July 24, 2024
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Last week, our Executive Director Micheline Ayoub attended the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) as part of Canada’s delegation. The theme for this year’s Forum was “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions.”
One of the important discussions at the HLPF focused on global foresight to “protect human and planetary health.” According to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Science Council (ISC), the world “must get better at tracking and responding to a host of emerging challenges as environmental, technological and societal change join forces to disrupt human and planetary health.” The document, “Navigating New Horizons – A Global Foresight Report on Planetary Health and Human Wellbeing,” offers invaluable insights into the potential challenges as well as untapped opportunities, which if ignored may hinder environmental sustainability and impede the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The report identifies drivers of change, including environmental degradation, growing scarcity and competition for resources, and series of critical global shifts and signals of change with the potential to affect the future (near and far) of planetary health and human wellbeing. Our team contributed to the report as part of the North American Regional Foresight Workshop.
Watch the launch event video and discussion
Read and download the report