essay about 17 sustainable development goals

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Essay on Sustainable Development: Samples in 250, 300 and 500 Words

• Updated on  
• Nov 18, 2023

On 3rd August 2023, the Indian Government released its Net zero emissions target policy to reduce its carbon footprints. To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG) , as specified by the UN, India is determined for its long-term low-carbon development strategy. Selfishly pursuing modernization, humans have frequently compromised with the requirements of a more sustainable environment.

As a result, the increased environmental depletion is evident with the prevalence of deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases, climate change etc. To combat these challenges, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019. The objective was to improve air quality in 131 cities in 24 States/UTs by engaging multiple stakeholders.

‘Development is not real until and unless it is sustainable development.’ – Ban Ki-Moon

The concept of Sustainable Development in India has even greater relevance due to the controversy surrounding the big dams and mega projects and related long-term growth. Since it is quite a frequently asked topic in school tests as well as competitive exams , we are here to help you understand what this concept means as well as the mantras to drafting a well-written essay on Sustainable Development with format and examples.

This Blog Includes:

What is sustainable development, 250-300 words essay on sustainable development, 300 words essay on sustainable development, 500 words essay on sustainable development, introduction, conclusion of sustainable development essay, importance of sustainable development, examples of sustainable development.

As the term simply explains, Sustainable Development aims to bring a balance between meeting the requirements of what the present demands while not overlooking the needs of future generations. It acknowledges nature’s requirements along with the human’s aim to work towards the development of different aspects of the world. It aims to efficiently utilise resources while also meticulously planning the accomplishment of immediate as well as long-term goals for human beings, the planet as well and future generations. In the present time, the need for Sustainable Development is not only for the survival of mankind but also for its future protection. 

Looking for ideas to incorporate in your Essay on Sustainable Development? Read our blog on Energy Management – Find Your Sustainable Career Path and find out!

To give you an idea of the way to deliver a well-written essay, we have curated a sample on sustainable development below, with 250-300 words:

To give you an idea of the way to deliver a well-written essay, we have curated a sample on sustainable development below, with 300 + words:

Must Read: Article Writing

To give you an idea of the way to deliver a well-written essay, we have curated a sample on sustainable development below, with 500 + words:

Essay Format

Before drafting an essay on Sustainable Development, students need to get familiarised with the format of essay writing, to know how to structure the essay on a given topic. Take a look at the following pointers which elaborate upon the format of a 300-350 word essay.

Introduction (50-60 words) In the introduction, students must introduce or provide an overview of the given topic, i.e. highlighting and adding recent instances and questions related to sustainable development. Body of Content (100-150 words) The area of the content after the introduction can be explained in detail about why sustainable development is important, its objectives and highlighting the efforts made by the government and various institutions towards it.  Conclusion (30-40 words) In the essay on Sustainable Development, you must add a conclusion wrapping up the content in about 2-3 lines, either with an optimistic touch to it or just summarizing what has been talked about above.

How to write the introduction of a sustainable development essay? To begin with your essay on sustainable development, you must mention the following points:

• What is sustainable development?
• What does sustainable development focus on?
• Why is it useful for the environment?

How to write the conclusion of a sustainable development essay? To conclude your essay on sustainable development, mention why it has become the need of the hour. Wrap up all the key points you have mentioned in your essay and provide some important suggestions to implement sustainable development.

The importance of sustainable development is that it meets the needs of the present generations without compromising on the needs of the coming future generations. Sustainable development teaches us to use our resources in the correct manner. Listed below are some points which tell us the importance of sustainable development.

