72 Her Majesty Queen Máxima United Nations Secretary- General ’ s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development Speech to the 3rd meeting of the UN ’ s Group of Friends of Financial Inclusion Making the Case for Financial Inclusion in the Post-2015 Development Agenda 74 Helen Clark , Administrator , United Nations Development Programme Gender Equality as an Integral Component of Global Sustainable Development 78 Christine Lagarde , Managing Director , International Monetary Fund The Post-2015 Development Agenda : Unity in Ambition , Unity in Action FOOD AGRICULTURE WATER 80 Benedito Braga , President , World Water Council Water Security Drives Growth 82 José Graziano da Silva , Director General , Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Plenary Address , United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 , September 25 , 2015 84 Ertharin Cousin , Executive Director , UN World Food Programme Statement to the United Nations Security Council , April 24 , 2015 HEALTHCARE 88 Dr . Margaret Chan , Director-General , World Health Organization Remarks at the G7 Health Ministers Meeting . Session on Ebola : lessons learned and the International Health Regulations . Berlin , Germany 9 October 2015 94 Mark Dybul , Executive Director , the Global Fund to Fight AIDS , Tuberculosis and Malaria 17 . Million . Lives . In “ Voices ”, September 21 , 2015 96 Peter Hotez , Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology , Baylor College of Medicine , Baylor College How 2015 Nobel Prize drug might rid Africa of ancient scourges From The Conversation , October 7 , 2015 100 Dr . Oleg Chestnov , WHO Assistant Director General , Noncommunicable Disease and Mental Health Sustainable development needs sustainable financing Tackling NCDs is no exception CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAINABILITY 104 Achim Steiner , Secretary General , United Nations Environment Programme What ’ s Good for the Environment is Good for Business 109 Peter Bakker , President & CEO , World Business Council for Sustainable Development Sustainable Energy : it needs to be on top of your agenda 112 Dr . Stefanos Fotiou , Head of “ Cities and Lifestyles ” Unit , UN Environment Program Sustainable Lifestyles : From Individual Responsibility to Collective Impact 114 Michael Sudarkis , Secretary General , International Urban Development Association Creating the Infrastructure for the Rise of Smart Cities 116 Peter Wooders , Group Director , Energy program , International Institute for Sustainable Development Fossil Fuel Subsidies , Climate Change and the G20 118 Dirk Forrester , President , International Emissions Trading Association The Role of Carbon Trading in the Climate Change Challenge 120 Member countries 122 Sponsors Index FOOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER 8 82 FOOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva Plenary address , 25 September 2015 . United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 Plenary Address FAO DIRECTOR GENERALS ADDRESS AT THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT SEPTEMBER 25TH , 2015 Mr . President , Excellencies , Ladies and Gentlemen , I would like to start by congratulating you all for adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . We have given ourselves an enormous task , that begins with the historic commitment of not only reducing but also eradicating poverty , hunger in a sustainable way . The new agenda clearly recognizes the centrality of food security , nutrition and sustainable agriculture development . The full range of Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved without rapid progress in eliminating hunger and malnutrition by 2030 . At the same time , reaching the other SDGs will make easier the task of ending hunger and extreme poverty . We have made progress in the past years , but we still have many challenges ahead . The number of hungry people has dropped by over 200 million since 1990 . Over 70 developing countries , out of the 120 monitored by FAO , have met the Millennium Development Goal hunger target . But there is much more to be done . Nearly 800 million people continue to suffer from chronic hunger . This is unacceptable . We can only rest when we achieve zero hunger . To do so we must invest responsibly , responding to the needs of the world ´ s poor population , and promote inclusive growth . Agriculture and rural development are central to this effort , as over 70 percent of the world ´ s poor and food insecure live in rural areas of developing countries . It is clear that we need to build more sustainable agriculture and food systems , that are resilient to stresses and better able to cope with – and respond to the climate change impact But let me add that investing in sustainable agriculture is crucial , but still not enough . Ending hunger also needs well-designed social protection systems . The combination of productive support and social protection is the only way to ensure the food and nutrition security of today ´ s hungry . The three Rome-based Agencies have estimated the additional investment needed to end hunger : only 160 dollars per year per person living in extreme poverty in the next 15 years . This represents less than half percent of the global income in 2014 . And it is only a small fraction of the cost that hunger and malnutrition impose on economies , societies and people . Mr . President , Excellencies , Ladies and Gentlemen , We have an enormous task ahead of us . But one that we can tackle successfully if we work together . FAO has supported the