The most notable scenes on the environment and development front in 2015 were the International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa; the Sustainable Development Summit in New York and the COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris.

2015 was a momentous year for the United Nations as all the meetings delivered above expectations. These meetings overlap with each other as the mobilisation of means of implementation, including financial resources, technology development and transfer and capacity building and the role of partnerships are acknowledged as critical.

However, the fact of the matter is that we are faced with global challenges such as climate change, energy security, food and water scarcity and material price increases. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening in spite of global wealth increase, thus greater emphasis needs to be placed on finding a sustainable model of economic growth. The impacts of ageing and urbanisation are also affecting the economic, social and environmental prospects of countries around the world.

Available at: http://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/enhancing-sustainable-development-and-renewable-energy-globally-1.1653844