Welcome to the United Nations
The 10YFP Sustainable Food Systems Programme (SFS Programme) is a global multi-stakeholder initiative to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable food systems, all along the food value chain, from farm to fork. Among its focus themes are the promotion of sustainable diets; the reduction of food losses and waste; and strengthening resilient and diverse food production systems. The SFS Programme promotes activities that fall under these topics, in the areas of awareness raising, capacity development as well as facilitating access to knowledge, information and tools. The SFS Programme is one...[more]
The Blue Innovation Institute - An International Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Blue Growth and Food Security in a Changing Climate. Purpose - The Blue Innovation Institute addresses the twin challenges of climate change and ocean degradation by promoting policy and technology innovations that help meet the target for SDG#14 on Oceans and are climate-smart and globally scalable while creating new natural capital for ocean health, food security and economic prosperity. This will be achieved through partnerships with international institutions and other members of the Global Blue Gr...[more]
In 2015, the Government of Aruba, UNDP and the Kingdom of Netherlands agreed to create a Centre of Excellence COE for Sustainable Development of SIDS in Aruba.The Centre of Excellence (COE) for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States leverages best practices from SIDS - mainly technical expertise and experience in sustainable development - to provide a platform for strengthening innovation and resilience among SIDS through South-South cooperation and exchange of knowledge on sustainable practices in areas such as energy, public-private partnerships (PPP), water management...[more]
The Clean and Efficient programme lays out the national government's ambitions towards energy efficiency and sustainable energy production. Source: The Dutch Government In the Dutch Coalition agreement several ambitious targets were set in the field of energy and climate policy. The emission reduction of greenhouses gases is set at 30% in 2020 compared to 1990. In addition, the annual energy efficiency improvement must increase to 2% and the share of renewable energy must amount to 20% in 2020. The proposed policy for achieving these targets is elaborated by the Cabinet in the working program...[more]
The best opportunity to slow the rate of near-term warming globally and in sensitive regions such as the Arctic is by cutting emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) – most notably methane, black carbon and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Widespread reductions, which complement the need for aggressive global action on carbon dioxide, contribute significantly to the goal of limiting warming to less than two degrees. Reducing SLCPs can also advance national priorities such as protecting air quality and public health, promoting food security, enhancing energy efficiency, and allevi...[more]
The Netherlands is committed to take action against marine litter through a dedicated programme of measures. Our primary focus is on prevention, through an integral policy on source reduction. Important instruments are national and international environmental laws and regulation (e.a. the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive) both on land and on sea, our national programme stimulating the Circular Economy and the so-called Green Deals with the shipping sector, the harbors, beach recreation and fisheries on waste processing. Awareness raising activities are aimed at relevant sectors and the ...[more]
The general objective of the Commission is to promote the effective conservation, management and development of the living marine resources of the area of competence of the Commission, in accordance with the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and address common problems of fisheries management and development faced by members of the Commission. 16 of WECAFC's 35 members are considered small island developing States.
The majority of SIDS face water scarcity. Being at the forefront of climate change, with increasing demand through population growth and tourism is the cause. As water is part of everything we do, lack of water means lack of development. Desalination can solve the water shortages. With high energy tariffs on islands, desalination of seawater becomes an expensive exercise. At the same time, islands enjoy the wind, an abundance of sunshine and ocean views. This makes desalination powered directly by renewable energy interesting, with a great potential for decentralized and small-scale island...[more]
In 1995, the International Coral Reef Initiaitve called on many nations to commit to increasing research and monitoring of coral reefs in order to provide the data needed to inform policies of nations to sustain coral reefs and to strengthen management. Global reef monitoring was a major theme when ICRI was launched during the United Nations Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Islands Developing States in Barbados in 1994. It was during this time that the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) was established to support ICRI’s Call to Action and Framework for Action.T...[more]
Reduce pollutants from sea and land-based activities, including litter, harmful substances and nutrients from wastewater, industrial and agricultural runoff entering the world's oceans. All countries would have set relevant national targets for nutrient loadings, marine litter reduction and wastewater discharges . The planning of strategies for achieving these targets would have been commenced, through processes such as Regional Seas Action Plans and through functioning Global Partnerships on Marine Litter, Nutrients, and Wastewater Management.
