.

WEF Mission

• The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
• Our activities are shaped by a unique institutional culture founded on the stakeholder theory, which asserts that an organization is accountable to all parts of society. The institution carefully blends and balances the best of many kinds of organizations, from both the public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions.
  • how well does WEF actually adhere to its own mission? what stakeholder groups actually have representation? how?

WEF Principles

1. Strengthen global cooperation
   1. advance long-term security and humanitarian objectives for SDG 16
2. Advance peace and security
   1. promote good governance, strong institutions and social cohesion.
3. Re-globalize equitably
   1. new global social contract .. that.. reduces inequity and addresses debt burdens globally.
4. Promote gender equality
   1. prevent gender-based violence and discrimination .. respect of women’s human rights.
5. Rebuild sustainably
   1. measures should advance .. practices ... consistent with 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
   2. need to create a sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient future.
   3. raise the trillions of dollars in investments that are needed.
6. Deepen public-private partnerships
   1. funding for innovation and .. direct resources towards education, infrastructure, technology and humanitarian priorities.
7. Increase global resilience
   1. better global trading systems
      

Comment on WEF Principles

SOME DISAGREEMENT ON GOALS AND PRIORITIES
LOTS OF ROOM FOR DISAGREEMENT ON HOW PRINCIPLES ARE REALIZED

Key Questions on Technology Value to Solve Health, Wealth, Environment, Economic, Social and Sustainability Challenges

What are the key Health, Wealth, Environment, Economic, Social and Sustainability Challenges?

How are these challenges prioritized? What are the tradeoffs between them?

How do you balance short-term and long-term priorities and solutions?

Who is collaborating to solve these challenges? 5WH?

Who benefits from solving these challenges? 5WH?

Who is investing to solve these challenges? 5WH?

What technologies can contribute to these Climate Change Challenges and Solutions?  How?

DLT

AI

IoT

Automation

Smart systems >>. SSM, SDM, STM, SLM, SRM, SIM, SGM, 

What technology solutions are in progress or planned?

UN SDGs: 17 Sustainability Development Goals

https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/

The UN SDGs > Details

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG 18 ??? Population Growth - Goal ?  Problem ?  Both ?

UN recognizes population growth contributes to problems meeting SDG goals

https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2022_policy_brief_population_growth.pdf

UN-population-growth-undesa_pd_2022_policy_brief_population_growth.pdf link

UN-population-growth-undesa_pd_2022_policy_brief_population_growth.pdf file

Key trends on population that impact sustainability and climate

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/

1. Most developed countries have slowing population growth that is dropping below replacement rate in some countries
2. Legal immigration may help countries that want to maintain their population size
3. Many less developed countries have high population growth rates ( though those rates are slowing somewhat ) that contribute to
   1. increasing poverty,
   2. human rights abuses,
   3. health issues in those countries
4. Some countries have policies to manage population growth and some clearly don't
5. The US has the highest sustained legal immigration rate in the World averaging over 1 million per year
6. The Biden administration open borders progam increased illegal migrants 500% adding over 10 million more creating massive problems in the US

Key Questions NOT addressed by WEF

What global authorities and regulations supercede national authorities and regulations?  5WH? 

if per capita carbon emissions drop 20% but world population doubles what happens to the climate, sustainability?

Is open borders the best option to solve poverty or should migration be managed by country policies?

Can managing population growth, increasing per capita median incomes reduce inequality and improve outcomes by country?

Can countries define social insurance programs that are effective, self sustaining economically?

Can countries effectively control the growth of government deficits that burden future generations?

What policies have governments targeted for growth in real per capita median incomes, population management?

Does the UN add value in reducing war, persecution of groups within countries?

Which forms of government are best to ensure best sustainable outcomes for a countrys population on health, wealth, social relations?

Updated Population Growth Trends - March 2023 - UN

https://www.earth4all.life/news/global-population-could-peak-below-9-billion-in-2050s

This study has assumptions baked in that may not be accurate so the potential range of outcomes should be reviewed

March 27—In November 2022, the world crossed a milestone of 8 billion people but new analysis suggests the global population could peak just below 9 billion people in 2050 then start falling.  

The new projection is significantly lower than several prominent population estimates, including those of the United Nations. The researchers go further to say that if the world takes a “Giant Leap” in investment in economic development, education and health then global population could peak at 8.5 billion people by the middle of the century. 

