To successfully translate widely discussed sustainability principles into practical actions requires a strong, concerted effort. In a recent interview, Dr Renuka Thakore, Founder and CEO of Global Sustainable Futures Network CIC, discussed with Muhammad Younis strategies needed to accelerate this process and make it more seamless, particularly by focusing on capacity building and fostering meaningful dialogue.

#CTS: Sustainability has become a focal point in global discussions. To what extent have these sustainability principles been effectively translated into practical actions and tangible outcomes?

Dr Renuka: Implementing two global agendas—the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—to prevent planetary collapse is not just lagging, it’s dangerously behind. The global 2030 Agenda, which is crucial for our survival, is far from being on track. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated, and it is imperative that we act now. More significant action is urgently needed to meet these goals by 2030.

“To increase both ambition and the effectiveness of efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change and to ensure sustainable development for all, there is a need to accelerate the implementation of these global agendas, and localisation can be one way to achieve this.”

Policy Brief ‘Localising NDCs with Inspiration from the 2030 Agenda.’

The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) offer an exceptionally structured approach: politically backed commitments by the countries tackling the world’s current crisis, including targets for mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and adapting to climate impacts.

Local communities are the key to achieving our global goals. By identifying, using, and enabling their potential, we can translate these global and national agendas and plan collaboratively to local contexts and needs, a process known as ‘localisation’. Lessons learned from localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where the concept has been used for longer and broader than with NDCs and the Paris Agreement, include the need for a clear national localisation strategy and greater multi-level cooperation. This approach holds the promise of significant progress.

While there were many insights, a persistent managerial challenge is how to account for the intangible value generated from sustainability initiatives. Executives recognise the impacts these efforts engender with key stakeholders. Socially minded millennial employees, for example, want to work for responsible companies, and the surveys of Harvard Business Reviews 2024 have shown that they’ll reward their employers with loyalty, lower absenteeism, and engagement. Similarly, customers want to feel good about their purchases, so they give their business to companies that care for communities and the environment. Comparable arguments can be made for other stakeholders, such as investors, partners, politicians, and the like. The challenge is that these important stakeholder impacts are difficult to see or measure.

The sectors that have recognised the benefits of sustainability are waste, energy and transport. The sectors such as buildings have also shown their sustainability presence coordinating with these sectors. Hard to achieve building material, for example, concrete and steel are also working their way. The hardest of sectors – aviation has also begun its sustainability journey.

#CTS: How might capacity building serve as a potent tool against the formidable issue of climate change, and what key mechanisms make it such a vital force in this battle?

Dr Renuka: A lack of vertical coordination, incoherent policies, and weak climate data at the local level are among the most significant challenges to localisation processes. Combining bottom-up and top-down aspects (multi-level collaboration) can help raise ambition in new NDCs.

The Global South Summit, a pivotal event in the localisation of NDCs, is poised to overcome the challenges and expedite the localisation of NDCs. It serves as a dynamic platform for knowledge sharing, capacity building, and collaboration among stakeholders from the Global South, with a strong emphasis on local community engagement and the adaptation of global agreements to local contexts. This Summit, with its focus on you, our esteemed stakeholders, holds the promise of significant progress.

One of the GSFN Global South Summit’s distinctive features is that communities are ’at its heart’. No previous Global South initiative has placed such a strong emphasis on local community engagement for NDCs. At GSFN, Summits are focused on achieving four distinct objectives, with the active participation of communities being a key driver of success:

a) To translate and adapt the global agreements negotiated by national governments to local contexts and needs.

b) Speeding up the transformation towards a sustainable and climate-neutral world in line with both the global agendas.

c) Foster faster, more ambitious and coordinated action at all levels of government.

Localisation should be applied more widely to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the primary tool for implementing the Paris Agreement and SDGs.

#CTS: How can we harness the power of dialogue to steer communities towards a sustainable future? What innovative strategies could be employed to foster robust and inclusive conversations that drive meaningful engagement and action towards environmental stewardship?

Dr Renuka: Capacity building of Global South in addressing the severe challenges of climate change and achieving sustainable development goals is essential and urgent. Equipping countries, communities and individuals with knowledge, skills and resources can empower stakeholders to navigate the complexities of climate policies, foster sustainable development and achieve national, regional, and global targets. The series of regional dialogues can build and enhance countries’ capacities to increase the impact and sustainability of national adaptation plans.

Strategies for fostering increased engagement within communities of the global south, building mutually reinforced platforms for the exchange of dialogue, and implementing a fair, unsupervised, multidisciplinary network are, therefore, crucial. The Global Sustainable Futures Network provides an integrated approach targeted to the scientific and non-scientific to foster increased engagement directed to ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ to solve the climate crisis, including finance and technology needed for low carbon growth, and coordinate inter-sectoral coherence towards macroeconomic, financial, trade and industrial policies, required for regional growth and development and building regional resilience to climate change.