• Focuses on Sustainable Agricultural Methods – Sustainable development is important because it takes care of the needs of future generations and makes sure that the increasing population does not put a burden on Mother Earth. It promotes agricultural techniques such as crop rotation and effective seeding techniques.
• Manages Stabilizing the Climate – We are facing the problem of climate change due to the excessive use of fossil fuels and the killing of the natural habitat of animals. Sustainable development plays a major role in preventing climate change by developing practices that are sustainable. It promotes reducing the use of fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases that destroy the atmosphere.
• Provides Important Human Needs – Sustainable development promotes the idea of saving for future generations and making sure that resources are allocated to everybody. It is based on the principle of developing an infrastructure that is can be sustained for a long period of time.
• Sustain Biodiversity – If the process of sustainable development is followed, the home and habitat of all other living animals will not be depleted. As sustainable development focuses on preserving the ecosystem it automatically helps in sustaining and preserving biodiversity.
• Financial Stability – As sustainable development promises steady development the economies of countries can become stronger by using renewable sources of energy as compared to using fossil fuels, of which there is only a particular amount on our planet.

Mentioned below are some important examples of sustainable development. Have a look:

• Wind Energy – Wind energy is an easily available resource. It is also a free resource. It is a renewable source of energy and the energy which can be produced by harnessing the power of wind will be beneficial for everyone. Windmills can produce energy which can be used to our benefit. It can be a helpful source of reducing the cost of grid power and is a fine example of sustainable development. 
• Solar Energy – Solar energy is also a source of energy which is readily available and there is no limit to it. Solar energy is being used to replace and do many things which were first being done by using non-renewable sources of energy. Solar water heaters are a good example. It is cost-effective and sustainable at the same time.
• Crop Rotation – To increase the potential of growth of gardening land, crop rotation is an ideal and sustainable way. It is rid of any chemicals and reduces the chances of disease in the soil. This form of sustainable development is beneficial to both commercial farmers and home gardeners.
• Efficient Water Fixtures – The installation of hand and head showers in our toilets which are efficient and do not waste or leak water is a method of conserving water. Water is essential for us and conserving every drop is important. Spending less time under the shower is also a way of sustainable development and conserving water.
• Sustainable Forestry – This is an amazing way of sustainable development where the timber trees that are cut by factories are replaced by another tree. A new tree is planted in place of the one which was cut down. This way, soil erosion is prevented and we have hope of having a better, greener future.

Related Articles

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations in 2015. These include: No Poverty Zero Hunger Good Health and Well-being Quality Education Gender Equality Clean Water and Sanitation Affordable and Clean Energy Decent Work and Economic Growth Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure Reduced Inequality Sustainable Cities and Communities Responsible Consumption and Production Climate Action Life Below Water Life on Land Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions Partnerships for the Goals

The SDGs are designed to address a wide range of global challenges, such as eradicating extreme poverty globally, achieving food security, focusing on promoting good health and well-being, inclusive and equitable quality education, etc.

India is ranked #111 in the Sustainable Development Goal Index 2023 with a score of 63.45.

Hence, we hope that this blog helped you understand the key features of an essay on sustainable development. If you are interested in Environmental studies and planning to pursue sustainable tourism courses , take the assistance of Leverage Edu ’s AI-based tool to browse through a plethora of programs available in this specialised field across the globe and find the best course and university combination that fits your interests, preferences and aspirations. Call us immediately at 1800 57 2000 for a free 30-minute counselling session

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Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a call-to-action for people worldwide to address five critical areas of importance by 2030: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership.

Biology, Health, Conservation, Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, Civics

Set forward by the United Nations (UN) in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a collection of 17 global goals aimed at improving the planet and the quality of human life around the world by the year 2030.

Image courtesy of the United Nations

In 2015, the 193 countries that make up the United Nations (UN) agreed to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The historic agenda lays out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets for dignity, peace, and prosperity for the planet and humankind, to be completed by the year 2030. The agenda targets multiple areas for action, such as poverty and sanitation , and plans to build up local economies while addressing people's social needs.

In short, the 17 SDGs are:

Goal 1: No Poverty: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Goal 4: Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 5: Gender Equality : Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequality : Reduce in equality within and among countries.

