SDG Academy Library

11:19

The Moral Basis for Business Activity

This chapter looks at different dimensions of corporate social responsibility and stresses that the ethical responsibility of business must be a core component of business education. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

12:03

Virtue Ethics as a Multi-Religious Consensus

In this chapter, William Vendley finds the points of consensus between religious traditions, and shows how religious communities are well-positioned in terms of both spirituality and infrastructure to play a role in sustainable development. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

12:33

How a Company Decides to Invest in a Project

This chapter overviews investments in oil, gas and mining projects. It includes a comparison of private and state ventures. Sources of income include: cash from existing projects and retained earnings, bank borrowings against the corporate balance sheet, or project finance specifically loaned against the capacity of that project. The chapter also details the various analyses and assessments done by companies technical, social, governmental, and financial. Sir Mark Moody Stuart stresses that…

07:44

Equality of Opportunity

Non-discrimination is an interesting concept in law; Joshua Castellino argues that in society, some discrimination is perfectly justifiable. Unjustifiable discrimination occurs in the context of marginalized groups as a consequence of a person’s identity, not necessarily ability. Tools for nondiscrimination need to promote equality of opportunity for all. Societies put in place measures like affirmative action to try to remedy this, though these are only temporary solutions. This video…

01:59

One Health in Practice: Solutions for healthy people in Biosphere reserves - Trailer

We don't have one planet for humans and another for other species. If we wish to avoid pandemics from zoonoses, such as COVID-19 and other types of influenza, we must address direct and indirect drivers such as human ecological disruption and unsustainable consumption. Drawing lessons and reflecting on challenges from UNESCO Biosphere reserves, Professor Serge Morand presents the latest knowledge and management approaches developed under the One Health approach. Enroll in One Health in…

15:37

Aggregate Demand with Flexible Exchange Rate

In this chapter, Professor Sachs discusses international trade and how it is affected by the exchange rate, which is in turn affected by financial flows and the differences of interest rates at home and abroad. There are two ways to manage the exchange rates of a country, namely by supply and demand, or by the central bank setting the price. This is explained using the case of exchange rate of Renminbi to the US dollar, as managed by the People’s Bank of China. Countries have the right…

13:38

Introduction to SDG 15

This chapter provides an overview of the nine targets associated with SDG 15, which relates to terrestrial ecosystems or Life on Land. The targets focus on: preserving freshwater, sustainably managing deforestation, combating desertification, preserving mountain forests, preventing the extinction of threatened species, sharing benefits, reducing the impact of invasive alien species, and integrating ecosystem biodiversity values. Forests are not static; they go through a history of disturbances…

59:05

Conversation with Robert Lustig, Metabolical

In this conversation, Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Robert Lustig discuss the relationship between nutrition and non-communicable disease, the dangers of processed foods, and Lustig's new book Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

06:13

Welcome to the Anthropocene

There is rising scientific evidence that humanity has now entered a new era that is defined as the Anthropocene, in which humanity is shaping the entire biosphere in a globalized phase of environmental change. We have gotten used to defining sustainable development as the three pillars—economic, social, and ecological. This course suggests that we must rather think in terms of providing wealth, development, and livelihoods within the safe, resilient life support systems on Earth. Social…