Dear Colleagues,

Officially, the 81st UNGA High-level week  (18-28 Sept) kicks off today, although the General Debate only starts next Tuesday. Later today, the annual  ‘SDG moment’  is taking place. Doubt it’ll be a festive occasion, even if I largely agree with Jonathan Glennie’s  take on the SDGs:  they told us what matters. Sadly, though, instead of steadily getting closer to the SDGs as the deadline is approaching, mankind is increasingly flirting with ‘end times’, it appears (see eg Naomi Klein  & Vance for some slightly different takes on these end times). Unlike the MDG agenda, the SDG agenda turned out a ‘universal one’ indeed. Trouble is: we collectively botched it – even if some people are obviously far more guilty than others.

And so, instead of the sustainable development we were promised, we now face three existential risks ( & counting): the climate breakdown (& more in general planetary boundaries emergency); nuclear risks/weapons of mass destruction (back...