In the first scenario – Too Little Too Late – the world continues to develop economically in a similar way to the last 50 years. Many of the very poorest countries break free from extreme poverty. In this scenario the researchers estimate global population could peak at 8.6 in 2050 before declining to 7 billion in 2100. 

In the second scenario, called the Giant Leap, researchers estimate that population peaks at 8,5 billion people by around 2040 and declines to around 6 billion people by the end of the century. This is achieved through unprecedented investment in poverty alleviation – particularly investment in education and health - along with extraordinary policy turnarounds on food and energy security, inequality and gender equity. In this scenario extreme poverty is eliminated in a generation (by 2060) with a marked impact on global population trends.

UN-E4A_People-and-Planet_Report.pdf file

UN-E4A_People-and-Planet_Report.pdf  link

UN on Climate Change

Intergovernmental panel on climate change - 6th review - UNEP

climate-2023-UN-IPCC_AR6_SYR_SlideDeck.pdf file

climate-2023-UN-IPCC_AR6_SYR_SlideDeck.pdf link

AR6 - Presentation Concepts

AR6 - Headline Statements

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/resources/spm-headline-statements/

UN Focus on Water Problems - 2023

https://news.yahoo.com/vampiric-water-leading-imminent-global-230642899.html?spot_im_highlight_immediate=true&spot_im_reply_id=sp_Rba9aFpG_38e3aba0-99c2-3b60-9385-1a94d56f04fd_c_2NOCpCxsBOBD94lcLy1nzigztiQ_r_2NODKLzufCow5C956RyE3fjS2jP&utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_campaign=replied-message&spot_im_redirect_source=email

UN-water-news.yahoo.com-Humanity has broken the water cycle UN chief warns.pdf link

UN-water-news.yahoo.com-Humanity has broken the water cycle UN chief warns.pdf file

The future of humanity's "lifeblood" -- water -- is under threat worldwide, the UN secretary-general warned Wednesday at the opening of the global body's first major meeting on water resources in nearly half a century.

"We've broken the water cycle, destroyed ecosystems and contaminated groundwater," Antonio Guterres said at the three-day summit in New York, which gathers some 6,500 participants including a dozen heads of state and government.

"We are draining humanity's lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating," Guterres told the conference.

A report by UN-Water and UNESCO released Tuesday warned of too little or too much water in some places, and contaminated water in others -- conditions it said highlight the imminent risk of a global water crisis.

"If nothing is done... it will keep on being between 40 percent and 50 percent of the population of the world that does not have access to sanitation and roughly 20-25 percent of the world will not have access to safe water supply," report lead author Richard Connor told AFP.

With the global population increasing every day, "in absolute numbers, there'll be more and more people that don't have access to these services," he said.

2023 United Nations World Water Development Report 

https://www.unesco.org/reports/wwdr/2023/en

UN-water-report-2023-unesco.org-Partnerships and cooperation for water.pdf link

UN-water-report-2023-unesco.org-Partnerships and cooperation for water.pdf file

The 2023 United Nations World Water Development Report on Partnerships and Cooperation assesses the nature and role of partnerships and cooperation among stakeholders in water resources management and development and their role in accelerating progress towards water goals and targets.

Nearly every water-related intervention involves some kind of cooperation. Occurring across local to global scales, through formal and informal arrangements, water partnerships bring together different stakeholders with varying intentions. 

Cooperation is critical to achieving all water-related goals and targets. Any acceleration of progress towards the sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) depends heavily on the efficient and productive performance of partnerships. 

Inclusive stakeholder participation promotes buy-in and ownership. Taking account of the different perspectives of those involved helps determine a clear, shared vision of the objectives, outcomes, and results, based on a common understanding of the problem(s).

resources

UNESCO: François Wibaux, f.wibaux@unesco.org, +33145680746 

World Water Assessment Programme

https://www.unesco.org/en/wwap

UN-water-unesco.org-World Water Assessment Programme.pdf link

UN-water-unesco.org-World Water Assessment Programme.pdf file

Understanding the state, use and management of the world’s freshwater resources and designing better water policies

UNESCO established the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) in 2000 in response to a call from the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to produce a UN system-wide periodic global overview of the status, use and management of freshwater resources.

