Wildfires in northern Thailand created hazardous air quality readings in Chiang Mai province for more than two weeks in the spring. Image – Getty: Tao 55
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
A Component of the UN’s ‘1 Million Actions’ Campaign
Aas Publishing Perspectives‘ international professional readership knows, Melissa Fleming, the United Nations’ under-secretary-general for global communications, is the keynote speaker on December 5 at 34th International Publishers Congress from the International Publishers Association (IPA) in Guadalajara.
Among her talking points will be an assessment of where the world is in its international bid for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid rapidly intensifying climate-crisis effects that are part of the SDGs’ race for meaningful responses. One new element of the SDG program’s development is the UN’s 1 Million Actions for Our Common Future, at this writing registering 22,555,980 actions.
Today, IPA offices in Geneva have opened a new campaign in support of the UN’s effort: Turning the Page: 1000 Actions for a Sustainable Future has begun accepting the registration of SDG-related actions in the world of publishing. On this page, those who are contributing actions can register them and amplify the news of the project on various social media, hashtagging them #SDGPublishersCompact and #ActNow.
Certainly, it’s likely that there will be a quick response from publishing houses that have signed the UN-IPA SDG Publishers Compact, said to have now more than 300 signatories.
In fact, as we publish today, you can see at least 139 “actions” already submitted, browsing them in four ways:
- By which of the 17 SDGs they relate to
- By publishing sectors (trade, academic, education, and other)
- By the types of initiatives they represent
- By topical tags such as the freedom to publish and reducing inequalities
Each listed action is smartly set up on the page with the familiar SDG graphic to indicate which of the 17 may be involved.
A click opens that action and its information onto a separate page of the site.
On Site Now: 139 ‘Actions’ Already Displayed
The summer of 2024 already has been certified as producing the warmest June on record worldwide, and the warmest July in the Northern Hemisphere on record by the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The summer of 2023 was determined by scientists to be the hottest in 2,000 years. So you can be forgiven by thinking first of climate issues in relation to the SDGs.
But keep in mind that while the climate emergency (SDG No. 13) is the element of the Sustainable Development Goals that gets the most attention, the 17 goals actually cover a broad range of human concerns, interests, and needs, including “Life Below Water”; “Reduced Inequalities”; “Affordable and Clean Energy”; and “Zero Hunger.”
Here, for example, on the IPA’s new, growing list of its 1,000 Actions is an infographic about the book life cycle from Spain’s Grupo Santillana; a site in the Netherlands on LGBTIQ books, QueerBoeken; a greenhouse emissions report from France’s Editis; and a Norwegian SDG Library designed to help children aged 6 to 12 find entry points into the topic of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals program.
Pansa: ‘We Need To Make More Progress More Quickly’
Image: From the 1,000 Actions campaign display of submitted projects at the IPA Dashboard. Image: IPA
IPA’s goal is to reach the end of 2024 with 1,000 actions listed and displaying various initiatives, projects, campaigns, reports, and other entries that demonstrate ways many in the world publishing community are doing things to help move toward “a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous world for all of us.”
Karine Pansa
In a comment on the new “1,000 Actions” effort, IPA president Karine Pansa is quoted, saying, “We need to make more progress more quickly on the Sustainable Development Goals and publishing can play its part.
“I know publishers everywhere are taking action, big and small, to make a difference.
“We call on all publishers to tell us about what you are doing and inspire others to get involved.”
Mary Glenn
And Mary Glenn, chief of UN Publications, is quoted, saying, “The UN is gearing up for the Summit of the Future in September and all our efforts are focused on helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
“Support from the publishing industry for the 1 Million Actions for our common future comes at a pivotal moment and demonstrates that only together can we create a better future.”
IPA says the campaign is open to all publishers and publishing organizations.
In a list for getting involved, we read:
- Share your SDG related activity with us. We’re looking for concrete actions you’ve taken either in your organization, your wider community, or beyond that can help inspire others to act
- Post them to the IPA SDG Dashboard: help us countdown
- Download the logo and link to you story: share your story with your network and tag others to join in and help contribute
- Use the hashtags: #SDGPublishersCompact and #ActNow
The International Publishers Congress is being produced by the Cámara Nacional de la Industria Editorial Mexicana (CANIEM), led by IPA past president Hugo Setzer, and the Association of American Publishers, led by president and CEO Maria A. Pallante. Registration and information can be found here.
Image: From the 1,000 Actions campaign display of submitted projects at the IPA Dashboard. Image: IPA
More from Publishing Perspectives on the International Publishers Association is here, more on the IPA’s biennial International Publishers Congress series is here, and more on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and related programs and initiatives in book publishing is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.