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Historic Freedom Bell to ring in African American History Museum opening

The restored First Baptist Church Freedom Bell. (Credit: Colonial Williamsburg)

It rang this year for the first time since segregation, for a congregation that formed as our nation was founded.

The next time the Freedom Bell tolls, it will be for a historic moment in the African American story, a story in which it plays a part: the grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Sept. 24

The museum is more than a century in the making, and the steel bell—deemed the Freedom Bell—has a similarly long past.

The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg on Nassau Street circa 1901. The building served as the church's home for a century, from 1856 until 1956. (Credit: John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library Special Collections, Colonial Williamsburg)

It starts with the First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va. The congregation began in secret in 1776, made up of enslaved and free African Americans who wanted to worship on their own terms. It's believed to be first church in the United States that was organized entirely by African Americans, for African Americans.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg on Jun 26, 1962 with Pastor Rev. David Collins, left, and civil rights leader Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker. (Credit: First Baptist Church)

In 1886, the First Baptist Church acquired and used the Freedom Bell, which was manufactured by Blymyer Norton & Co. in Cincinnati. After years of silence because of architectural and mechanical issues in the 20th century, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation assisted the church in restoring the bell in 2015. Descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings were the first members of the public to ring it on Feb. 1 of this year and all told, thousands of people rang the bell in Williamsburg.

Now, the 500-pound bell continues its journey with a trip to the nation's capital, where it will ring at the dedication of the Smithsonian's newest museum. President Barack Obama, nearing the end of his historic presidency, will be in attendance for the opening of a national museum dedicated to telling the American story through the African American lens.

“That it will ring on such a day in the presence of our nation's first African-American president, is a glorious advent that we could not have shared in our prayers or imagined in our wildest dreams,” said First Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Dr. Reginald F. Davis in a news release.

Observing the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg's bell in the bell tower of the church on Dec. 1, 2015, during the bell's conservation. Pictured are conservators Tina Gessler, right, and David Blanchfield.

After the museum's grand opening, the Freedom Bell will return to Williamsburg—130 years after it first arrived.

More information on the Freedom Bell can be found at Let Freedom Ring Challenge.

Learn more about the museum's grand opening on its website.

The post Historic Freedom Bell to ring in African American History Museum opening appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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National Museum of African American History and Culture Opens this Weekend

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture opens Saturday, Sept. 24, following a dedication ceremony with President Barack Obama. When it opens, the museum will display more than 3,000 artifacts ranging from pieces of a slave ship to Carl Lewis' Olympic medals. Its staff of 200 can boast a fundraising program that has topped $315 million in private funds. Visually striking, the museum is on the National Mall at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 14th Street, N.W., across from the Washington Monument.

History, community and culture are the themes of the museum's 12 inaugural exhibitions. The 400,000-square-foot museum also houses an education and technology center on the second floor, the Sweet Home Café, a museum store, the Oprah Winfrey Theater, a welcome center and orientation theater, and a contemplative court.

“This joyous day was born out of a century of fitful and frustrated efforts to commemorate African American history in the nation's capital,” says Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the museum. “Now at last the National Museum of African American History and Culture is open for every American and the world to better understand the African American journey and how it shaped America.”

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution

Dedication Ceremony

On Saturday, Sept. 24, the museum's official dedication will take place at 10 a.m. on an outdoor stage facing the Washington Monument grounds. The public is encouraged to bring blankets as there will be no seating on the Monument grounds. Jumbotrons will broadcast the ceremony across the site. The program will combine speeches with musical performances and readings by well-known actors. Among the dignitaries attending will be Rep. John Lewis, President and Mrs. George W. Bush, the Chief Justice, Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton and Bunch. Obama's speech will be followed by celebratory fanfare and a city-wide bell ringing.

