SDGAcademyX: ASD001 Age of Sustainable Development

Books for the Course

Angus Maddison, The World Economy, available here: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/the-world-economy_9789264022621-en

Sachs, Jeffrey, The Age of Sustainable Development (NOTE: Please see the Coursebook tab to learn how to access it online for free. If you would like to purchase it, you can do so on Amazon or see a complete list of retailers on Sachs' website here).

Reading List

Week 1: What is Sustainable Development? 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 1 (See above note)
• Draft Framework for Sustainable Development, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (22 pages) http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/121220-Draft-Framework-of-Sustainable-Development1.pdf
• Presentation on Realizing the Future We Want for All, UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/presentation_untt_report.pdf
• Part I: Our Common Vision of The Future We Want outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference (3 pages) http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/66/288&Lang=E
• Executive Summary of A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development, The Secretary General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (3 pages) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/8932013-05%20-%20HLP%20Report%20-%20A%20New%20Global%20Partnership.pdf
• A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015, Report of the UN Secretary General (19 pages) http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/A%20Life%20of%20Dignity%20for%20All.pdf
• Executive Summary of An Action Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (3 pages) http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/11/An-Action-Agenda-for-Sustainable-Development.pdf

Week 2: Economic development – How we measure it, how it varies around the world 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 2 (See above note)
• Global Profile of Extreme Poverty and Hunger, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/121015-Profile-of-Extreme-Poverty.pdf
• Optional reading: Helliwell, John, Richard Layard and Jeffrey D. Sachs, World Happiness Report 2013. http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/world-happiness-report-2013/ 

Week 3: A Short History of Economic Development

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 3 (See above note)
• Maddison, Angus. The World Economy (available on Google Books). Chapter 1: Introduction and Summary and pp. 125-130
• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The End of Poverty Chapter 2: The Spread of Economic Prosperity
• Gallup, John, Andrew Mellinger and Jeffrey D. Sachs,  “Climate, Coastal Proximity, and Development,” Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, edited by Gordon L. Clark, Maryann P. Feldman, and Meric S. Gertler, Oxford University Press, 2000.  http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/about/director/pubs/OxfordHandbook2000.pdf

Week 4: Why Did Some Countries Advance While Others Remained in Poverty? 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 4 (See above note)
• Sachs, Jeffrey D.  The End of Poverty. Chapter 3: Why Some Countries Fail to Thrive and Chapter 4: Clinical Economics (39 pages)
• Sachs, Jeffrey D., et al. Ending Africa’s Poverty Trap pp. 1-22 https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2004/01/2004a_bpea_sachs.pdf
• Sachs, Jeffrey D., et al. Pathways to Deep Decarbonization 2014 report. http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/DDPP_Digit.pdf

Week 5: The MDGs and the End of Extreme Poverty 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 5 (See above note)
• United Nations Millennium Declaration (9 pages) http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf
• Investing in Development Overview Report, UN Millennium Project (65 pages) http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/overviewEngLowRes.pdf
• The Millennium Villages Project: The Next Five Years 2011-2015, (40 pages but with lots of pictures) http://www.millenniumvillages.org/uploads/ReportPaper/MVP_Next5yrs_2011.pdf
• Global Development’s Winning Goals, Project Syndicate http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ensuring-the-success-of-the-un-s-sustainable-development...

Week 6: Growth within Planetary Boundaries 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 6 (See above note)
• Sustainable Development and Planetary Boundaries by Johan Rockstrom et al. (22 pages) http://www.post2015hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Rockstroem-Sachs-Oehman-Schmidt-Traub_Sustaina...
• Rockstrom, Johan. A safe operating space for humanity, Nature PDF File
• Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing, Report of the Secretary General’s Global Sustainability Panel.  Chapter II: Progress Towards Sustainable Development pp. 15-27 http://www.acp.int/sites/acpsec.waw.be/files/GSP_Report_web_final.pdf
• Global Environmental Outlook 5: Summary for Policy Makers (20 pages) http://www.unep.org/geo/pdfs/GEO5_SPM_English.pdf
• Climate Change: Evidence and Causes 

