16 – UN Meeting Summary the 2015 Paris Agreement & Sustainable Development Goals: What’S Next?

February 25, 2016 – UN Meeting Summary The 2015 Paris Agreement & Sustainable Development Goals: What’s Next? Opening: Marty Kaplan, the director of the USC Annenberg School Norman Lear Center, welcomed the 90+ guests and thanked Lyn and Norman Lear for hosting the event with the UN delegation. Lyn, a co- founder of the Environmental Media Association 25 years ago, described the history of gatherings in the Lears’ home concerning climate change issues, starting with the launch of the Lear Center’s climate change initiative in 2012, featuring Bill McKibben and Jim Hansen; a 2014 meeting in support of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s Climate Summit; and last year, a meeting prior to the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris. After brief self-introductions by all participants, two UN guests spoke: • Ambassador Tomas AnKer Christensen, Chef de Cabinet of the Office to the President of the UN General Assembly and former Senior Adviser for Partnerships for the Secretary-General, who led the planning, organizing and execution of the UN 2014 Climate Summit • Under-Secretary-General Dr. David Nabarro, Special Adviser for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, who is working with member states and stakeholders to galvanize action on implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org Tomas addressed his new position at the UN working with the General Assembly’s President Mogens Lykketoft, previously Denmark’s Minister of Finance, whose priority is implementing the 17 SDGs, agreed on at the UN in September 2015. This monumental achievement was achieved amid the plethora of world crises from refugees in Europe to the conflict in Syria. “The SDGs work to bend the climate curve by 2030,” he said. The Agenda is a 15-year plan to achieve the SDGs: 1. No Poverty 2. Zero Hunger 3. Good Health & Well-being 4. Quality Education 5. Gender Equality 6. Clean Water & Sanitation 7. Affordable & Clean Energy 8. Decent Work & Economic Growth 9. Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure 10. Reduced Inequalities 11. Sustainable Cities & Communities 12. Responsible Consumption & Production 13. Climate Action 14. Life Below Water 15. Life On Land 16. Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions 17. Partnerships for the Goals 1 USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center Hollywood, Health & Society The document “UN@70 – A New Commitment to Action” (see page 6 at the end of this summary), describes the April 21 kick-off event for the SDGs the day before the Paris Climate Agreement is signed by heads of nations at the UN in NYC. Dr. Nabarro shared his background as a medical doctor and how his work led to his current UN position. From the Turkish border of Iraq, to Nepal and Bangladesh, the lack of access to food, water, land, income and health care pointed him to work on the interconnected issues causing these problems: agriculture, land use, lack of family planning and poverty. There has been progress, such as the annual cost of HIV medication decreasing from $1000 to $100. If we work together, these issues can be solved. Initially framed as the Millennium Goals, those efforts have accomplished changes, such as massive reductions in poverty for poor countries. This success led nations to develop the SDGs in 2015 to apply to every county. Leaders from 193 nations negotiated and agreed to this charter – a manifesto to transform the world by 2030. The challenge is to make this manifesto come to life. To make it happen means millions of people must call their governments to account. Creating a new kind accountability is necessary and can be done through social media and the internet. It worked with AIDS and can be applied to climate change, women’s rights and the other SDGs. The effort requires partnerships. Collective brains, hearts and souls must connect with these goals and stimulate countless movements so people know the goals and tell others. This requires storytellers–shows, documentaries, virtual reality. Hollywood can inspire Nollywood and Bollywood—that’s how creative energy works—bringing in a new way of looking at these issues. Tomas noted that Ban Ki-Moon’s strategy to get a deal in Paris included working with the financial and creative communities and other partners. It was successful through your help. Each UN agency has its own sources of funding. David’s group has no budget from the UN and is supported by donations. (The meeting on February 25, 2016 raised $250,000. With continued efforts we intend to raise between $1.5 to 3 million dollars from outside investors and donors.) The floor opened to questions and comments from attendees, including these: Where can the creative community turn to learn more? We’ve looked at global epidemics - what about domestic issues? How about sub-national efforts in cities and states? We have 5 years left for peak emissions; given the urgency of the issue, what about the near-term? What about animal agriculture and food, which is also