Post-2015 Development Agenda process . FAO is committed to continue to be part of this effort , by supporting governments and working with non-state actors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals This is the time to unite our forces to realize the “ Future we want ”. Thank you for your attention . HEALTHCARE 89 88 HEALTHCARE Dr Margaret Chan , Director-General of the World Health Organization Remarks at the G7 Health Ministers Meeting . Session on Ebola : lessons learned and the International Health Regulations . Berlin , Germany 9 October 2015 WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL ADDRESSES G7 HEALTH MINISTERS ON EBOLA Honourable ministers , ladies and gentlemen , I will focus my remarks on lessons learned and the IHR . Managing the global regime for controlling the international spread of disease is a central and historical responsibility of WHO . In a given year , WHO manages around 100 outbreaks of familiar diseases , like cholera , dengue , meningitis , and many others . This Ebola outbreak was different . It was complex in size and context , present in three countries which were unfamiliar with the disease and ill-prepared . Since Ebola first emerged in 1976 , WHO and its partners have responded to 22 previous outbreaks . Even the largest of these were controlled within four to six months . The outbreak in West Africa has been different . The Ebola virus is well-equipped to take advantage of any weaknesses in preparedness , any gaps in control measures . The event in West Africa was a dramatic and tragic revelation of weaknesses and gaps . Clinicians had no vaccine , no treatment , and no personal equipment specifically designed to protect them from one of the deadliest pathogens known . All responders had difficulty finding sufficient numbers of experienced clinicians and epidemiologists . Much about the disease , including its modes of transmission , natural history , and clinical features , was poorly understood . This is the fear factor . Let me give you a comparison . In the Philippines after the typhoon , WHO coordinated 150 medical teams . For Ebola , less than five medical teams could be deployed . On this , I thank the German government for mobilizing volunteers , its Red Cross staff , and the military . Germany was the first country to accept non-German Ebola patients for treatment at its hospitals . The virus circulated in Guinea for three months , undetected , off every radar screen , initially misdiagnosed as cholera , later thought to be Lassa fever . This tells us the early warning system was not working . Nor was adequate diagnostic capacity available . It took neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone several weeks to confirm that the virus had entered their territories . These delays gave the virus a head start with explosive momentum . In Sierra Leone , the entire health system was overwhelmed less than six weeks after the first case was confirmed . National and international responses ran behind the virus and did not begin to catch up until late October of last year . This is my first point . No regime for global governance can manage the invisible . The simultaneous outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo operated almost like a control group . This was the country ’ s seventh Ebola outbreak . It was prepared . “ Since Ebola first emerged in 1976 , WHO and its partners have responded to 22 previous outbreaks . Even the largest of these were controlled within four to six months .” Image : www . shutterstock . com CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAINABILITY 113 112 CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAINABILITY A basic assumption we should make in the process of understanding better the relations between sustainability as a long term concept and our daily life is that all of us ( either as individuals or as institutions ) have a share of the responsibility to deliver a better planet to the next generations . And the way we exercise this responsibility is demonstrated and materialised through the choices we make . And while the choices and decisions of institutions are emerging via policies , the decisions and choices of individuals are emerging via lifestyles . The concept of sustainable lifestyles has emerged over the last 20 years within the global efforts to promote Sustainable Consumption and Production ( SCP ). They are broadly defined as “ patterns of action and consumption , used by people to affiliate and differentiate themselves from others , which : meet basic needs , provide a better quality of life , minimise the use of natural resources and emissions of waste and pollutants over the lifecycle , and do not jeopardise the needs of future generations ”. While this definition could be applied to every society at any development stage we need to acknowledge that for someone to demonstrate a sustainable lifestyle needs to have : • Available market options ( in terms of available goods and services ) that will help her / him to make sustainable choices ; • Access to these options from both a physical and economic point of view ; SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES : FROM INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY TO COLLECTIVE IMPACT Dr . Stefanos Fotiou , Head of “ Cities and Lifestyles ” Unit , United Nations Environment Programme • Capacity to evaluate the sustainability of the options that is on offer . It is quite often supported that a number of small things we can do as citizens or consumers have the potential to influence sustainability . We