Grand-Opening Celebration

A free, three-day festival commemorating the new museum begins at noon Friday, Sept. 23, on the Washington Monument grounds between 15th and 17th streets along Constitution Avenue. “Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration” will feature music, performances, oral histories, storytelling and workshops. Evening concerts featuring well-known performers will be presented on two large, tented stages and include Living Colour, Public Enemy, The Roots, Experience Unlimited (EU), singer Meshell Ndegeocello and a special guest to be announced.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture

Visiting the Museum

Hours for the grand-opening weekend will be Saturday, 18 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m.midnight. The museum is free, but timed passes will be required for the foreseeable future. The free, timed passes are available online at www.nmaahc.si.edu and through ETIX Customer Support Center, 919-653-0443 or 800-514-3849. Starting Monday, Sept. 26, the museum will begin distributing a limited number of same-day passes beginning at 9:15 a.m. All visitors will go through security screening and bag checks at the entrances.

Detailed information on visiting, including hours, special programs, directions, public transportation, parking and tours, will be regularly updated at www.nmaahc.si.edu.

Inaugural Exhibitions

“A Century in the Making”—This exhibit provides an overview of the century-long struggle to open the museum.

Slave buttons used by slave trader Thomas H. Porter, on view in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

History Galleries

“Slavery and Freedom”—The centerpiece of the museum, this exhibition explores the complex story of slavery and freedom.
“Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: Era of Segregation 18761968”—Takes visitors from the end of Reconstruction through the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
“A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond”—Illustrates the impact of African Americans on life in the U.S., from the death of Martin Luther King Jr. to the second election of President Barack Obama.

A miniature pair of shackles used as a protective amulet by the Lobi tribe of West Africa. The bronze shackles consist of a pair of loops linked to a single bolt. There is a third loop at the top of the amulet. The bronze is covered with a dark patina.

Community Galleries

“Power of Place”—Explores the idea of place and region as a crucial component of the African American experience.
“Making a Way Out of No Way”—The stories in this gallery show the ways in which African Americans created possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities.
“Sports Gallery”—Looks at the contributions of athletes on and off the field.
“Military History Gallery”—Conveys a sense of appreciation and respect for the military service of African Americans from the American Revolution to the current war on terrorism.

Revolutionary (Angela Davis), 1971, by Wadsworth A. Jarrell (American, born 1929). Acrylic and mixed media on canvas. National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Culture Galleries

“Musical Crossroads”—Tells the story of African American music from the arrival of the first Africans to today's hip-hop.
“Cultural Expressions”—An introduction to the concept of African American and African diaspora culture.
“Visual Arts Gallery”—Illustrates the critical role that African American artists played in shaping the history of American art.
“Taking the Stage”—Explores the history of African Americans in theater, film and television.

United States Farm Security Administration portrait of George Washington Carver, March 1942, by Arthur Rothstein for U.S. Farm Security Administration. National Museum of African American History and Cultuer.

The Building

NMAAHC was designed by a collaboration of four firms that formed the Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup, with David Adjaye as design architect and Phil Freelon as lead architect. About 60 percent of the building is below ground.

Above Ground

Fifth floor: Staff offices, board room (closed to the public)

Fourth floor: Culture galleries: “Musical Crossroads,” “Cultural Expressions,” “Visual Arts Gallery,” “Taking the Stage”

Third floor: Community galleries: “Power of Place,” “Making a Way Out of No Way,” “Sports Gallery,” “Military History Gallery”

Second floor: Education and resource space, Center for African American Media Arts

First floor: Central Hall (named Heritage Hall), welcome center, orientation theater, museum shop

Below Ground

Concourse 0: Atrium, contemplative court, Oprah Winfrey Theater, Special Exhibitions Gallery, Sweet Home Café

Concourse 1: History Gallery—“1968 and Beyond”

Concourse 2: History Gallery—“Era of Segregation”

Concourse 3: History Gallery—“Slavery and Freedom”

The post National Museum of African American History and Culture Opens this Weekend appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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China's New Role in Climate Action Raises Hope for Change
Strong, sustainable growth is high on the agenda for the G20, which met earlier this month in Hangzhou, China. The gathering of 20 of the world's most important economies offered a unique opportunity for these countries to send a powerful message of unity in climate action to the world, building upon last year's Paris Climate Agreement. Indeed, with China and the United States having formally committed to the Paris Agreement, the moment marked an important turning point in the global climate conversation and - importantly - reinforced China's new role in that dialogue.