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Goal 13: Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Goal 14: Life Below Water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

Goal 15: Life on Land: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Goal 16: Peace,  Justice , and Strong Institutions: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Goal 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

The SDGs build on over a decade of work by participating countries. In essence, the SDGs are a continuation of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which began in the year 2000 and ended in 2015. The MDGs helped to lift nearly one billion people out of extreme poverty, combat hunger, and allow more girls to attend school. The MDGs, specifically goal seven, helped to protect the planet by practically eliminating global consumption of ozone-depleting substances; planting trees to offset the loss of forests; and increasing the percent of total land and coastal marine areas worldwide. The SDGs carry on the momentum generated by the MDGs with an ambitious post-2015 development agenda that may cost over $4 trillion each year. The SDGs were a result of the 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, which demanded the creation of an open working group to develop a draft agenda for 2015 and onward.

Unlike the MDGs, which relied exclusively on funding from governments and nonprofit organizations, the SDGs also rely on the private business sector to make contributions that change impractical and unsustainable consumption and production patterns. Novozymes, a purported world leader in biological solutions, is just one example of a business that has aligned its goals with the SDGs. Novozymes has prioritized development of technology that reduces the amount of water required for waste treatment. However, the UN must find more ways to meaningfully engage the private sector to reach the goals, and more businesses need to step up to the plate to address these goals.

Overall, limited progress has been made with the SDGs. According to the UN, many people are living healthier lives now compared to the start of the millennium, representing one area of progress made by the MDGs and SDGs. For example, the UN reported that between 2012 and 2017, 80 percent of live births worldwide had assistance from a skilled health professional—an improvement from 62 percent between 2000 and 2005.

While some progress has been made, representatives who attended sustainable development meetings claimed that the SDGs are not being accomplished at the speed, or with the appropriate momentum, needed to meet the 2030 deadline. On some measures of poverty, only slight improvements have been made: The 2018 SDGs Report states that 9.2 percent of the world's workers who live with family members made less than $1.90 per person per day in 2017, representing less than a 1 percent improvement from 2015. Another issue is the recent rise in world hunger. Rates had been steadily declining, but the 2018 SDGs Report stated that over 800 million people were undernourished worldwide in 2016, which is up from 777 million people in 2015.

Another area of the SDGs that lacks progress is gender equality. Multiple news outlets have recently reported that no country is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030 based on the SDG gender index. On a scale of zero to 100, where a score of 100 means equality has been achieved, Denmark was the top performing country out of 129 countries with score slightly under 90. A score of 90 or above means a country is making excellent progress in achieving the goals, and 59 or less is considered poor headway. Countries were scored against SDGs targets that particularly affect women, such as access to safe water or the Internet. The majority of the top 20 countries with a good ranking were European countries, while sub-Saharan Africa had some of the lowest-ranking countries. The overall average score of all countries is a poor score of 65.7.

In fall of 2019, heads of state and government will convene at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to assess the progress in the 17 SDGs. The following year—2020—marks the deadline for 21 of the 169 SDG targets. At this time, UN member states will meet to make a decision to update these targets.

In addition to global efforts to achieve the SDGs, according to the UN, there are ways that an individual can contribute to progress: save on electricity while home by unplugging appliances when not in use; go online and opt in for paperless statements instead of having bills mailed to the house; and report bullying online when seen in a chat room or on social media.

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Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their implementation: A national global framework for health, development and equity needs a systems approach at every level

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Stephen Morton, David Pencheon, Neil Squires, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their implementation: A national global framework for health, development and equity needs a systems approach at every level, British Medical Bulletin , Volume 124, Issue 1, December 2017, Pages 81–90, https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldx031

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of global goals for fair and sustainable health at every level: from planetary biosphere to local community. The aim is to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, now and in the future.

The UN has established web-sites to inform the implementation of the SDGs and an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on an Indicator Framework. We have searched for independent commentaries and analysis.

The goals represent a framework that is scientifically robust, and widely intuitive intended to build upon the progress established by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There is a need for system wide strategic planning to integrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions into policy and actions.

Many countries have yet to understand the difference between the MDGs and the SDGs, particularly their universality, the huge potential of new data methods to help with their implementation, and the systems thinking that is needed to deliver the vision. The danger is that individual goals may be prioritized without an understanding of the potential positive interactions between goals.

There is an increasing understanding that sustainable development needs a paradigm shift in our understanding of the interaction between the real economy and quality of life. There would be many social, environmental and economic benefits in changing our current model.

