The UN “Data Revolution” begins

On August 29, 2014 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the establishment of an Independent Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development with two co-chairs: Professor Enrico Giovannini of Italy and Mr. Robin Li of China. [1, 2] The group was "to make concrete recommendations on bringing about a data revolution in sustainable development." "To propose ways to improve data for achieving and monitoring sustainable development". The on November 6, 2014 the IEAG released their report titled "‘A World that Counts: Mobilising theData Revolution for Sustainable Development.’ [2, 3, 4, 5]  The report reveals mobile phone use shaply increased from 2010. The need for a ‘data revolution’ was first expressed in a May 30, 2013 report by the High Level Panel, appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July 2012 to make recommenations on the "Post-2015 Development Agenda". [2]

WHO hold Health and Climate Conference

The World Health Organization (WHO) Conference on Health and Climate took place at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland from August 27-29 , 2014, it was attended by both public and private sector entities. [1] Throughout the conference, participants discussed linking climate, sustainable development and health policy. A draft summary was produced  "that recognizes both the need to strengthen health resilience to climate change and the opportunity to make gains in public health through well-planned mitigation measures." The following month September 23, 2014 the UN held their annual Climate summit.

UN Stockholm Conference 1972

From June 5-16, 1972 the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment [7] was held in Stockholm, Sweden headed by Maurice Strong, who at the time was a Rockefeller Foundation trustee. The conference is "hailed as a landmark moment in the history of the modern environmental movement." [1] The first UN conference with "environment" in the title. At this conference the resolution was passed to for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which would lead progressively to Agenda 21 and become the driving body for Sustainable Development . [2, 3]

UN GA agrees to establish the “Brundtland Commission”- basis for future Earth Summit

At the 38th session of the UN General Assembly held December 19, 1983, they approved [38/161] a May 23, 1983 decision adopted by the 11th Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP), thei resolution titled "Process of preparation of the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond" [6].  UNEP recommended the UN establishment of a "Special Commission" to "make available a report on environment and the global problamatique to the year 2000 and beyond, including proposed strategies for sustainable development"  The report was to be completed "within a period of two years from its establishment." [1, 2, 3] The UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, appointed Gro Harlem Brundtland as Chair, The Special Commission (Intergovernmental Inter-sessional Preparatory Committee), which had adopted the name the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1984 (commonly known as the Brundtland Commission), began its work in May 1984. Over the next three years it held public hearings and studied the issues. [4, 5] and in 1987 the commission published their report titled Our Common Future, where they cemented the term "sustainable development".   This document formed the basis for the 1992 first UN Earth Summit (UNCED).

UN Rio+20: the Second Earth Summit: “The Future We Want”

On June 20-22, 2012 the first Earth Summit in 20 years was held again in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this "marks the 40th anniversary of the first major international political conference that specifically had the word “environment” in its title".  Officially knowns as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).  The last Earth Summit was held in Rio in 1992. [1, 2, 3] 40th anniversary of the first major international political conference that specifically had the word “environment” in its title In January 2012 the committee relesed their "Zero Draft" [6] version of what would be the final document titled "The Future We Want" an extension of the Brundtland Commission's 1987 "Our Common Future" report [6].  Members states  were asked to sign onto "10 new sustainable development goals for the planet".  The “zero draft” was developed by the Co-Chairs and Bureau of the UNCSD Preparatory Committee from March 2011 meetings in New York. [5] The document was allegedly "leaked" to ahead of time [marketing?!]. [4] Member States adopted the outcome document The Future We Want that launched a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to build upon the Millennium Development Goals. The SDGs were intended..> READ MORE

WHO declares COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency

On Friday May 5, 2023 the World Health Organisation's Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced  an end to the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as recommended by the Emergency Committee, thus he declared "COVID-19 [is] over as a global health emergency", but they still consider it a "global health threat" or pandemic! [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] A "pandemic" and a declared PHEIC are two different things.  On March 11, 2020 the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, yet it was on January 30, 2020 that the WHO declared a PHEIC for "the novel coronavirus outbreak".  The definition of pandemic was downgraded in May 2009 to be any disease across the world, no matter it's lethality! The day before The Coronation of King Charles III, who is a strong advocate of a "new economic model"...

UN delegation commit to accelerate progress towards SDG

At a July 15, 2022 UN Economic and Social Council political forum in New York, the Ministers and high representatives on the theme "building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" declared that the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit in New York would mark the beginning of a "new phase of accelerated progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals" [1, 2, 3, 4] This will be the second SDG Summit, since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015.  With a "decade of action" to go!

Denmark rushes in COVID-19 law

On March 12, 2020 in Denmark, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, informed the nation in a televised statement that the country was shutting down in response to COVID-19 - giving Danes 2 days to shut down. [1, 2]. The borders were closed on March 14, 2020.  The first Danish COVID-19 patient was diagnosed on February 27, 2020, just 14 days earlier. That same night the Danish Parliament unanimously passed major amendments to the Epidemic Act, which Denmark has had in force since 1915. Only 95 out of 179 Danish MPs were present to vote on the emergency law which then gave health authorities powers to force testing, treatment and quarantine with the backing of the police.  This amendment was temporary, due to expire March 2021. Nordic countries are known for a high degree of trust in authorities and in each other,  and Norway and Denmark are a known as "Hero" countries for testing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, not so much Sweden, who resisted locking down. [3] The gradual reopening of Danish society began on April 15, 2020, when hospital capacity was underused. Then around November 7, 2020 thousands of Danes began protesting in the streets of Copenhagen, outside..> READ MORE