Its overall objective is “to meet the growing requirements of UN Member States and the international community for a wider range of policy-relevant, timely and reliable information in various fields of water resources developments and management, in particular through the production of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR)”. Consequently, WWAP, through the World Water Development Reprts and complementary activities, aims to equip water managers and policy- and decision-makers with knowledge, tools and skills necessary to formulate and implement sustainable water policies

UN Groundwater Report 2022

https://www.unesco.org/reports/wwdr/2022/en

UN-water-unesco.org-Groundwater making the invisible visible.pdf link

UN-water-unesco.org-Groundwater making the invisible visible.pdf file

Groundwater accounts for 99% of liquid freshwater on Earth and is the source of one quarter of all the water used by humans. Large volumes of fresh groundwater are present below ground surface and distributed over the entire globe; however, this volume of freshwater is irregularly distributed over the continents.

An easy and open access resource to numerous people, leading to common pool characteristics, groundwater offers tremendous opportunities to society for gaining social, economic and environmental benefits and its contribution to satisfying our demand for water is considerable.

Groundwater already provides half of the volume of water withdrawn for domestic use by the global population, including the drinking water for the vast majority of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them via public or private supply systems and around 25% of all water withdrawn for irrigation.

Potential Value Opportunities

Effective, efficient measurement of environmental products

Jim>> SBTN podcast 

There is a long way to go to effectively quantify and manage affordably all environmental impacts for producers and consumers of environmental products.

SBTN is the start of a collaborative journey to measure and achieve targets for practical sustainable environment management as a part of corporate governance going forward.

Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) validation pilot results - 2024

steps toward setting science-based targets for nature. This pilot marks a key milestone in corporate sustainability, providing a credible framework for companies to assess their environmental impacts and take action on freshwater and land use.

What stands out is the ambition these companies have shown—moving beyond traditional compliance to embrace proactive, nature-positive goals. Through the independent validation process, these organizations have not only elevated their sustainability efforts but also gained increased credibility with stakeholders, from investors to consumers

However, the journey hasn’t been without challenges. Access to reliable data—especially in supply chains—remains a significant hurdle, as does engaging local stakeholders for validation. Yet, by refining the SBTN framework, companies now have more flexibility to set targeted, achievable goals while continuing to uphold scientific rigor.

With global regulatory frameworks like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) gaining momentum, these science-based targets offer a clear pathway to compliance and a future where businesses actively contribute to nature’s regeneration.

SBTN-Pilot-Study-2024-Science-Based-Targets-4-Nature.pdf.  link 

SBTN-Pilot-Study-2024-Science-Based-Targets-4-Nature.pdf. file

Jim>>  Thanks for the SBTN Pilot Study Report. It has some very useful ideas.

"SBTN equipped companies to assess and prioritize their environmental impacts and to set freshwater and land targets".

The key to building consensus and commitment for environmental improvements is trust. The SBTN approach is good way to build trust in the 

Potential Challenges

AMOC - Atlantic Meridianol Overturning Circulation - predictions improving

Collapse of Ocean Currents. link 

A study published Monday concluded that melting ice in Greenland caused by climate change could cause the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) to collapse as soon as 2025, ushering in dramatic consequences for the planet.

The AMOC brings warm water north and east from the Caribbean, while delivering colder Arctic water south. If it were to suddenly shut down, scientists believe North America would experience weather changes such as more severe hurricanes and northern Europe would get a lot colder.

In recent years, studies have shown that the current is at its weakest in 1,000 years. Although scientists are not certain why, several studies have attributed that weakening to an influx of fresh water from the melting of Arctic sea ice, including the Greenland ice sheet, and increasing precipitation — both of which are results of global warming. 

The AMOC is driven by heavier cold water sinking, which raises warm water to the surface, but since fresh water is lighter than salt water, it has reduced the tendency of colder water near the surface to sink.

an AMOC collapse would have wide-ranging effects including increased sea level rise in the Atlantic, a drop in precipitation over Europe and North America,

at the end of the last ice age, when studies suggest a “flood of freshwater spilled into the Atlantic, halting the AMOC and plunging much of the Northern Hemisphere — especially Europe — into deep cold” that lasted 1,000 years.

