AGTER

http://www.agter.asso.fr/rubrique69_en.html
An association (2005) aiming to clarify the links between poverty, underdevelopment and access to resources, in order to set up lasting alternatives to the ongoing policies. AGTER aims at contributing to improve the governance of land, water and natural resources and at conceiving new ways of managing those resources, better adapted to face the challenges of the twenty-and-first century. Includes participatory mapping and natural resources governance, food security and tools for improved governance.

Earth Institute

Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University

The overarching goal behind the research of the Earth Institute is to achieve environmental sustainability in the context of a world of environmental challenges—from rapid population growth and climate change to extreme poverty and infectious disease.
The interdisciplinary aspect of the Earth Institute is centred around nine fundamental research themes :
Research in Climate and Society investigates humankind’s role as both driver of and responder to global climate. Water-based research addresses the potentially global crisis of freshwater scarcity. Research projects that address Energy focus on major energy sustainability objectives—such as the development of energy resources without increased carbon emissions and the recovery of renewable energy from solid wastes.
Our research in Urbanization looks at how growing urban populations threaten the sustainability of cities and natural resources. Hazards and Risk research at the Earth Institute aims to deepen the world’s understanding of a range of hazards and risks, from drought to earthquakes to landslides, which often become particularly threatening in highly populated areas.
Global Health research addresses both the environmental factors that affect human health, the ways in which a population’s poor health in turn inhibits environmental sustainability, and the methods of delivery of health systems. Poverty-related Earth Institute projects aim to reveal and work toward the mitigation of root causes of extreme poverty while research on Food, Ecology and Nutrition works to ensure the sustainability of regional factors of human health, such as agriculture, clean water access, and nutrition. The Earth Institute’s research theme of Ecosystems Health and Monitoring aims at stemming the loss of biological diversity in order to achieve environmental sustainability.

Earth Policy Institute

(Lester Brown’s the Plan B synthesis series and Restoring food security for all takes action on many fronts, in World on the edge. WW Norton and Company, NY 2011)

FAO

FAO’s main goal is to defeat hunger. To achieve that, it provides an international forum where countries debate agreements and policy. It also provides knowledge and information to help countries to modernize their agriculture and manage forests and fisheries.

Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA)

CGRFA’s main goals :

• halt the loss of genetic resources for food and agriculture
• promote their conservation, sustainable use, exchange and
  the equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use
  CGRFA’s missions :
• guide and monitor FAO’s policies, programmes and activities
• make assessment on genetic resources at a global scale
• organize a forum for negotiations of international policies and
• oversee global action plans
• support national and regional policies
• genetic resources of plants, animals, aquatic, forest, microorganisms and invertebrates
• International Treaty on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
  no country is self-sufficient in genetic resources
• genetic resources can help enhance productivity
• genetic resources are an insurance for future challenges (increase food security)

Friends of the Earth

– In progress

KAITEKI Institute (http://www.kaiteki-institute.com/news/20090305.html)

A worldview of "monogatari (storytelling)" based on the wisdom of sustainable "monozukuri (manufacturing)" and resource utilization is now required. the KAITEKI Institute ("comfort" or "ease" in Japanese) is a Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (MCHC) creation. Its strategy is to promote sustainability by addressing issues including climate change, environmental protection, depletion of energy resources, water and food supplies, and health care. The MCHC Group seeks to promote health and prosperity of people through grasping future paradigm shifts, monitoring societal trends, needs and challenges by continually gathering and analyzing information on social changes and providing solutions to solve the above-mentioned various issues.

The new economics foundation (NEF)

http://www.neweconomics.org/about
is an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being.We aim to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues. We work in partnership and put people and the planet first.
NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) which forced issues such as international debt onto the agenda of the G7 and G8 summits.
We are unique in combining rigorous analysis and policy debate with practical solutions on the ground, often run and designed with the help of local people. We also create new ways of measuring progress towards increased well-being and environmental sustainability. nef works with all sections of society in the UK and internationally - civil society, government, individuals, businesses and academia - to create more understanding and strategies for change.
Key projects : the Great Transition, banking for the great transition, a new economic model national accounts of well-being.

UNCTAD (UN conference on trade and development) CNUCED

Established in 1964, UNCTAD promotes the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy. UNCTAD has progressively evolved into an authoritative knowledge-based institution whose work aims to help shape current policy debates and thinking on development, with a particular focus on ensuring that domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about sustainable development.

The organization works to fulfil this mandate by carrying out three key functions :
* It functions as a forum for intergovernmental deliberations, supported by discussions with experts and exchanges of experience, aimed at consensus building.
* It undertakes research, policy analysis and data collection for the debates of government representatives and experts.
* It provides technical assistance tailored to the specific requirements of developing countries, with special attention to the needs of the least developed countries and of economies in transition. When appropriate, UNCTAD cooperates with other organizations and donor countries in the delivery of technical assistance.

Intergovernmental meetings
Commission on Science and Technology for Development, fourteenth session (2011)

The Commission will review progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) outcomes at the regional and international levels, including on improvements to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The Commission will address the following priority themes :
* Measuring the impact of information and communications technology for development
* Technologies to address challenges in areas such as agriculture and water

In addition, the Commission will hear presentations on national science, technology and innovation policy reviews.

World Resource Institute

(staff 160, annual income $30 million)
“Understanding the environmental “big picture”.
Their mission is global and long term —“to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations” by putting environmental issues on the international agenda.
The issues on which WRI works are climate policy, ecosystem services, environmental governance, green markets, and sustainable transport have moved in their 25 years activity from centre stage and into mainstream political, social, and business discourse, but has “not yet materialized into real changes in policy or behaviour”.
Ex., ecosystem services : integrate them into policies, strategies, investments.

Worldwatch Institute

Report State of the world 2011. Innovations that nourish the planet. Washington DC.
The report seeks to highlight innovations that can address these challenges : innovations that will reduce hunger, improve environmental and agricultural sustainability, improve the lives of women and girls, and be both economically feasible and scalable for farmers and the donor/investment community. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the issues, numbers, disputes, and approaches so that contributors to SOW11 can share a common framework and consider how the innovations they describe fit into the larger international discourse.

Agro et véto sans frontières

www.avsf.org (agro et véto sans frontières)

Une seule planète

www.uneseuleplanete.org