responsible for greenhouse emissions? Do we need a martyr for the campaign, such as the former president of the Maldives in jail, or the white rhino? Does fear scare people into inaction? What about animal welfare? What truths can we say that the UN can’t? Are there hotspots where we should direct our efforts? What are the priorities among the 17 SDGs? How do we measure progress? How do we make it real on a day-to-day level? The discussion that followed included recommendations and observations: • Tell a story for each goal, locally and globally, i.e.: 80% of greenhouse gases happen in cities (city actions are happening with former Mayor Bloomberg and mobilized in Paris). • Create more films like An Inconvenient Truth, Contagion and Avatar, and series like The Years of Living Dangerously – as amplifiers of the message. • Build a business case for climate action; create an economic narrative for solar and clean energies. Think of ways to convert this into practice and communicate it. • Lower meat production by eating less meat–discuss with peers and audiences. 2 USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center Hollywood, Health & Society • Health education. As temperatures warm, Dengue, Valley Fever, other outbreaks and epidemics will be a big danger. We need the health system to be able handle it. • Connect with Itai Madamombe, Senior Adviser for Innovative Partnerships at the UN, who was present at the meeting and is working with the creative community - [email protected] • Act quickly. (The last IPCC figures are from 10-year-old measurements.) Respond to the warning now – not to a crisis later. • Increase all efforts. A massive mobilization campaign is needed! • Envision a positive alternative future. • What is needed is a disruption of the global economy—to redirect 6 billion dollars in the next few years. • Encourage the changes to sustainable investments (e.g., Bill McKibben’s fossil fuel divestment campaigns), and changes in consumer behavior and city planning. • Agriculture (soil is a great carbon sink), energy production/consumption and the building of transportation drive changes. • Celebrities amplify the message (i.e.: Ed Norton UN’s Goodwill Ambassadors for endangered species). • We need modern measurement techniques to factor in cost of climate change and inaction to food, water, etc. • Martyrs: millions in Ethiopia suffering from the El Niño drought, people of the Small Island Nations, the indigenous people in Greenland. The rate of species extinction is unprecedented and irreversible. • Be annoying. Keep up the noise, irritation and pressure so it can’t be tuned out. Activists have been too well-behaved. Norman Lear reported on his visit to Mark Ruffalo’s “Toxic Tour,” a Hollywood United event with Leonardo DiCaprio at four locations around LA where 580,000 people living near oil and gas drilling sites suffer symptoms from oil and methane leaks, e.g., a Latino father from Porter Ranch who spoke of his family’s bleeding noses and skin rashes. A call-out to Gov. Brown to stop fracking, it’s an example of turning up the noise and amplifying the message with celebrities. Dr. Nabarro, who intends to communicate with this group every 2 months and return every year, summarized this session: • How to tell the story – link the scary part to the upside. • Use martyrs – and heroes, too. • Always include a human face. • Listen to indigenous people who know. • Connect to soil, water, air and nature – make a connection to agro-ecology. • Look for content amplifiers. Lyn Lear’s film What’s Possible? which opened and closed the UN 2014 Climate Summit was screened. The film about solutions to climate change and a livable future was written by Scott Burns and directed by Louie Schwartzberg. Hans Zimmer composed the score and it was narrated by Morgan Freeman. Also shown was “Love Song to the Earth,” written by Jerry Cope and Toby Gad and performed by Paul McCartney, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean Paul, Leona Lewis, Fergie, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow and others. Daniel Thomas, Communications Director and Spokesperson for the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly, spoke with the group about the trajectory of the efforts. When the UN requested 3 USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center Hollywood, Health & Society that the entertainment community mobilize the world and pressure leaders for the 2014 Climate Summit, it stepped up. The Climate March in New York City supported the effort, and now the momentum must continue to communicate the SDGs. Campaigns include: • “Project Everyone,” directed by Richard Curtis, included social media to tell 7 billion in 7 days; also the Global Citizen Festival, the film We are the People, and a global cinema ad. These efforts feature stars including Bono, Stephen Hawking, Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Daniel Craig, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Mark Strong, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, and Meryl Streep.

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