AMOC Atlantic current collapse will bring instant climate changes - 2024 yahoo

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is a system of ocean currents that circulate water in the Atlantic Ocean like a conveyor belt, helping to redistribute heat and regulate global and regional climates. New research, however, warns that the AMOC is weakening under a warming climate, and could potentially suffer a dangerous and abrupt collapse with worldwide consequences.

"This is bad news for the climate system and humanity," researchers from Utrecht University's Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research wrote in a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

Considering the AMOC is the workhorse of the Atlantic, the consequences of such a collapse would result in "hugely chaotic changes in global weather patterns" that extend far beyond the Atlantic, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA who was not involved in the study.

"It would plunge Europe into essentially a regionalized Ice Age, while leaving the rest of the world on its continued warming path," Swain said. "The Southern Hemisphere would roast, the Pacific storm track would go kind of nuts, and there would be these extreme shifts in weather patterns that are very different from what you would expect from a more incremental or linear warming path."

The odds of such a collapse are low — about 5% or 10% this century, according to some researchers — but the consequences are so great that it would be unwise to ignore the possibility, Swain said.

"There's still a [90%] to 95% chance that won't happen, but would you be willing to bet the farm on a [90%] to 95% chance that something like this doesn't happen?" he said. "Would you get on a plane if there were a [90%] to 95% chance that it won't crash? I certainly wouldn't."

The AMOC moves water in the Atlantic Ocean from north to south and back again in a long cycle, but there are indications that it has been weakening over the last century, including a roughly 15% decrease since 1950.

The system relies on a delicate balance of warm surface water and cold, salty water that sinks toward the sea floor, which together keep the current churning. But as the planet warms, melting glaciers and ice sheets — such as the Greenland ice sheet — are adding more freshwater to the system, which is diluting its salinity and disrupting traditional patterns.

"It's a self-amplifying feedback loop mainly affecting salinity, and the fresher the North Atlantic Ocean becomes, the weaker the AMOC, until you reach a critical value," said René van Westen, the study's lead author.

The study does not place a time frame on when such a collapse could occur, and Van Westen said such estimates can be controversial. But the paper was the first to demonstrate that the AMOC can reach a tipping point if enough freshwater is added to the system.

AMOC collapse - So this won't affect you much but it could be a big problem for your children and grand children

AMOC collapse - expected impacts

researchers say that models indicate an AMOC collapse is possible, and that such an event would significantly alter the planet's climate. Its effects would be most acute in Europe, where temperatures could decrease up to 18 degrees on average, or even as much as 36 degrees in places such as Norway and Scandinavia. It could also trigger "seesawing" conditions between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Other potential effects include rapidly rising sea levels, with more than 2 feet of sea-level rise possible along some coastal regions, including the Netherlands and the U.S. East Coast. New York City could be inundated by as much as 31 inches of sea-level rise, Van Westen said.

The Amazon rainforest would see its dry and wet seasons flipped, potentially leading to its own tipping point. (A separate study published this month found that parts of that rainforest could collapse as soon as 2050.)

Effects on the Pacific Ocean and U.S. West Coast would probably be smaller

How People Live Impacts Environment - Old vs Young

https://www.yahoo.com/news/greta-thunberg-her-gen-z-070000637.html

In January 2020, for example, Greta Thunberg and a group of other leading “youth climate activists” co-wrote a scathing public statement in which they declared that, when it comes to the climate, “Young people are being let down by older generations and those in power.”

according to a fascinating new poll by YouGov, the old actually seem to be doing more to tackle climate change than the young.

In the poll, those aged 18-24 claimed to be the most worried about climate change. When it came to doing something other than moan, however, it was a different story. Almost 90 per cent of the over-65s said they recycled “as much as possible”, compared with only half of the young. The old were also more likely to save water, turn down the heating, wash their clothes at low temperatures, buy locally produced food, avoid excessive packaging, buy energy-efficient appliances, switch off the lights when leaving a room, and repair things rather than throw them away. On top of that, more of them had cut down on the number of flights they took.

Greta’s generation were more likely to have given up meat. But otherwise, it seemed to be the old doing most of the work.

What are we to make of this mysterious discrepancy? Perhaps Greta’s generation is in such deep despair about the future of the planet that some of them have simply given up trying to save it. There is, however, an alternative possibility – which is that they care more about being seen to have the “right” opinion on climate change than they do about tackling it. A type of behaviour that older people like to call “virtue-signalling”.

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