The UNAA News: October Issue

Welcome to the October edition of UNAA News!
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Mario D'Elia announced as UNAA National President

The UNAA is pleased to announce the appointment of Mario D'Elia as the UNAA's National President. Mario is a former Partner at PwC, having led its Infrastructure Advisory Practice, and takes over from Major General Michael Smith AO (Ret’d) who led the UNAA with distinction for three years in revitalising the UNAA. Click here for the UNAA's full media release and read Mario's profile here.

"We're seeing already in business, that you're left behind if you're not leading to create change in policy areas important to customers, partners, stakeholders and Australians; such as climate change, gender equality and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.' - Mario D'Elia, UNAA National President

UN & Australia Sustainable Partnerships Forum website launch

Our Sustainable Partnership Forum website is now live! The Forum will be held on 14-16 April 2020 at Melbourne's MCG. For event details and partnership information, please visit our Forum website.

Program Outline

Interested in partnering with us? View our Partnership Prospectus here.
For enquiries and to join our Forum mailing list, email office@unaavictoria.org.au.

21-23 September 2019, New York

"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to her for hope? How dare you!"
- Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old climate activist

The 2019 Climate Action Summit united governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities and other international organisations to develop ambitious global solutions to combat climate change. The Summit also aligned with the International Day of Peace (20 September) and inaugural UN Youth Climate Summit (21 September). Some major announcements from the Summit included:

Carbon emissions

65 countries and major sub-national economies committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050
China committed to cutting emissions by over 12 billion tonnes annually

Financial commitments

12 countries made inaugural financial commitments to the Green Climate Fund
The Climate Investment Platform was announced, which will mobilise USD $1 trillion in clean energy investment by 2025 in 20 Least-Developed Countries

Private sector

87 major companies with a combined market capitalisation of over USD $2.3 trillion pledged to reduce their emissions and align their business practices towards preventing the 1.5-degree threshold
130 banks signed up to align their businesses with the Paris Agreement goals

People-centred action

The Safe Air Initiative will call on national, regional and state levels governments to commit to improving air quality and air pollution policies
32 national governments committed to implementing gender-responsive climate change action plans, policies and strategies and empowering women

Stay informed: Tipping Point is a new VICE series that reports environmental justice stories about the people and communities experiencing climate change first-hand. Read about 11 young climate activists, who are Indigenous or people of colour, taking action.

Stay tuned for an insider report from a Summit attendee in our next issue!

On 24-25 September, world leaders gathered to review progress of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This inaugural UN SDG Summit resulted in the adoption of a Political Declaration launching 'an ambitious and accelerated response to reach our common vision by 2030, and pledging to make the coming decade one of action and delivery.' More than 100 acceleration actions have been announced.

United Nations Day Celebrations
(October 2019)

United Nations Day marks the anniversary of the UN's establishment from the ratification of the UN Charter on 24 October 1945. See below for UN Day celebrations across Australia!

Launch of UNAA Reconciliation Action Plan
(13 October 2019)

The UNAA was pleased to launch its first UNAA Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) at the UNAA SA UN Day Dinner on 13 October 2019. We would like to thank Gavin Wanganeen for his attendance and Cabana Productions for their excellent support! Please see below a selection of photos from the night. To find out more about our RAP or partnering with us, click here.

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

WFUNA 16+ Forum: Timor-Leste Annual Showcase
(11-14 November 2019)

In April 2016, WFUNA launched the 16+ Forum, a platform committed to implementing SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) in policy and practice for a range of stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, the UN, academia, regional and international organisations. The 16+ Forum holds an annual forum to showcase SDG 16+ in action, highlighting lessons learnt and how to best approach peacebuilding and governance. Read more about the 2019 Annual Showcase in Timor-Leste here and register for free today!

UN internship opportunity

Two UN intern positions have opened to join the Department of Global Communication's dynamic team in ensuring a strong and successful UN pavilion and presence at the Expo 2020 in Dubai. The application deadline is this Sunday 20th October (New York time).

The internship is advertised here. It is envisaged that one will focus on supporting contents and programming, the other on supporting partnerships and fundraising. Please note that these internships are unpaid; applicants will have to fund their own travel and living expenses.

The United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) is the peak body working to increase awareness of and engagement on the United Nations in Australia. This includes promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the importance of the rules-based international order through events and programs across Australia on key issues affecting Australia and Australians.

To progress this work, the UNAA is looking to expand our growing group of corporate and philanthropic partners. Find out more about our partnerships or contact us today at admin@unaa.org.au.