2030: A deadline for sustainable change

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Do you sometimes wonder if the world is making progress on reaching the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Are we succeeding in securing a better and more sustainable future for the planet and future generations? Now is a good time for a status update - the goals were agreed in 2015, so we are already halfway to the deadline of 2030.

In this episode, we take a closer look at the goals chosen by the United Nations' 193 member states. How far have we come? Are we on track to transform the world in the next few years? And what does the future hold beyond 2030?

This episode comes from a Nordic Talks event in Toronto, organized by the Harbourfront Centre, a not-for-profit cultural organization.

This podcast episode features the following speakers

Clarisse Kehler Siebert (Sweden)

Clarisse Kehler Siebert is a Canadian-Swedish environmental lawyer with expertise in climate change research, intergovernmental negotiations, and impact investment. She previously managed a broad climate impact research portfolio at the Stockholm Environment Institute, a think tank on sustainable development policy, and contributed to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a nominee of Sweden. Recently she served as Executive Director of Nexus for Development, a Cambodia-based organization that catalyzes public and private finance for small-scale renewable energy and clean water solutions in South-East Asia.

Chúk Odenigbo (Canada)

Chúk Odenigbo is the Co-Founding Director of Future Ancestors Services, a Canadian Indigenous and Black-owned social enterprise that promotes anti-racism, climate justice, and equity. In this role, he focuses on environmental and climate justice in his efforts to make green spaces accessible for everyone and fight environmental racism in all its forms. Chúk is a Ph.D. candidate in medical geography, where he researched the impacts of the environment on a community's vulnerability and resilience to disease.

Jon Elvedal Fredriksen (Norway)

Jon Elvedal Frederiksen is Norway’s Ambassador to Canada. From 2016 to 2020, he was a diplomatic advisor to the then Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg. At the time, Erna Solberg co-chaired the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Development Goals Advocates, a group of high-profile figures chosen to raise global awareness of the SDGs. Jon has also been Norway’s Ambassador to Ukraine and Consul-General of Norway in Murmansk, Russia, and has extensive experience with Arctic affairs and security policy. He is a graduate of the University of Tromsø, Norway, where he studied Russian studies, world literature, and structural linguistics.