July 2021 newsletter
As this parliamentary session draws to a close and we enter the summer recess, we’d like to reflect on what has been an immense year within and outside of Westminster – one of challenges and one of breakthroughs.
As an APPG, we have been more active than ever before. We established a dynamic website and developed our social media presence. We jumped headfirst into the worlds of Zoom, MS Teams, and other online platforms, hosting multiple virtual meetings of differing formats. From a private parliamentarian briefing with UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner to our second-consecutive Business and the SDGs Conference with our partners at the International Chamber of Commerce, we engaged with stakeholders across sectors on the Global Goals and the road to recovery. We heard from experts on the impacts of Covid-19 in areas of conflict, supported by our friends at Mercy Corps, and worked with the APPG on Women, Peace and Security to facilitate a discussion on the Generation Equality Forum. Moreover, we held a virtual address for our members with the Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon in which a wide range of topics crucial to development and the delivery of the Global Goals were discussed.
We completed our first Inquiry and launched our findings in the report: Building Back Better: The SDGs as a roadmap to recovery. Then we decided to do it all again! More info on this below.
As ever, we express our thanks to our Office Bearers for their support of the APPG and all of our members for their commitment towards development and the implementation of the Goals. A special thanks to Alice Whitehead at Bond for her secretariat services over the course of the year.
We very much look forward to returning in the Autumn to build upon the momentum of this year.
Best wishes
Theo & Jack
Theo Clarke MP and Lord Jack McConnell, Co-Chairs of the APPG on the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development
Localising the Global Goals event
We are holding our last event of the session this Wednesday 21st July, when we will convene high-level representatives from government, parliament, business, and civil society to discuss the importance of local leadership and comprehensive action to achieve the SDGs in the UK and beyond.
We will be joined by former Cabinet Minister Rt Hon Justine Greening, Mayor of Tees Valley Ben Houchen, and Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees to discuss how we can use the SDGs to help build back better, restore the economy, tackle climate change, and level up local communities. We will hear from other guest speakers who will share case studies of the ways towns and cities have used the SDGs as a framework in policy and decision-making processes. In part two, participants will have an opportunity to network in small, focussed groups to discuss the practical application of the case studies and explore what needs to happen next for local action to be successful for the future.
The event is being held in partnership with UN Global Compact Network UK, the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development and Bristol City Office. The event is part of the UN Global Compact Network UK two-day Responsible Business and SDGs Summit. To see the full programme please visit this page.
We very much hope you are able to join us. Please RSVP here.
Global Education Summit
From 28 – 29 July 2021, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya will co-host the Global Education Summit. This Summit will provide the platform for leaders of the global community to come together and pledge their support for quality education for all children. Our APPG Co-Chairs, Theo Clarke MP and Lord Jack McConnell, are Champions of the Global Partnership for Education to which the UK Government pledge £430m at the recent G7 Summit in Cornwall. This is a welcome start and one we hope to see expanded upon at the Global Education Summit in July. We hope the Summit will set GPE on a path to secure its five-year funding target $5bn from global leaders - the overall target needed to level up and transform education systems across the world.
Update on the inquiry on climate and the SDGs
In May the APPG launched a new inquiry Saving resources: Actions to achieve both climate goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. We would like to thank all those who submitted written evidence to the inquiry. We are working in partnership with the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) to prepare the report.
We are planning to launch the report in October ahead of this year’s Glasgow Climate Conference of Parties (COP26). We have invited COP President Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP to speak at the launch event to discuss the interconnection between the drivers of – and solutions to – poverty and inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation, and the government’s work to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
We will share more information including registration details once we return from recess in early September.
A look ahead to autumn – upcoming events
Aside from the launch of our new report in October, we have two other exciting events planned:
Sustainable partnerships for global health and development – September
We will be hosting an event in partnership with the APPG on Global Health to discuss lessons learned on partnerships during the pandemic with a view to partnerships for COP26 and Net Zero/sustainable development and global health.
Road safety with the FIA Foundation – November
Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children over 5 worldwide and every 24 seconds another person is killed in a road traffic crash. This event, held in partnership with the FIA foundation, will look at the UN campaign ‘Streets for Life’, which is calling for low speed communities across the world as an important way to reduce road traffic injuries, tackle climate change and help to achieve many of the SDGs.
Further meetings will be organised, and members will be notified after the summer recess.