Antimicrobial resistance prevention and education in schools: a brief for education policy-makers and school practitioners

United Nations 1 year ago

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a threat to global health, food security and achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tackling AMR is critical to preserving the world’s ability to treat diseases in humans, animals, and plants, reduce risks to food safety and security, protect the environment and maintain progress towards achieving the SDGs.  Children and youth today will face the consequences of inaction and increased risks of AMR. In response, six organizations -  the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) -  recognize that young people can play an important role in bringing together wider society and stakeholder groups to tackle AMR. This brief underscores the critical role that schools play in addressing AMR and outlines actions for policy-makers and school practitioners to consider. By implementing the strategies described in the brief, schools can contribute significantly to preventing and mitigating the development and spread of AMR while promoting overall health and well-being within school communities.
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layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 8 hours ago



The past quarter has marked a decisive turn for sustainable construction as regulatory and financial frameworks push towards measurable outcomes. The EU Deforestation Regulation now extends accountability across supply chains, compelling developers to verify the provenance of timber and other renewable building materials aligned with environmental sustainability in construction. The latest Environmental Performance Index exposes how far most nations remain from achieving net zero carbon and fully certifiable net zero Whole Life Carbon buildings, sharpening global focus on embodied carbon and the carbon footprint of construction.

Green finance guidance from the Green Finance Institute and WWF reinforces this transition by embedding biodiversity metrics and Whole Life Carbon Assessment into project reporting. Sustainable building design is now inextricably linked to fiduciary responsibility, with investors demanding verified lifecycle assessment data and credible environmental product declarations (EPDs). The incorporation of Life Cycle Cost appraisal and life cycle thinking in construction establishes a unified model where resource efficiency and circular construction strategies define investor confidence.

Operational resilience remains pivotal. Research on the inefficiencies of legacy financial systems underscores that decarbonising the built environment depends not only on low carbon design and low embodied carbon materials but also on digital workflows that enhance building lifecycle performance. The industry’s embrace of eco-design for buildings, Circular Economy in construction, and sustainable building practices signals a shift from aspiration to implementation.

Across markets, the environmental impact of construction and governance failures continue to test trust in green infrastructure. As scrutiny intensifies, sustainable design and carbon neutral construction are emerging as baselines rather than aspirations. The next phase of sustainable urban development will be defined by Whole Life Carbon transparency, robust BREEAM and BREEAM V7 frameworks, and quantifiable progress toward circular economy models that anchor low carbon building performance in verifiable data.

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