UNprecedented opportunities in 2015

March 2015 77

UN INTERNATIONAL

T’S almost a cliché now to say that

2015 is a critical moment in the

struggle for global justice. Three

key global processes conclude this year,

representing a golden opportunity to

reshape global policies and to set the

world on a more sustainable, equitable

trajectory.

The ﬁrst is the UN Financing for Devel-

opment (FfD) process. This will conclude

in Addis Ababa in July. It has six pillars

that aim to address poverty eradication

and sustainable development from the

perspective of the ﬁnancial system. The

outcome of the FfD process provides the

basis for the ‘Means of Implementation’

to achieve the new Sustainable Devel-

opment Goals. Without agreed ﬁnancial

means of implementation, those goals

will remain aspirations.

The second is agreement of the UN

Sustainable Development Goals for

2030 to replace the Millennium Devel-

opment Goals. This process concludes in

September and the ﬁnal session is being

co-chaired by Ireland and Kenya. The

new goals will be universal, applicable to

all countries, including Ireland, and will

include goals on environmental sustain-

ability as well as poverty reduction.

Finally, there is the UN Framework

Convention on Climate Change Confer-

ence of the Parties, which will conclude

in Paris in December. These negotia-

tions have the objective of signing a

universal, binding treaty on address-

ing climate change to replace the Kyoto

Protocol. The Paris conference is widely

regarded as the last major global window

of opportunity to prevent runaway cli-

mate change.

These are all signiﬁcant processes and

the stakes in each could not be higher. If

one ‘fails’ there is a risk that the whole

framework could collapse into mean-

ingless rhetoric, if not worse. Ireland, as

co-chair of the centrepiece of the year,

the UN Summit of Heads of State in New

York in September, has a vested interest

in securing success. The EU has named

2015 as the ‘Year of Development’, but

this must be more than an expensive PR

campaign.

The ﬁrst and most practical thing that

the EU and Ireland can do right now is

demonstrate how they are going to pub-

licly ﬁnance this new sustainability

agenda, and not to leave it to the whim

of private corporations. This means

re-committing, with a road-map, to

meeting the UN target of 0.7% of Gross

National Income going to overseas aid.

It means putting money into the Green

Climate Fund to support developing

countries plan for climate adaptation,

as a step towards the estimated $100bn

in additional ﬁnance ultimately required

to tackle climate change. Civil society

groups estimate an additional $5bn in

grants still needs to be committed by

developed countries before the Paris

Conference, on top of the €9.3bn com-

mitted. Ireland has yet to contribute this

year.

Ireland is well placed to lead from the

front on this with the commitment to

achieving the 0.7% GNI target for aid by

2015 made in the Programme for Gov-

ernment. This has cross-party and wide

public support. Ireland’s commitment

here also matters because our aid, apply-

ing OECD standards, is now amongst the

best in the world. If one ‘fails’ there is a

risk that the whole framework could col-

lapse into meaningless rhetoric in terms

of poverty impact. There are more pro-

gressive things that need to be done

through the Ff D process, such as making

progress on a global Financial Transac-

tion Tax. However, while aid must not

be a ﬁg leaf to let countries oﬀ the hook

on other reforms, putting money on the

table is critical to trust-building.

The second thing that the EU and

Ireland can and should do, is to set

Nationally Determined Commitments

on climate emissions as early as pos-

sible. These should be enshrined in

national law and should raise the level

of ambition. There is still an opportunity

to strengthen the Climate Action Bill

which is going through the Oireachtas

if the agreed cross-party recommenda-

tions of the Environment Committee are

adopted.

The third imperative for the EU and

Ireland is to use the opportunity of Euro-

pean Year of Development 2015 to frame

a new narrative for sustainability, jus-

tice and society whose terminology no

longer resonates for many. There needs

to be open, frank and challenging con-

versations in every place where people

meet in every country and across social

media on what this momentous year

really means. This debate is happening

in other countries, it needs to happen in

Ireland. Without it, the political will for

transformative change will fail.

All these measures are possible. The

question is whether there is enough far-

sighted leadership left to steer them. •

Lorna Gold is Head of Policy and Advocacy

with Trócaire

Ireland must push for money, targets and teeth

to ground rhetoric on Development Financing,

Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

By Lorna Gold

UNprecedented

opportunities in 2015

If one ‘fails’

there is a risk

that the whole

framework

could

collapse into

meaningless

rhetoric

“

UNparallelled opening