Considered by the global community as a key member to climate action, China has made significant strides in recent years to drive the clean energy revolution and climate change fight across the world. China's commitment to reduce GHG emission is integral to the passage of the Paris Agreement. As a country with the world's largest population, China worked closely with the United States to secure a crucial bilateral climate deal that set the foundation for success at COP21.

Increasingly, the world has realized that climate action and economic growth go hand in hand and China is exemplary in its prioritization of climate action as part of its development plan. Meanwhile, short-term air quality improvement and longer-term, systemic climate change mitigation demand greater - and more urgent - action.

As a Commissioner of the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), a diverse group of key players in the global energy sector that comprises perspectives from industry, finance, NGOs and former elected officials, we recognize that the world will not achieve a truly sustainable energy transition overnight. The ETC's recent analysis of 17 countries' national commitments under the Paris Agreement, including China, the United States, and EU, provides important analysis of which mechanisms are included in these commitments, where they fall short, and how countries might hasten their achievement.

China's INDC: The Largest CO2 Reduction Commitment

China's commitment under the Paris Agreement stipulates a peaking of emissions before 2030, and Non-fossil energy reach 20% of primary energy consumption. Compared to other developing countries' intensity targets, China's GHG peak target is more constructive, showing how a giant industrial economy can practice its global responsibility even at huge economic costs and obstacles.

According to the INDCs of 17 countries, China makes the largest emission reduction commitment of up to 3.16 Gt CO2 (under same GDP assumptions, INDC target compared to the baseline, which is the average of multiple scenarios in the word). Achieving this ambitious target depends on China's efforts in economic transition, energy efficiency improvement and near-zero carbon energy development. Having made an impressive progress in expanding near-zero carbon energy portfolio, China already has the world's largest installed wind power and photovoltaic capacity, which is a very significant achievement, especially considering its relative low income and limited land resources per capita.

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China's INDC: The Role of Fossil Fuels

Of course, there are other levers at play: energy productivity is expected to increase at 4 percent per annum (as compared to only 2.5 percent in the Untied States and European Union).

Additionally, the power sector in China today accounts for nearly half the country's coal consumption. The INDC addresses this head-on: about one-tenth of emissions reductions will be anticipated to come from a shift in fossil fuel resources, due to the coal reduction and a push to using gas in power. In a demonstration of the interrelatedness of the global energy system, China's new policies of supply side reform to reduce the over-capacity of coal production by 0.8-1 billion tones, have fueled a reversal in coal prices worldwide, which will help reduce the economic competitiveness of coal, compared to the clean energies in the global market.

A Clear Path Forward

Even under China's INDC, the country's energy related emissions might increase before 2030, driving by the urbanization in next 15 years. To realize the peak as soon as possible, the country will specify additional energy efficiency measures, and decarbonize other non-power sectors.

There are two important pathways China must pursue in order to secure a clean development agenda. First, rapid urbanization across the country offers the opportunity for better city planning that prioritizes industrial and building energy efficiency, vehicle electrification and innovative financing mechanisms that leverage private sector and state funding to finance sustainable infrastructure projects. Beijing, for instance, aims to install 435,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2020, in an effort to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road by 600,000.

Second, as part of its goal to diversify away from a heavy manufacturing base, China will focus on promoting energy efficiency and designing its energy systems so renewables can be readily integrated into its electricity sector - the largest in the world. Critically, the Chinese government can address new energy demand by scaling up its energy efficiency programs.

On the supply side, though China has the most grid connected wind capacity of any country in the world, the curtailment problem is more and more important. To rectify this, the country must better coordinate between generation and transmission planning, and should reform its utility pricing system , to help integrate efficiency measures and renewable energy into the overall system. In the meantime, it is also important for China to put more efforts in the critical innovative techniques, such as smart energy and micro-grids.

