...Ban Ki-moon and what he said last week. Watch this. It is refreshing to hear the UN's Secretary General reinforce his commitment to sustainable development.
The UN has developed a pretty good plan to ensure that we look after the planet while we seek a way out of the economic mess we're in. The 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which were agreed at the Nagoya meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, include commitments to ensure that nature is taken into account in all decision-making.
And the UK signed up to this plan. More than that, Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, helped negotiate it.
The first four targets would be the first item on my list of essential reading for any Chancellor with a Budget to deliver in just six weeks time. And here they are...
Target 1By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.Target 2By 2020, at the latest, biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems.Target 3By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio economic conditions.Target 4By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.
What do you think George Osborne should read as he prepares for his Budget next month?
It would be great to hear your views.