have all heard messages like “ take a shower instead of a bath ” ( and what about the millions of people without access to water ?) and “ consume organic food instead of agriculture produces grown by industrial methods ” ( and what about the millions without access to basic food ?). Even if we assume that a big number of individuals has the necessary options , access and capacity to make sustainable choices , can se assume that all such individual acts will result on a collective and big impact ? The answer to this question depends on the conditions upon which these choices are made and the way the results of these decisions are projected in the overall socio-economic system . To be able to add all the good results of individual choices to big collective impact we must make sure that some other conditions are also met . We need first to acknowledge that individual action and small environmental choices is a necessary condition for sustainability to happen ; but it is not sufficient . Still , government has a critical role in harvesting these small opportunities . As a recent UNEP report reveals “ pro-environment actions can only be sustained or scaled up if a broader culture of sustainability is developed and institutionalised , and true sustainability driven innovation is fostered . In this case , these actions can contribute and become part of the norm , supported by the necessary systems and infrastructure ”. For sustainable lifestyles to be part of our cultures and societies and become part of our everyday lives , they must be enabled and developed at all levels , through the social and technical systems and institutions that surround us . We need also to make sure that any action on promoting sustainable lifestyles results in a fair distribution or responsibility among the people . There are many studies showing that people will welcome pro-active sustainability polices , including economic measures , provided that : i ) these policies and measures are justified ; ii ) any economic benefits derived are used for the common wellbeing ; and iii ) that the distribution of economic burden is done under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility . We further need to ensure that the results of individual actions when aggregated are not measured only in relative terms but in absolute numbers as well . There is a tendency to calculate sustainability gains in relative terms – relative to no gains at all . This approach holds up the unsustainable business-as-usual scenario as the default , bar a few quick fixes . Yet , while sustainability initiatives are growing , the unsustainable ones are growing at a faster rate , cancelling out all the gains . Relative gains do not solve the problem if the whole system remains unsustainable . To make individual choices part of a much bigger collective result on sustainable development we need a big focus on education , knowledge , awareness and information . We need to provide knowledge , values and skills to enable individuals and societies to go beyond responsible consumption and become actors of change . � 84 FOOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER Mr . President , Excellencies , Ladies and Gentleman . Thank you for drawing the world ’ s attention back to the victims of Syria ’ s ongoing conflict . Since the beginning of this crisis , the World Food Programme has worked to address the daily food and nutrition needs of 4 million people inside Syria and of 2.3 million people outside Syria . In 2012 , I made my first visit to Jordan ’ s Zaatari Refugee Camp . WFP was there working with our partners to provide hot meals to those arriving and monthly food rations to the 17,000 Syrians then calling the camp home . As I was walking through the camp I met women who had walked for miles carrying small children in search of shelter , food , and safety . I met children who had already been out of school for weeks , for months – and this was in 2012 . I met husbands and fathers who were angry ! Angry because conflict had forced them to leave their farms , their livestock , or their small business . Angry because they could now only feed their families by standing in lines for food , water and bread . Because we recognized the importance of bread in the diets of Syrian families , we also began baking and distributing 130,000 pieces of pitta bread per day in addition to our usual rations . A man began following me through the camp and shouting at me in Arabic . I asked the translator to find out what the man was shouting . He began shouting louder and crumbling a piece of the bread in his hand . The translator said “ He is angry about the bread .” “ He asks if you would feed this terrible bread to your children .” I said , “ Ask him what is wrong with the bread .” The man shouted back to me and the growing crowd , “ This is Jordanian bread , not Syrian bread !” He shouted “ This is not our bread ! This is bad bread !” I asked “ What was his business in Syria ?” He said , “ I am a Syrian baker !” The next day – and every day since – that man and other Syrian refugee bakers worked with our team in Zaatari to produce the right bread . We have since baked and distributed more than 360 million pieces of the right bread , Syrian bread . Bread represents the importance of getting the response right , avoiding a humanitarian response further complicating the already challenging political issues . The WFP Syrian response team is working across the region to meet the food and nutrition needs of the most vulnerable victims of the Syrian crisis . In the five neighboring