The Global Sustainable Future Network Summits are unprecedented opportunities for the Global South communities to overcome the vulnerabilities in the existing institutional, technological, and financial gaps and provide complementary pathways for South-South cooperation and economic integration. Learning takes place in areas such as clean technology, energy transitions, mobilizing limited financial resources, and the management of the comprehensive green transition tailored to local circumstances, co-creating a future together that addresses true well-being in the context of humankind and our planet within the greater whole.

Global South communities’ leadership is paramount in climate change and sustainable development because it can co-develop impact at the local level, engaging local stakeholders and promoting inter-community engagement. At the national level, it can engage with political actions protecting communities and their resources, increase participation in improving biodiversity, and at the international level, Global South communities will engage in international collaborations and ensure equitable resources and possessions, procuring equal benefits among national and international collaborators. Finally, the Global South leadership in climate change has the most potential for worldwide improvements, supporting positive, long-lasting changes in our scientific and non-scientific communities.

#CTS: What fundamental beliefs drive the Global Sustainable Futures Network? Can you highlight key initiatives, their outcomes, and lessons learned? Amid sustainability's rising prominence, how engaged do you find the audience in these initiatives?

Dr Renuka: Established in 2020, the Global Sustainable Futures: Progress through Partnerships Network (GSFN) materialised out of the need to connect the Global South with the Global North and co-address the pressing challenges to sustainable futures through constructive partnerships.

The network has delivered full-fledged collaborative and interactive activities and co-creating knowledge and practices beyond national borders and academic disciplines, contributing to achieving and realising the SDGs Agenda 2030 and beyond. The network is committed to creating collaboration/partnerships across low, middle, and high-income countries, reaching out through its coordinators to secure urgent and essential globally sustainable futures.

Over the last three and half years, the network has planned an engaging, interactive, inclusive, and enthusiastic networking and capacity development programme starting from the first day of 2021.

Currently, the network comprises 8000 coordinators from 175 countries. The group is inclusive and accessible for academics, scholars, like-minded system thinkers, innovation practitioners, change-makers, and creative voices from all disciplines who want to enable sustainable transitions for future generations in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The network aims to forge connections outside academia by institutionalising university partnerships with governments and communities to address pressing challenges and transform societies.

From January 2024, Global Sustainable Futures Network (GSFN) has embarked on an exciting new journey of capacity development at community levels in the Global South. We are pioneering the pilot project with the interdependent collaborative leadership structure in Pakistan, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Nepal, and many more countries in the Global South.

Global South Summits are actualising the GSFN vision of creating an inclusive, collaborative, innovative, interactive, and engaging network of early career researchers and like-minded target stakeholders, including start-ups and entrepreneurs. GSFN is a leading platform to accelerate impactful solutions by sharing visualisation, research, innovation, and enthusiasm parallel to the network’s success, building a sharing economy where no one is left behind.

Each GSFN has a unique expertise that they exhibit through their unique GSFN Chairship worldwide. Likewise, the unique GSFN Global South Summit brings multidisciplinary stakeholders to discuss the priorities and actions for holistic change throughout the Global South. GSFN Global South Summits are framed around unique issues that are close to the host nation and are highly debated globally. The prioritisation of these issues is demanded by the local leadership, for example, Pakistan summit brought a global collective that applies “good planet” design thinking for new systems thinking and actions for change systems that are comprehensively aligned to the 17 Global SDGs. It focused on soil health & the future of forests, biodiversity & flood reduction planning of nations. The Egypt Summit focused on women’s development and empowerment project EmpowerHER. It addresses the gender gap and helps Egypt tap into a larger talent pool essential for economic growth. The project will invest in women’s education and the development of a highly skilled workforce in STEM. The project will stimulate innovation and technological advancement in Egypt by encouraging more women to pursue STEM careers. The project’s activities will extend to community development efforts, such as STEM education programs for underprivileged areas. It can uplift marginalised communities, reducing poverty and improving overall social welfare. The project is being delivered in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), funded by the British Council Going Global Partnerships. All summits have their unique topics and cohorts, please see here: https://gsfn.co.uk/global-south-summits/

#CTS: In what ways do events like the London Climate Technology Show 2024 serve as pivotal platforms for catalysing global conversations and actions towards achieving a net-zero economy? How do you perceive their significance in advancing sustainability agendas on a broader scale?

Dr Renuka: The event like the London Climate Technology Show 2024 is pivotal in the localisation of NDCs, is poised to overcome the challenges and expedite the process. It serves as a dynamic platform for knowledge sharing, capacity building, and collaboration among stakeholders worldwide with a strong emphasis on local community engagement (London) and the adaptation of global agreements to local contexts. With its focus on climate technology and relevant stakeholders, this event holds the promise of significant progress.

Further to enhance its impact, it must be delivered in all modes – physical, online and virtual, allowing inclusion of a broad range of multi-level actors, leaving no one behind.