Week 7: Human Rights and Gender Equality 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 7 (See above note)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
• United Nations Millennium Declaration http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
• Overview and Key Messages from the Report on the Inequalities Consultation. The World We Want: 2015  http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/308651
• Social Inclusion & Human Rights: Implications for 2030 and Beyond, Background paper for the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (6 pages) http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/130114-Social-Exclusion-and-Human-Rights-Paper-for-HLP....
• Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women, UN Millennium Project Task Force on Gender Equality. Executive Summary (26 pages) http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/Gender-frontmatter.pdf
• Addressing inequalities: The heart of the post-2015 agenda and the future we want for all, UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (15 pages) http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/thinkpieces/10_inequalities.pdf

Week 8:  Education 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 8 (See above note)
• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Lost Generations, Project Syndicate http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/education--nutrition--and-health-care-are-the-best-inves...
• Education and skills for inclusive and sustainable development beyond 2015, UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (16 pages) http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/thinkpieces/4_education.pdf
• International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice Final Report, Executive Summary (10 pages) http://globalmdp.org/sites/ei.civicactions.net/files/InternationalCommissionReport.pdf
• Education for All: Global Monitoring Report, Summary (46 pages) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002175/217509E.pdf

Week 9: Universal Health Coverage 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 9 (See above note)
• Investing in Health for Economic Development, Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Executive Summary (20 pages) http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2001/924154550x.pdf
• One Million Community Health Worker Fact Sheet http://1millionhealthworkers.org/files/2013/01/CHW_FactSheet_Final.pdf
• Bill Gates 2013 Annual Letter (19 pages) http://www.gatesfoundation.org/~/media/GFO/Documents/Annual%20Letters/2013annualletter/2013_AL_English.pdf
• Health in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, UN Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (15 pages) http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/thinkpieces/8_health.pdf
• Health in the Framework of Sustainable Development, http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/health-in-the-framework-of-sustainable-development/

Week 10: Sustainable Food Supply and the End of Hunger 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 10 (See above note)
• Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done, UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force. Summary Report (30 pages) http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/HTF-SumVers_FINAL.pdf
• Opportunities and Solutions for Sustainable Food Production, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (24 pages) http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/130112-HLP-TG7-Solutions-for-sustainable-food-productio...

Week 11: Sustainable Cities 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 11 (See above note)
• The Urban Opportunity: Enabling Transformative and Sustainable Development, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Group on Sustainable Cities (40 pages) http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2579Final-052013-SDSN-TG09-The-Urban-Opportun...
• Sustainable Urbanization, UN Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (11 pages) http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/thinkpieces/18_urbanization.pdf

Week 12: Curbing Climate Change 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 12 (See above note)
• Summary for Policymakers, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (17 pages) http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf 
• Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, Executive Summary (27 pages)  http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/4/3/Executive_Summary...
• Sachs, Jeffrey D. and Guido Schmidt-Traub. Financing for development and climate change post-2015 (16 pages) http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/130316-Development-and-Climate-Finance.pdf

Week 13: Saving Biodiversity 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 13 (See above note)
• Summary for Decision Makers: Ecosystems and Human Well Being, Synthesis, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (24 pages) http://www.unep.org/maweb/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf
• Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, Convention on Biological Diversity.  Executive Summary and Introduction (8 pages) http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/gbo/gbo3-final-en.pdf
• The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought: Methodologies and Analysis for Decision-Making, 2nd Scientific Conference on the UNCCD; Executive Summary; Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Economic and social impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought; Chapter 5: Implementation of the Rio conventions – a call for synergies to advance the economics of desertification, land degradation and drought; Chapter 6: Using the Economics of desertification, land degradation and drought to inform policies at local, national and international level; Conclusion (26 pages) http://2sc.unccd.int/fileadmin/unccd/upload/documents/Background_documents/Background_Document_web3....

Week 14: The SDGs 

• Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development, Chapter 14 (See above note)
• A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development, The Secretary General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda http://www.post2015hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/UN-Report.pdf
• The Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals Interim Report http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/941&Lang=E
• An Action Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network  http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/11/An-Action-Agenda-for-Sustainable-Development.pdf