countries , we are working outside Syria to serve refugees in both the camps like Zaatari as well as refugees hosted by community neighborhoods . And we are working inside Syria to serve the displaced in opposition- as well as in regimeheld areas . Excellencies , as you well know , the longer this crisis continues , its victims become ever more vulnerable . The more people suffer and die from starvation and malnutrition , stunted child development , deprived of nutrition they suffer from long term consequences of deteriorating health and broad despair . Those inside Syria ’ s highest-priority districts – with the highest concentration of displaced people – live without livelihoods , without an income , unable to meet their basic needs . Before the conflict began Syria was a net food exporter , but drought and conflict have put food increasingly out of reach . Food is harder to produce , harder to import . Inside Syria , wheat is twice as expensive as it was before the crisis . Rice , four times as expensive . Bread prices are up 55 percent . As a result any food available , is – too often , for too many – inaccessible . 6.8 million people require critical food assistance . More than half a million more than this time last year . The decline in food security and the destruction and weakening of water and health services have created a serious nutritional crisis . Four million Syrian women and children require preventative and curative nutrition services . Families face and make impossible decisions to find and access food . Parents pull their children out of school to search for work . Food becomes part of negotiations to marry off young daughters or release children to fight in armed groups . Gandhi said “ to the mother of a hungry child , a piece of bread is the face of God .” Gandhi was right . We cannot let that piece of bread be delivered by an extremist . We regularly monitor to ensure the appropriate distribution of WFP food . Despite our diligence , we did have one widely reported incident where a small amount food WFP was stolen by ISIS and distributed with much publicity on social media . Inside Syria negotiating humanitarian access to besieged areas can involve up to 50 parties . Determining which routes to take , the times to go , the quantities to be delivered , and even the land mines to avoid can take anything from ten days to ten months . Where we reach today , we too often cannot reach tomorrow . Idleb and Ar-Raqqa — once regularly accessible — are now unreachable , even with air bridges . ERTHARIN COUSIN ’ S STATEMENT TO THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 24TH , 2015 WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin ’ s Statement to the United Nations Security Council , Delivered on 24 April 2015 thomas koch / Shutterstock . com FOOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER 84 FOOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER 100 HEALTHCARE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS SUSTAINABLE FINANCING - TACKLING NCDS IS NO EXCEPTION Dr . Oleg Chestnov , WHO Assistant Director-General , Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Commentary , 11 August 2015 I recently heard the story of Evelyne Musera , a woman being treated for her Type 2 diabetes in Nairobi . Like many Kenyans , Evelyne pays out of her own pocket for the visit , plus the medicines she needs . On top of that , her taxi fares eat into her hard-earned money , and when she skips work to visit the hospital , she is not getting paid . Many others are not so lucky , and are missing out on care altogether due to the relatively high health care costs involved . Evelyne ’ s example offers a glimpse of what millions of people , and the governments charged with their care , are confronted by worldwide when it comes to generating the finances needed to prevent and control diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases , namely cardiovascular and lung diseases , and cancers . Each year , 16 million people die prematurely before the age of 70 from NCDs . Strikingly , 4 out of 5 of these deaths occur in developing countries like Kenya , making such diseases one of the major development challenges of the 21st century . If countries don ’ t change tack on NCDs , an estimated $ 7 trillion could be lost in developing countries over the next 15 years . This contrasts starkly with the cost of action : $ 11 billion a year to implement a set of NCD interventions in all developing countries . Responsive sustainable development goals for NCD ’ s Later this year , countries will gather in New York for the U . N . General Assembly . They will discuss the proposed sustainable development goals , which for the first time recognize the huge impact of NCDs worldwide . The aim is to decrease premature deaths from NCDs by onethird by 2030 and to strengthen implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control . Achieving any SDG requires sustainable domestic and international financing . NCDs have long been hidden , misunderstood and under-recorded , and were omitted from the Millennium Development Goals . As a result , NCDs have traditionally struggled to gain significant financing . They have emerged relatively unnoticed in the developing world , while the focus of the international community has been on combating HIV , AIDS , malaria and tuberculosis . But the explicit inclusion of NCDs and the WHO FCTC in the SDGs reflects the significant increase in momentum to tackle these diseases . This historic decision is grounded in the commitments made by world leaders in 2011 and 