Linking Cannabis to Sustainable Development

Paving the way for the next decade in Cannabis & hemp policies.
Download full ReportDiscover the Goals 1 by 1
Watch video discussionsLearn about the History

global sustainability

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Subdivided in 169 targets, the SDGs “are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”.

shared goals

The SDGs are unique in that they cover almost all issues that affect us all, like poverty, hunger, health, education, labour, climate change, gender equality, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice.

interacting

Because of its characteristics, widespread cultivation and use, and the diversity of these applications, the Cannabis sativa L. plant and its policies directly relate to 60+ targets among 15 out of the 17 SDGs. Interactions can be negative or positive – depending mostly on policy, and politics.

“hemp” and “marijuana”
in a single plant

Not only the non psychoactive-related uses of Cannabis sativa L. (“hemp”, “industrial hemp” or “industrial cannabis”) can contribute to the efforts to meet these Goals (1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15), but reforming the current repressive prohibitive and marginalizing policies concerning the psychoactive uses of Cannabis sativa L. (“therapeutic” or “medical use”, “recreational” or “adult use” as well as “religious” or “spiritual use”) is indispensable to meet Goals 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17.

 

FAAAT EDITIONS

Cannabis & Sustainable Development. Paving the way for the next decade in Cannabis and hemp policies.

Recommendations for the implementation of Cannabis policies aligned with international Human Rights standards, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2016 UNGASS outcome document.

Vienna, March 2019.

ISBN 979-10-97087-34-0

Riboulet-Zemouli Kenzi, Anderfuhren-Biget Simon, Díaz Velásquez Martin and Krawitz Michael.

Download Summary

30 pages.

Download Full Report

125 pages.

14 chapters / 14 goals
Explore the report by thematic chapter:

FOREWORDS, INTRODUCTION & DEFINITIONS

ACRONYMS & REFERENCES

4

QUALITY EDUCATION

12

RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION

5

GENDER EQUALITY

17

INTERNATIONAL & INTER-SECTORIAL PARTNERSHIPS

1

NO POVERTY

9

SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIES, INNOVATIONS & INFRA-STRUCTURES

16

PEACE, JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS & RULE OF LAW

13

CLIMATE ACTION

10

REDUCED INEQUALITIES

3

GOOD HEALTH & WELL-BEING

8

DECENT WORK & ECONOMIC GROWTH

15

ECOSYSTEMS & LIFE ON LAND

11

SUSTAINABLE CITIES & COMMUNITIES

2

ZERO HUNGER

Preferred citation

Riboulet-Zemouli K, Anderfuhren-Biget S, Díaz M, Krawitz M. Cannabis & Sustainable Development: Paving the way for the next decade in Cannabis and hemp policies. Vienna: FAAAT think & do tank; 2019. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Public accesas at: https://archive.org/details/cannabissdg

“efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to effectively address the world drug problem are complementary and mutually reinforcing”

UNGASS 2016 outcome document, last standing international consensus documenton drug policy

A bit of history

MDGs >

The idea of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was born at the Un Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.
The objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing the world.
The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which started a global effort in 2000 to tackle the indignity of poverty.

Rio 2012 >

The MDGs established measurable, universally-agreed objectives for tackling extreme poverty and hunger, preventing deadly diseases, and expanding primary education to all children, among other development priorities.
For 15 years, the MDGs drove progress in several important areas: reducing income poverty, providing much-needed access to water and sanitation, driving down child mortality and drastically improving maternal health.

> SDGs

The MDGs also kick-started a global movement for free primary education, inspiring countries to invest in their future generations. significantly, the MDGs helped make huge strides in combatting HIV/AIDS and other treatable diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.
The 17 global SDGs were finally adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, as part of the resolution 70/1 called “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

 

Read General Assembly Resolution 70/1 in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.

Certainly, the very plant helps with the Global Goals: the benefits of hemp for the environment, for human food and health, or for the sustainability of agricultural practices, are essential elements when it comes to building future resilient and nature-friendly societies.
But in addition, sticking to Overly restrictive policies regarding to the psychoactive uses of the plant (therapeutical or recreational) prevents from achieving important part of the Goals, in particular, those linked to global development, human rights, fair institutions and criminal justice or health-related concerns.
All in all, a renewed approach to policing Cannabis, and a reframed approach focusing on Development and Rights, NOT ONLY can positively impact the Global Goals, but are indispensable pieces of the puzzle needed to meet the 2030 SDG Agenda.

 

Videos from the 2018 International Cannabis Policy Conference

Round-table debates on Cannabis & Sustainability

See all our events on faaat.net/conferences

CANNABIS REVOLUTION FROM A SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE. LESSONS LEARNED AND FUTURE CHALLENGES OF THE GLOBAL CANNABIS MARKETS.

Crossed voices on regulated Cannabis and hemp markets, and the ethics of legalization (fair trade, minorities, developing countries…)

WOMEN & CANNABIS.

From seed to sale, achieving gender equality. Learning from women’s leadership in the Cannabis industry, and outlining the disproportionate impact of prohibition on women and girls.

 

STANDARDS AND NORMS FOR CANNABIS CULTIVATION, TRANSFORMATION AND TRADE

A multidisciplinary perspective for sustainable markets.

 

BLOCKCHAIN, CANNABIS & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

What approaches to cannabis policy reform in the context of emerging technologies and the blockchain revolution?

 

ACADEMIC vs POLITIC DISCUSSION: BALANCING CANNABIS POLICIES IN A POST-PROHIBITION ERA

FROM ERADICATION TO PROPAGATION. CANNABIS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: EMERGING INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES.

How can hemp help combat climate change and provide solutions for bettering the environment? How can legal Cannabis policies tend to zero environmental impact?

 

Case Study - HEMP, RENEWABLE RESOURCE FOR INDUSTRIES.

Energy, graphene, plastic, concrete… these revolutionary materials and commodities made of hemp.

Case Study - BETWEEN TRADITIONS AND TRANSITION: A SOUTH-NORTH DIALOGUE.

South Africa, Nepal, Central America.

 

BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND PERSONALIZED MEDICINE: SUSTAINABLE HEALTH SYSTEMS, POLICIES & SETTINGS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO CANNABIS MEDICINES.

How can our health systems integrate efficiently medical Cannabis, in particular herbal preparations or extracts? To what extent are Cannabis and cannabinoid medicines suitable for our health systems?

 

CANNABIS & HARM REDUCTION: SUSTAINABLE USES & DELIVERY METHODS.

Harm reduction consumption patterns, use delivery devices, product safety, cannabinoids, analysis, ratios & concentrates.

 

Case Study - CANNABIS vs. OPIOID USE DISORDER

 

Case Study - CANNABIS & ELDERLY PEOPLE: HARM REDUCTION, HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE.

Case Study - CANNABIS vs. OPIOID USE DISORDER

 

FAAAT  Blog

The Latest News & Updates

Check out all our Blog posts