Subject: Post-2015 session
From: Amitabh Desai <[email-masked]>
To: Ed Hughes <[email-masked]>, Alex Amouyel <[email-masked]>
Cc: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 12:26:29 -0400

Georgios, it was good speaking with you - thanks for reaching out. Copied are John and the team at CGI, led by Ed Hughes, who together are helping brainstorm on a post-2015 discussion during CGI. 

Team, below is a note on a similar session that Georgios and his team are preparing for September. 

We discussed whether / how it makes sense to cross-pollinate or combine - and wanted to connect eveyone via this note to continue this discussion. 

Sincerely,
Ami

Concept note for a possible event in New York, on the sidelines of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly/General Debate

Suggested title: Sustainability: A Guiding Vision for the Future?

Suggested date: Monday, 23 September 2013, 5 - 7 pm

Suggested co-organizers: CUNY Graduate Center/The Ralph Bunche Institute, Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability [and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations]

Suggested venue: CUNY Graduate Center [or Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations]

Background and objectives:
A few months before the Rio+20 Conference the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Global Sustainability came up with a vision and a set of concrete proposals for taking the world in a more sustainable direction (see Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing). Many of the issues brought up in the Panel's report were reflected in the Rio+20 outcome (The Future We Want), including the need to go beyond Gross National Product (GDP) for the measurement of progress and human well-being, and to introduce Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the post-MDG/post-2015 period.  Other issues are being followed up in different fora (e.g. science-policy interface under UNESCO leadership).  A number of processes set in motion by Rio are expected to deliver concrete results in these areas in the coming years. Moreover, the Secretary-General's High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda submitted at the end of May 2013 its report (see A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development) proposing five big, transformative shifts and a list of 12 illustrative SDGs. The Secretary-General is expected to submit to the 68th session of the General Assembly his own report on post-2015.

The proposed event will bring together members of the two UNSG Panels, plus members of the intergovernmental processes set up by Rio+20, as well as participants from academia and civil society in order to:
 Reinforce the messages of the two panels to ensure that they are heard in the relevant ongoing processes;
 Highlight some of the recommendations of either of these panels that are not yet being followed-up to encourage their implementation;
 To consider the importance of sustainability as a guiding vision for the UN’s work in development for years to come.   Complete with concrete sustainability goals and policy options, this could become the unifying paradigm needed to direct action at the global and all other governance levels and increase resilience vis-à-vis the interconnected challenges facing the world.

Suggested programme:
-Introductory remarks by host/co-organizers [the co-organizers will share the tasks of introducing, moderating and closing the session]
-The GSP vision and key recommendations [President Halonen?]]
-The Post-2015 Panel vision and key recommendations [President of Indonesia or Liberia?]
-The Secretary-General's approach [Amina Mohammed (Special Adviser to UNSG)?]
-Respondents
*Co-Facilitator of OWG on SDGs [Hungary or Kenya Ambassador or Minister?]
*High-level Political Forum (former) Co-Facilitator? [Brazil or Italy Ambassador or Minister?]
*A view from civil society [Beyond 2015 Executive Committee member?]
*A view from academia/science [Tom Weiss?]
-Closing remarks

Suggested invitees:
GSP and Post-2015 Panel members and Sherpas; member states; NGO community [through UN-NGLS?]; CUNY/Ralph Bunche IIS list; UN secretariat staff; academics [also through ACUNS?]