A Bright Future

As the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, the second largest economy and the largest population of nearly 1.4 billion people, China stands poised to shape the future of our global energy system, which in turn holds enormous implications for the global economy. China's recent reforms and commitments send a powerful signal to the world that it is serious about global leadership on these issues. By continuing to prioritize smart urban development with an increased emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable deployment, China can cooperate with the other countries, lock the world into a safe, prosperous and sustainable future for all.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post to mark the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or, officially, "Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development"). The SDGs represent an historic agreement -- a wide-ranging roadmap to sustainability covering 17 goals and 169 targets -- but stakeholders must also be held accountable for their commitments. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Energy Is at the Core of the Sustainable Development Goals

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Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is crucial to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goal 7 is all about saving energy. But why is it so important to think energy efficiency first? Let me start with some context.

This week, hundreds of leaders from politics, business and civil society gather in New York for Climate Week. The fact that Climate Week and the United Nations Private Sector Forum are now an annual event along with the World Economic Forum shows the importance and opportunity to mitigate climate change and create sustainable growth.

We have the opportunity to work together across sectors, businesses, civil society and at all levels of government to capture what is truly the opportunity of our lifetime - to create liveable, sustainable and competitive solutions that will benefit us all.

How are we taking action? We are saving energy

At this point, you might be thinking: While that all sounds great, how do we actually go from talk to action and make it happen?

A natural starting point for action is using our resources better and making more out of less, which is in fact doable today. If we use our energy resources more efficiently, we can generate 49% of the necessary reductions in emissions to mitigate climate change, as has been shown by research from the International Energy Agency.

Getting it right from the start with efficient technologies

The goal is clear. With SDG 7 we focus on energy. It is about giving access to sustainable energy to the 1.1 billion people who are looking forward to being able to cook without having to spend hours collecting firewood, study at night, or keep life-saving medicine cool.

If we are to give 1.1 billion people access to energy as is foreseen in SDG 7, we need to ensure that these 1.1 billion new consumers of energy use it as efficiently as possible. Imagine for a second: What would happen if 1.1 billion new energy consumers adopted the technologies we used 25 years ago including our energy habits?

Currently, the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements is 1.7 percent. Yet this is still way behind the annual 2.6 percent needed between 2010 and 2030 to meet the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) objective of doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency. In order to deliver on doubling our energy efficiency, we should ask ourselves what we can already do today?

If we are to seize the potential of energy efficiency, I believe collaboration is absolutely essential. This is what we are committed to doing. One example of this is the SEforAll partnership, where we as partner in the new District Energy in Cities Initiative will set up a team of deployable district energy experts to support cities in developing, retrofitting or scaling up district energy systems. The team will assist more than 30 cities that have been chosen as part of an extensive consultation process to identify municipalities with high district heating or cooling potential.

The Sustainable Development Goals - The opportunity of a lifetime

If we are to succeed, it requires action from all of us - and as a business leader, I believe that we need to be leading by doing. In fact, we are already working with the US Department of Energy and the Alliance to Save Energy to ensure that the US will double its energy productivity by 2030, which would save $327 billion annually in avoided energy costs and would lower greenhouse gas emissions to one third below the level emitted in 2005.

Energy efficiency and sustainability are not about limiting our options or comfort. On the contrary, they are about innovation and creating new opportunities. I am happy to see new solutions emerging where we are able to combine digitalization, innovation and energy efficiency to create sustainable solutions. This not only improves our environmental footprint but also frees money to be spent elsewhere.

The technology is available today. What we need to do is use our minds smartly and collaborate in order to create innovative solutions that will help mitigate climate change without compromising on cost, quality or comfort.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post to mark the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or, officially, "Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development"). The SDGs represent an historic agreement -- a wide-ranging roadmap to sustainability covering 17 goals and 169 targets -- but stakeholders must also be held accountable for their commitments. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Think Blue: Finding Growth in the Caribbean Sea
Ours is a blue planet. Water covers over 70% of the Earth's surface, and the ocean economy drives global trade, annually contributing around 3% or US$ 1.5 trillion to global value added. What's more, experts expect ocean-based industries to double this contribution to global GDP within the next 15 years.

But this growth comes at a price, and we find ourselves today at a crossroads.

Without a concerted effort to ensure the sustainability of the marine environment, mounting threats to ocean health could jeopardize the benefits of the seas for future generations. The good news is that it is still not too late to act.

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From Green to Blue

"Thinking green" was the buzzword of the past decade, as countries and companies alike woke up to their shared responsibility to sustainability. Now it's time to add another color to the pallet: blue.