2014 at the United Nations to track the epidemic proportions of NCDs and its impact on development , make prevention the cornerstone of the global response , and strengthen health systems . The third U . N . International Conference on Financing for Development , held July 13-16 in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , resulted in the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda , a new framework to finance the SDGs . This agenda highlights the enormous burden NCDs place on both developed and developing countries . It emphasizes that price and tax measures on tobacco can reduce tobacco consumption and health care costs , as well as representing a revenue stream for financing the SDGs in many countries . It commits parties to the WHO FCTC to strengthen implementation of the convention . Financing for NCD initiatives within reach The achievements of the Addis conference went beyond the action agenda . New initiatives to implement the SDGs were announced at 6 multi-stakeholder roundtables and 180 side events , including one on financing for health organized by WHO , Barbados and Thailand . The Working Group on Financing for NCDs of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs presented the findings of its interim report , “ Financing National NCD Responses in the Post-2015 Era ”, that builds on commitments made in Addis Ababa . The report highlights that significant additional investments are required to meet , by 2030 , the NCD-related targets included in the SDGs . For national NCD responses to be implemented and sustained , any new financing will rely primarily on domestic public resources . Reducing NCD deaths is not expensive : Banning all forms of tobacco advertising , replacing trans fats with polyunsaturated fats , restricting or banning alcohol advertising , preventing heart attacks and strokes , promoting breast-feeding , implementing public awareness programs on diet and physical activity , and preventing cervical cancer through screening are all low-cost and effective public health measures within the reach of most governments . However , it is equally important that wealthy nations provide more and higher-quality resources to the most in-need countries to complement domestic resources for NCDs . NCDs continue to receive the smallest amount of official development assistance among all major global health areas , accounting for 1 % of official development assistance ( ODA ). Partnerships needed to fight NCDs The WHO report also highlights the need for a broader range of investors , including the private sector , which must become a key player in the NCDs fight . Contributions from philanthropists will continue to play an increasingly important role . Also , closer and more effective engagement with civil society is vital if we are to turn the tide against NCDs . The report also highlights opportunities to align government policies in sectors like finance , investment , trade and development to , in turn , support government health policies striving to curb the NCDs epidemic . Tobacco tax revenues were also identified in Addis as an important source of new sustainable funding for health . Governments already collect over $ 270 billion in tobacco excise tax revenues each year , according to the report . To date , at least 30 countries are earmarking tobacco tax revenues for health purposes . Thailand , for instance , has used revenues generated from a 2 percent surtax on tobacco and alcohol to fund the ThaiHealth Foundation , which supports health promotion activities . If the world wants to live up to its promise that no country or person will be left behind , the international development community needs to support domestic efforts in the poorest countries to achieve the NCD-related SDG targets . This will require harnessing ODA to develop institutional capacity for NCDs . Donors must improve their efforts to raise public and private finances . The call for increased investment in NCDs is growing louder , from rural hospital doctors to the 12 first ladies in Africa who are calling for more financing to fight cancer on the continent . These voices can no longer remain unanswered . They must be acted on , as people all over the world seek protection against NCDs . We must build a future that ensures that globalization becomes a positive force for all current and future generations . “ Achieving any SDG requires sustainable domestic and international financing .” 116 CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAINABILITY CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAI FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES , CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE G20 Peter Wooders , Group Director Energy , International Institute for Sustainable Development In 2009 the G20 countries agreed “ To phase out and rationalize over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies while providing targeted support for the poorest ” ( G20 , 2009 ). Since then , G20 governments have reconfirmed commitments to this action five times over — most recently , in Australia in November 2014 ( G20 , 2014a )— and reiterated in the G20 Principles on Energy Collaboration ( G20 , 2014b ). This year has seen wording on the issue included as a Means of Implementation , linked to financing , in other international statements such as the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa , and in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals . lobally , consumer subsidies to fossil fuels stood at USD 548 billion in 2013 ( International Energy Agency [ IEA ], 2014 ). More recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) finds that the 34 OECD countries and emerging economies ( Brazil , China , India , Indonesia , Russia and South Africa ) are spending between USD 160 – 200 billion supporting fossil fuel consumption and production . This inventory covers all G20 countries and more , with the exception of Saudi Arabia and South Korea . The Secretary General of the OECD , Angel Gurría , put it succinctly : “ Governments are spending almost twice as much money supporting fossil fuels as is needed to meet the climate-finance objectives set by the international community , which call for mobilizing 100 billion US dollars a year by 2020 ” ( qtd . in “ OECD : leading countries ,” 2015 ). Research from a GSI study of Turkey — host of the 2015 G20 summit — found spending of more than USD 730 million on annual subsidies to the coal industry ( Acar , Kitson , & Bridle , 2015 ). The future is clear . But what is needed now is action and leadership from the G20 to dismantle subsidies to fossil fuels to both consumers and producers — and reinvest the resulting savings into the low-carbon energy transition . Leadership is needed now more than ever in the context of both low oil prices and the efforts to build a new climate agreement in Paris at the end of 2015 . This leadership may come , but too late for this year . A recent U . S . statement supports China ’ s 2016 presidency of the G20 and commits to work to “ phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by a date certain ” ( Office of the Press Secretary , 2015 ). A timetable for phase out is now needed . Even in China , recent GSI research found consumer and producer subsidies for coal to be around USD 15.7 billion in 2013 ( Bridle , Gerasimchuk and Attwood , 2015 ). � Image : www . shutterstock . com FOOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER 8 on of productive support ection is the only way to d and nutrition security of e-based Agencies have dditional investment hunger : only 160 dollars rson living in extreme ext 15 years . less than half percent of me in 2014 . And it is only of the cost that hunger n impose on economies , eople . Excellencies , Ladies and ormous task ahead of us . e can tackle successfully if her . orted the Post-2015 Agenda process . ed to continue to be part of upporting governments and on-state actors to achieve Development Goals to unite our forces to realize want ”. our attention . HEALTHCAR CARE 89 Image : www . shutterstock . com CLIMATE CHANGE & SU & USTAINABIL A LITY 113 he concept of sustainable lifestyles has merged over the last 20 years within e global efforts to promote Sustainable onsumption and Production ( SCP ). They e broadly defined as “ patterns of action and onsumption , used by people to affiliate and fferentiate themselves from others , which : eet basic needs , provide a better quality of e , mini nimise the use of natural resources and missions of waste and pollutants over the ecycle , and do not jeopardise the needs of ture generations ”. While this definition could e applied to every society at any development age we need to acknowledge that for omeone to demonstrate a sustainable lifestyle eeds to have : Available market options ( in terms of vailable goods and services ) that will help her / m to make sustainable choices ; Acces ess to these options from both a hysical and economic point of view ; OM TO • Capacity to evaluate the sustainability of the options that is on offer . It is quite often supported that a number of small things we can do as citizens or consumers have the potential to influence sustainability . We have all heard messages like “ take a shower instead of a bath ” ( and what about the millions of people without access to water ?) and “ consume organic food instead of agriculture produces grown by industrial methods ” ( and what about the millions without access to basic food ?). Even if we assume that a big number of individuals has the necessary options , access and capacity to make sustainable choices , can se assume that all such individual acts will result on a collective and big impact ? The answer to this question depends on the conditions upon which these choices are made and the way the results of these decisions are projected in the overall socio-economic system . To be able to add all the good results of individual choices to big collective impact we must make sure that some other conditions are also met . We need first to acknowledge that individual action and small environmental choices is a necessary condition for sustainability to happen ; but it is not sufficient . Still , government has a critical role in harvesting these small opportunities . As a recent UNEP report reveals “ pro-environment actions can only be sustained or scaled up if a broader culture of sustainability is developed and institutionalised , and true sustainability driven innovation is fostered . In this case , these actions can contribute and become part of the norm , supported by the necessary systems and infrastructure ”. For sustainable lifestyles to be part of our cultures and societies and become part of our everyday lives , they must be enabled and developed at all levels , through the social and technical systems and institutions that surround us . We need also to make sure that any action on promoting sustainable lifestyles results in a fair distribution or responsibility among the people . There are many studies showing that people will welcome pro-active sustainability polices , including economic measures , provided that : i ) these policies and measures are justified ; ii ) an any economic benefits derived are used for the common wellbeing ; and iii ) that the distribution of economic burden is done under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility . We further need to ensure that the results of individual actions when aggregated are not measured only in relative terms but in absolute numbers as well . There is a tendency to calculate sustainability gains in relative terms – relative to no gains at all . This approach holds up the unsustainable business-as-usual scenario as the default , bar a few quick fixes . Yet , while sustainability initiatives are growing , the unsustainable ones are growing at a faster rate , cancelling out all the gains . Relative gains do not solve the problem if the whole system remains unsustainable . To make individual choices part of a much bigger collective result on sustainable development we need a big focus on education , knowledge , awareness and information . We need to provide knowledge , values and skills to enable individuals and societies to go beyond responsible consumption and become actors of change . � I h tt t k Image : www . shutterstock . com port . Inside Syria , wheat as it was before the crisis . pensive . Bread prices are vailable , is – too often , ssible . 6.8 million people sistance . More than half a time last year . curity and the destruction er and health services have itional crisis . Four million ildren require preventative services . ke impo possible decisions to Parents pull their children h for work . Food becomes marry off young daughters fight in armed groups . other of a hungry child , e face of God .” Gandhi let that at piece of bread be mist . o ensur ure the appropriate od . we did have one widely re a small amount food IS and distributed with ial media . g humanitarian access n involve up to 50 parties . utes to ta take , the times to e delivered , and even the an take anything from ten y , we too often cannot b and Ar-Raqqa — once are now unreachable , even N ’ S HE UN CIL thomas koch / Shutterstock . com FOO OOD , AGRICULTURE & WATER ted in the adoption Agenda , a new DGs . This agenda den NCDs place eloping countries . tax measures on o consumption and representing a the SDGs in many s to the WHO FCTC n of the convention . es within reach dis conference nda . New initiatives e announced at 6 es and 180 side ancing fo for health os and Thailand . ncing for NCDs ation Mechanism ings of its interim NCD Responses in lds on commitments nificant additional meet , by 2030 , the NCD-related targets included in the SDGs . For national NCD responses to be implemented and sustained , any new financing will rely primarily on domestic public resources . Reducing NCD deaths is not expensive : Banning all forms of tobacco advertising , replacing trans fats with polyunsaturated fats , restricting or banning alcohol advertising , preventing heart attacks and strokes , promoting breast-feeding , implementing public awareness programs on diet and physical activity , and preventing cervical cancer through screening are all low-cost and effective public health measures within the reach of most governments . However , it is equally important that wealthy nations provide more and higher-quality resources to the most in-need countries to complement domestic resources for NCDs . NCDs continue to receive the smallest amount of official development assistance among all major global health areas , accounting for 1 % of official development assistance ( ODA ). Partnerships needed to fight NCDs The WHO report also highlights the need for a broader range of investors , including the private sector , which must become a key player in the NCDs fight . Contributions from philanthropists will continue to play an increasingly important role . Also , closer and more effective engagement with civil society is vital if we are to turn the tide against NCDs . The report also highlights opportunities to align government policies in sectors like finance , investment , trade and development to , in turn , support government health policies striving to curb the NCDs epidemic . Tobacco tax revenues were also identified in Addis as an important source of new sustainable funding for health . Governments already collect over $ 270 billion in tobacco excise tax revenues each year , according to the report . To date , at least 30 countries are earmarking toba bacco tax revenues for health purp rposes . Thailand , for instance , has used revenues generated from a 2 percent surtax on tobacco and alcohol to fund the ThaiHealth Foundation , which support rts health promotion activities . If the world wants to live up to its promise that no country or person will be left behind , the international development community needs to support domestic efforts in the poorest countries to achieve the NCD-related SDG targets . This will require harnessing ODA to develop institutional capacity for NCDs . Donors must improve their efforts to raise public and private finances . The call for increased investment in NCDs is growing louder , from rural hospital doctors to the 12 first ladies in Africa who are calling for more financing to fight cancer on the continent . These voices can no longer remain unanswered . They must be acted on , as people all over the world seek protection against NCDs . We must build a future that ensures that globalization becomes a positive force for all current and future generations . “ Achieving any SDG requires sustainable domestic and international finan ancing .” 88 100 82 84 112 116