Events

A vision of the world’s future – environment and socio-economic development. The UN Earth Summit: Stockholm +50 on the 2nd-3rd June 2022 was a crucial environmental meeting with consultations and discussions with individuals, communities, organisations and governments around the world. It commemorated the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment and celebrated 50 years of global environmental action. By recognising the importance of multilateralism in tacking climate, nature and pollution, this event aimed to accelerate the implementation of the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, including the 2030 Agenda, Paris Agreement on climate change, the post-2020 global Biodiversity Framework, and encouraged the adoption of green post-COVID-19 recover plans. We invite you to join the UNAA and our distinguished speaker Mr Jamie Isbister to discuss the key messages that commemorated the International Day on Environment and the outcomes of this Stockholm Conference. Mr Isbister will speak broadly on climate and environmental issues and draw on important work being done in the Indo-Pacific. Let us together explore the theme of this conference: “Stockholm +50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity”. Note: Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees ahead of the event. About the speaker Mr Jamie Isbister was appointed Australia’s Ambassador for the Environment in November 2019. He is responsible for promoting and protecting Australia’s national interests on global environmental issues, including through leading Australia’s negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He is also the head of the Climate Change and Sustainability Division in DFAT. Mr Isbister holds a Master of Policy Studies from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales/University of New England.

With less than eight years left to achieve the UN SDGs, there is no better time to support the global movement for greater peace, prosperity, and sustainability. Global challenges can only be solved when we all work together. That’s why we must flip the script to show that change is possible. We must re-imagine the narrative and turn apathy into action. Turn fear into hope. Division into togetherness. At the UN SDG Action Campaign, we look to 2022 as a year of innovation and resolution, and we will work with all our partners across all sectors to make sure we are part of the solution. Every action matters – no matter how great or small. We will flip the script on our own approaches to help mobilize, inspire and connect our global community of SDG actors. This is our moment, and the time is now. Victoria and Spark Strategy have combined to produce a practical handbook  to help organisations align to the SDGs. In developing the handbook, we’ve been inspired by Australia’s growing SDG momentum driven by the dedication and determination of many Australian SDG advocates and champions. But there is still a long way to go and a lot of work to do.  More than 20 businesses, government authorities, universities and community sector organisations have been interviewed, with all providing tips and advice to help organisations wanting to get started and those looking to build on what they have done so far.  They hope the handbook inspires more to apply the Goals, either for the first time or building on existing SDG work. And that it provides clear practical guidance and a strong foundation to support and strengthen the use of the SDGs. Zoom link will be emailed to all registered attendees the day of the event. About the speakers: Sophie Arnold is Executive Manager of the UN Association of Australia’s Victorian Division (UNAA Victoria). A journalist by training, Sophie covered politics and industrial relations before becoming a media adviser to the Victorian Government and Premier, Joan Kirner. Sophie then ran a successful media and communications practice, providing services such as development of communications strategies, media training and issues management to government, corporate and not for profit agencies. Julie Boulton is a sustainability strategist at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), specialising in the application and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She provides strategic advice and analysis across all 17 SDGs, with a particular focus on SDG 12, responsible consumption and production, and its applicability to the textile and fashion industry in Australia.

“The outcome of COP26 is a compromise. It reflects the interests, the contradictions and the state of political will in the world today. It is an important step, but it is not enough” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the conclusion of the conference. Where does Australia figure in constructing this compromise? In contrast to decades of volatility and chaos in domestic policy, Australia’s international positioning has been generally consistent and constructive. Several of the key elements of the Paris Agreement (2015) architecture reflect Australian priorities, especially universal participation in mitigation of emissions. With COP 26’s conclusion of the rules needed to implement what was agreed in Paris, Australia can be satisfied that it has helped to shape a framework that makes it possible to respond effectively to climate change. But will Australia contribute what is needed in substance to meet that goal? Join us as Professor Bamsey shares his reflections on the UN Climate Change Conference and its context, focusing on Australia’s contribution. Note zoom link will be emailed separately to attendees after registration. About the speaker Howard Bamsey is Chair of the Global Water Partnership and Honorary Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University. He is a member of the boards of the Climate Policy Initiative and Climate Works Australia. He was previously Executive Director at the Green Climate Fund and Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute. He has served as Special Adviser on Sustainable Development to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Special Adviser on Green Growth to AusAID. Earlier he was Australia’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, a Deputy Secretary in the Australian Public Service and CEO of the Australian Greenhouse Office. He held several appointments at ambassadorial level in the Australian foreign service.

The promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - to leave no one behind - cannot be fulfilled without putting an end to violence against women and girls. This year’s theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now!” Like in previous years, this year's International Day will mark the launch of 16 Days of Activism that will conclude on 10 December 2021, International Human Rights Day. The colour orange represents a brighter future, free from violence against women and girls, as a unifying theme running through all the global activities of the UNiTE Campaign. Join the UNAA ACT Division as we listen to Honorary Associate Professor Sally Moyle speak to the need to build more positive relations of power if we are to eliminate violence, and the role of intersectional gender equality in that endeavour. All of the great global challenges we face are built on systems of dominance — human power over the environment leading to global heating; geopolitical ‘might is right’ delivering armed conflict and endemic poverty; systems of corruption and inequality marginalising whole communities and entrenching privilege. The antidote to these systems of dominance lies in intersectional gender equality and seriously addressing violence against women.  The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign, launched in 2008, is a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls around the world calling for global action to increase awareness, galvanize advocacy and create opportunities for discussion about challenges and solutions. About the speaker Sally Moyle is an Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU, associated with the Gender Institute. Sally has had extensive experience in international development policy and practice, and almost twenty years’ experience addressing gender issues both domestically and in international development.  Most recently, until August 2019, Sally was the Chief Executive Officer at CARE Australia, and, between 2013 and 2016, was the Principal Gender Specialist and Assistant Secretary with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Sally has been in senior executive roles in the Australian Government since 2008, including DFAT, the Office for Women, and working on Indigenous Affairs and in Disability Care in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Sally was the Gender Adviser in AusAID between 2006 and 2008. Prior to joining AusAID in 2006, Sally had senior roles at the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Australian Law Reform Commission and practised as a lawyer.

The future we want, the United Nations we need UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being. The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us in the most powerful way that we are closely interconnected and only by working together and in solidarity we can build resilience against future pandemics and other global challenges. There is no other global organization with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations. Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater. We invite you to join with the UNAA to hear from our distinguished speaker Mr Gary Quinlan, who will draw from his extensive career in the UN to share reflections on the role of UN multilateralism in the contemporary world. One where relations between states have changed so decisively and where the world order established after WW2 is under fundamental challenge. Let us together explore the role of the UN, its reform and the importance of Australia’s position in fostering its objectives. Note: Zoom connection details will be emailed to your registered email ahead of the event. About the speaker Mr Gary Quinlan AO was Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2009 until January 2015, and Australian Representative on the United Nations Security Council 2013-2014. Mr Quinlan has extensive experience in multilateral negotiations on UN matters, law of the sea and the Antarctic. Most recently he was Ambassador to Indonesia from 2018 until early 2021.  Mr Quinlan was Australia’s Chief Negotiator with Timor Leste on the Maritime Boundaries Treaty signed in 2018. His other overseas assignments have been as Deputy Head of Mission in Washington DC, 2005-2007; High Commissioner to Singapore, 2001-2005; First Secretary, Australian Mission to the United Nations, New York, 1981-1985; Australian Deputy Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Paris 1979-1981, and Second Secretary in the Australian Embassy in Dublin, 1974-1977.

The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire. In line with this, we also commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in support of achieving global nuclear disarmament, one of the oldest goals of the United Nations. Let’s get together and listen to Dr Sue Wareham share her thoughts on Australia and the UN’s call for Member States to support a “sustained humanitarian pause” to local conflicts. The global ceasefire must continue to be honoured, to ensure people caught in conflict have access to lifesaving vaccinations and treatments.   We invite you to join the efforts of the United Nations family as we focus on recovering better for a more equitable and peaceful world. Celebrate peace by standing up against acts of hate online and offline, and by spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the pandemic, and as we recover WHEN: Wednesday 22 September 2021 TIME: (6:15 pm) 6:30 – 7:30 pm   WHERE: Zoom. Link to be provided to registered attendees prior to the event date Speaker Dr Sue Wareham Dr Sue Wareham OAM is President of the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) and a board member of ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons). ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr Wareham is also Secretary of Australians for War Powers Reform. Dr Wareham is a former Canberra GP.