The "blue" economy looks to balance ocean wealth and ocean health by sustainably managing ocean assets (e.g. fish stocks, coral reefs, etc.) and ecosystem services (e.g. coastal protection, the potential for carbon capture, oxygen production). And according to the new report by the World Bank Toward a Blue Economy: A Promise for Sustainable Growth in the Caribbean in collaboration with key partners including The Commonwealth Secretariat, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, millions of people in the region could benefit.

The Caribbean Sea directly supports the economies of 37 coastal and small island states and territories. Notably, the ocean economy generates a fifth of the total GDP of the island states and territories in the region. And we believe this is an underestimate.

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What needs to be done?

On land, mapping areas for spatial planning is common practice. It's unlikely anyone would consider building a highway through the most productive tropical forest in the world, for example. But under the sea, such divisions are less easy to manage.

The Mesoamerican reef is the marine equivalent of a terrestrial tropical forest. The longest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef, it runs directly below the Caribbean Sea and provide 60% of biomass for Mexico and the USA.

To put it simply, without coral, there would be no fish. And no fish means no food for millions of people.

And yet, this same ecologically important area is exploited by numerous sectors and users all with their own regulations, priorities and objectives.

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That's why mapping the ocean space and the area's natural capital needs to be one of the first steps towards a sustainable ocean economy. In the Caribbean, this marine spatial planning, as it's called, would categorize the sea area for particular uses.

While there is still a long path to tread, the nations of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), have already begun moving in this direction, developing an integrated governance policy for their shared ocean space, as well as committing that at least a fifth of territorial waters will be protected by 2020.

What's the goal?

Ultimately, the blue economy isn't just about protection. Rather it's about ensuring the sustainability of marine ecosystems and their associated natural capital assets. This cannot be achieved without healthy ocean environments.

And since ocean health depends on much more than what goes on under the water, promoting the blue economy in the Caribbean will require cooperation between governments, private sector (both on and off land) and civil society.

It's a big task, but if we all get on the same page, it is not too late to act.

Stay up to date with the Caribbean's progress. Follow @wbcaribbean

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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The Internet Is Freaking Out About A Dead Cow In A Supermarket
Earlier this year, a truck carrying cows to slaughter rolled over. Two animals escaped from the overturned vehicle and made a run for it. One ran for the open doors of a supermarket--it would have seemed like a safe, enclosed space for a terrified animal.

In a twist of fate that is as nauseating as it is poignant, the animal was shot dead in the meat aisle. The resulting inadvertent scene is one that could have been staged by an artist or activist trying to raise awareness that meat, dairy and eggs are sanitized packages representing dead animals who wanted to live and who fought for their lives.

The gruesome scene would whet no human's appetite, yet strangely, restoring the supermarket to normal would involve even more blood and gore: skinning and chopping up the body to be packaged for sale.

When I shared this photo on social media, it went viral, with over 1400 people so far reacting to it. Many people commented to express their sadness that the animal was shot.

But the other animals in that rolled truck were sent straight to slaughter. They faced more uncomfortable transport, the scary sights, sounds and smells of the slaughterhouse, and a frightening death. Is that better than being shot in a supermarket?

This is another of the paradoxes of our species: when an animal escapes slaughter, we can't help but root for him or her. We intuitively understand that it is a matter of life or death for that individual--and we want them to live.

We don't realize that the villain in the story isn't the slaughterhouse. It is any of us humans who keep slaughterhouses in business.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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How To Finance A New Climate Economy
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the Financial Times.

Over the next fifteen years, the world needs to invest more in new infrastructure and upgrades than everything that exists today. This means we have a crucial window of opportunity to build it right, reflecting the new international priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

If we continue on our current high-carbon economic model, the world will need to invest more than $90tn in infrastructure. But it won't cost much more to build our energy, transport, water, and telecommunications systems in a low-carbon way. Making our infrastructure cleaner and more sustainable could add as little as 5 per cent to upfront costs, which could be fully offset by lower operating costs. It would also make our economy cleaner, more efficient, and more productive. Plus, it would reduce the enormous costs of adapting to climate change.