A Government broad Program on Sustainable Development (KADO) is the main sustainable development policy program in Netherlands. Source: Government of the Netherlands The Dutch Cabinet bases its approach to sustainable development on the elaboration of six themes which are connected to global solidarity and directly related to climate change and biodiversity. Each of these six themes offers opportunities, but to actually realise these, policy choices have to be made. This is illustrated by an example for each theme: 1. For water and climate adaptation, steering spatial development offers t...[more]
The IHO capacity building programme seeks to assess and advise on how countries can best meet their international obligations and serve their own best interests by providing appropriate hydrographic and nautical charting services. Such services directly support safety of navigation, safety of life at sea, efficient sea transportation and the wider use of the seas and oceans in a sustainable way, including the protection of the marine environment, coastal zone management, fishing, marine resource exploration and exploitation, maritime boundary delimitation, maritime defence and security, and o...[more]
The Netherlands are committed to intensify research on underwater sound. The Netherlands have submitted a proposal for an international (joint) cooperation programme that aims at providing information on ambient noise levels in the North Sea region. Where the direct results of the programme can be used to identify the need for concrete measures in the North Sea region, the methodology that will be developed can be used at a much wider scale in other regions. Cooperation between monitoring initiatives in different regions and ocean basis would ensure that methodology between these initiatives i...[more]
The programme seeks to build the capacity and confidence of individual women, particularly rural and urban young women, to participate in decision-making processes and asume positions of leadership, building on existing successful programmes. The programme also invests in the capacity of women's organisations to work together and link to the broader women's movement.
The Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership is a first-of-its-kind, multi-stakeholder partnership of Governments, Private Sectors, NGOs and CSOs.LEAP guiding principles include: global, inclusive, consensus, transparency, scientific, comprehensive, continuous improvement and adoption. Objective: To build global consensus on science-based methodology, indicators and databases for understanding the environmental performance of livestock supply chains in order to shape evidence-based policy measures and business strategies. Vision: To support the transition towards m...[more]
The Netherlands Governement together with the Indian Think Tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) has organized a Multi-stakeholder conference in Trivandrium regarding sustainable development in the Indian Pacific region. The regional network was linked to the network (mainly involved in security and economy) of the global Blue growth Network (co-chair the Netherlands). The Dialogue delivered an interesting discussion on the coherence between politics, security, economy, social aspects, and ecology and about the possibilities to make the Indian pacific more sustainable. In reaching the SDG ...[more]
The Promoting Effective Partnerships Facility is a collaborative effort by five expert partnering organizations to foster dialogue about good partnering practice, offer resources about partnering, guide interested parties to enhance their partnering efforts, showcase trusted materials and services, and become an important network for the global partnering community.
The Seafood Stewardship Index is a benchmark that will focus on the stewardship of natural resources and supply chains by leading seafood companies. Seafood companies have an important role in ensuring they do not undermine the functioning of the ecosystems they rely upon and that products are sourced responsibly. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has committed to co-finance the development of this Index. This supports Index Initiative in: Organizing a series of multi-stakeholder roundtables and outreach events Developing the benchmarking methodology Developing the Seafood Stewardship In...[more]
By 2020, Aruba's Smart Island Strategy will transition the island to 100 percent renewable energy, increase housing choices and neighborhood quality, strengthen social cohesion, reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility, reduce obesity and improve public health, improve water conservation, and diversify an expanding island economy.
The Parties join forces to support sustainable increases in the productivity of: - marine food systems, - single-use and multi-use coastal and ocean spaces, - coastal people's livelihoods that are threatened by climate change,- practices that contribute to sustainable use of coastal and marine resources.
Following this recommendation, the Blue Growth Action Network was formally announced in Grenada in early 2015. The intent of this network is to translate high-level commitment into accelerated collective action to achieve measurable improvements at scale. It should also serve to strengthen ongoing partnerships and initiatives in the Blue Growth domain. The recent adoption of Sustainable Development Goal 14 to Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development adds further legitimacy to this effort.
The Netherlands endorses the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, as the effort to ensure that women's and children's health issues have the priority they deserve in the 21st century. In 2011 the Netherlands' Parliament approved development policies focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights including HIV/AIDS, food security, water and security and governance issues. The Netherlands directly supports efforts to improve the health of women and children through our substantial core contributions to UNICEF, UNFPA and UNAIDS. In addition, the Netherlands has allocated EUR ...[more]
The SEED Initiative inspires, supports and researches exceptional, entrepreneurial, nascent, multi-stakeholder partnerships for locally-led sustainable development . The initiative focuses on 'business as unusual' - innovative action delivering real solutions through project cooperation among small and large businesses, local and international NGOs, women's groups, labour organisations, public authorities and UN agencies, and others working in the field of sustainable development. The SEED Initiative aims to: support outstanding and innovative start-up entrepreneurs working in partnership in ...[more]
