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Good morning, this is Kasmira, and for this week's newsletter we spoke to Isabelle Durant, the acting secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), about its upcoming quadrennial conference and rethinking multilateralism.

Continuing on the same theme, we were interested to learn that the Graduate Institute last week launched a new platform, the Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS), to support dialogue and action on trade policies. Its first dialogue this week will be on plastic pollution.

Meanwhile in the UK, G7 leaders today agreed to step up to the plate in terms of climate finance after missing a target last year set out by the UN. Plus, things you should know about the circular economy and slowing the current rate of extraction of raw materials.

photo journaliste

Kasmira Jefford

14.06.2021


Sustainable Business & Finance news


Photo article

Isabelle Durant (Photo by UNCTAD staff Henrique Pacini)

🎙️ Isabelle Durant: Development is in constant motion. “What we have to do over the next decade is to fight, with the same rules and the same will, against inequality and to have a bigger voice for developing countries but also to realise that development is in motion." UNCTAD's acting secretary general Isabelle Durant talks to Geneva Solutions on repurposing the UN's trade and development body for the 21st century.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

♻️ Five things to know about the circular economy. Due to the ever-increasing demands of the global economy, the resources of the planet are being used up at an alarming rate and waste and pollution are growing fast. The idea of a more sustainable “circular economy” is gaining traction, but what does this concept mean, and can it help save the planet?

UN News (EN)

Here's what else is happening


Image of the day


Photo article

The Red Arrows flight demonstration team performs an aerobatic display above Carbis Bay, England, Saturday, June 12, 2021, during the G-7 summit. The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

G7 leaders commit to increasing climate finance contributions. G7 leaders on Sunday commited to increasing their climate finance contributions to meet an overdue spending pledge of $100 billion a year to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions and cope with global warming. Developed countries agreed at the United Nations in 2009 to together contribute $100bn each year by 2020 in climate finance to poorer countries, however this target was not met.

Reuters (EN)

Next on the agenda


đź“Ś18 June | Fostering greater private sector engagement in displacement settings. Organised by the International Trade Centre, this event to mark World Refugee Day will feature discussions with the private sector on its engagement in contexts of displacement and also feature poetry readings by refugees.

ITC (EN)

📌14-15 June | UN Trade Forum 2021: Towards a green and inclusive recovery. The forum will touch upon some of the most important contemporary trade debates and provide a key stepping stone towards UNCTAD’s quadrennial conference being held in October 2021.

UNCTAD (EN)

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Have a good day!

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