We know the capital exists for low-carbon infrastructure; we just need to unlock it. There are four key steps we should take to do so.

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First, once and for all we need to get rid of the market distortions that are biasing investment toward high-carbon projects. Subsidies to fossil fuels cost up to $600bn per year, many times what is received by renewable energy. These subsidies encourage inefficient energy use, discourage the development of clean energy technologies, and intensify air pollution.

Governments and investors who don't take into account these costs are liable to make uninformed decisions that are bad for them, their citizens, and the planet as a whole. For the market to reflect the true value of infrastructure investments, countries ought to reform subsidies and introduce meaningful carbon prices. More than 40 countries and 500 companies have begun pricing carbon, and initiatives like the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition are helping others learn from each other's successes. I expect the pace of change to accelerate now that the Paris Agreement has shifted expectations globally toward a low-carbon growth path.

Second, we need to invest in innovation. Currently, only about 2 per cent of overall R&D spending goes to low-carbon projects. Developing new, cheaper green tech solutions would go a long way in reducing upfront investment costs for infrastructure. And at the same time, more effective dissemination of existing technologies will be crucial because of the sheer volume of the power plants, buildings, roads, and rails that will be built in the next few years.

Third, we need to develop a pipeline of sustainable projects by strengthening public investment. When I was President of Mexico, our government put in place the most ambitious infrastructure program in Mexican history, raising annual investment from 3 per cent of GDP per year to almost 5 per cent.

We accomplished this by making infrastructure a national priority reflected in the public budget, cutting red tape, and partnering with the private sector. We also sought to innovate by monetising already functioning infrastructure to gather resources that could be invested in new projects through the National Infrastructure Fund. It's essential for every government to have a national strategy to coordinate planning.

Effective project preparation, pipelines and sound investment frameworks can help ensure that there's enough money for infrastructure projects, and that the right projects are picked in the first place. Throughout the process, multilateral development banks can offer technical assistance and reduce perceived risks through their presence.

And finally, we'll need to better harness private finance and align it with the sustainable future we want.

There are multiple ways to shift private capital into the green economy. One that has become popular in recent years is green bonds that are earmarked for sustainable investments. Issuances of green bonds grew to $41.8bn in 2015, three times higher than in 2012.

Five years from now, China's green bond market alone will likely be worth $230bn. Most green bonds are in the financial, energy, and property sectors, but they should be diversified to include transport, agriculture, waste, and adaptation. We also need to establish clear rules so investors know exactly what classifies a bond as green in each of these areas.

Green investment banks dedicated to sustainable infrastructure are another effective way to crowd-in private investment. So far, green banks have achieved attractive returns, and can leverage up to $10 from the private sector for each dollar of public spending. Dozens of green banks have emerged in recent years, including in countries like the UK, Japan, and Malaysia and in states like California, Connecticut, and New York.

And to truly green the financial system, companies and investors must acknowledge their exposure to climate risk and take it into account in investment decisions. Ignoring environmental factors that impact long-term value is a failure of fiduciary duty.

Several EU countries now mandate corporate reporting on greenhouse gas emissions or climate risk exposure. And the G20 has recently established an industry-led Task Force under the Financial Stability Board on voluntary Climate-related Financial Disclosures to come up with consistent ways for companies to disclose these risks. We look forward to its recommendations later this year as an important step forward.

Infrastructure could either be the pillar upon which we base our growth, development and future prosperity, or it could crumble beneath us. It is time for us all to realise that sustainable infrastructure is not just one potential pathway among many: it is the only growth story of the future.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post to mark the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or, officially, "Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development"). The SDGs represent an historic agreement -- a wide-ranging roadmap to sustainability covering 17 goals and 169 targets -- but stakeholders must also be held accountable for their commitments. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Dedication Ceremony

Grand-Opening Celebration

Visiting the Museum

Inaugural Exhibitions

The Building

coffee time. by Miki Fujii

hi guys! the new photo editing app for ios was launched from 500px, including "MIKI filter" i've created. it's ability to both capture and edit raw files. this pic was taken and edited with it. try my filter exclusively created for RAW by 500px. download the free app now: https://appsto.re/i6hK8Ny