We need to develop systems wide understanding of what supports a healthy environment and the art and science of making change.

Summary of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, linked to the five Areas of Critical Importance (5P’s)

Examples of targets and indicators (for Goal 2) 26

UN Graphical Illustration of the 17 SDGs.

The Sustainable Development Goals (adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015) run from 2016 to 2030 and are formally the goals of the United Nations’ ‘Transforming our world; the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, an agenda which sets out the vision, principles and commitments to a fairer and more sustainable world for all. The practical and political importance of the SDGs, and the challenges associated with them, can only truly be appreciated by understanding what preceded them. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were in place from 2000 to 2015 and consisted of eight international development goals. The first three goals covered poverty, education and gender equality; the next three goals addressed ‘health outcomes’ covering child mortality, maternal health and ‘HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases’. The remaining two goals addressed environmental sustainability and global partnership for development. These eight MDGs were supported by a total of 21 individual targets.

The MDGs, although a move in the right direction, were subject to certain criticisms. One was that there was insufficient analysis to justify why these goals were selected as priorities and insufficient information available to be able to compare performance, especially in tackling inequalities within countries. 1 This highlighted the perennial challenge in such initiatives of balancing political consensus with scientific validity. Nevertheless, based on data compiled by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG indicators, 2 the UN could demonstrate considerable success on some goals, especially on reducing extreme poverty (numbers of people living on less than $1.25 per day), reducing both child and maternal mortality, increasing access for people living with HIV to antiretroviral treatment and reducing new HIV infections. However, the report recognized that ‘progress has been uneven across regions and countries’ in the implementation of the MDGs.

Perhaps most importantly, the Millennium Development Goals focussed primarily on the needs of developing countries reinforcing a binary view of rich and poorer countries, of donors and recipients and implying that the global challenge is a problem of development which international aid can help address, rather than a set of shared problems which only collective action globally can resolve.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets are broader in scope and go further than the MDGs by addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people. The goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

Building on the success and momentum of the MDGs, the new global goals cover more ground, with ambitions to address inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, oceans, ecosystems, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice.

The new Goals are universal and apply to all countries, whereas the MDGs were intended for action in developing countries only.

A core feature of the SDGs is their strong focus on means of implementation: the mobilization of financial resources; capacity-building and technology; as well as data and institutions.

The new Goals recognize that tackling climate change is essential for sustainable development and poverty eradication. SDG 13 aims to promote urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

The UN resolution refers to five ‘areas of critical importance’; sometimes known as the 5 ‘P’s, these are People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships (see Table 1 ). The goals were launched with the strap-line of ‘Ensuring that no-one is left behind’ with its implication that development and levelling up will be the keys to progress by 2030. How this aspiration is reconciled with maintaining ecosystems and tackling climate change will be a challenge in itself. However, the SDGs do have a clear goal on climate action (Goal 13), which has been strengthened subsequently by the Paris Agreement of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, the SDGs are voluntary commitments by governments in contrast to the formal Paris Agreement which is legally binding now that it has been signed by 55% of parties and that those who have signed are responsible for more than 55% of greenhouse gas emissions. Also adopted in March 2015, and with a similar timescale, was the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–30) which succeeded the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005–15); the Sendai Framework was agreed by 187 countries and was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in June 2015.

There is a wealth of published material on sustainable development in general and on the SDGs in particular from the UN, from international non-governmental organizations, and from many other concerned and committed organizations and individuals more locally. It is easy to get lost in all of this so we have been selective in the sources we have used. Most importantly, there is a widely held view that much more innovative ways to both collecting data and using data, from crowd sourcing to the use of big data, need to be used if the mechanisms for implementing and delivering the SDGs are to take full advantage of the data revolution.

There is a dedicated United Nations website on sustainable development ( http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ ) as well as a sustainable development knowledge platform ( https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ ) with updates on the High Level Political Forum, on individual topics and milestones, and a directory of resources including recent publications. Both sites have much supporting material on the SDGs and also on the challenge of integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental).

The formal resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015 was published on 21 October 2015. 3 In the same year the United Nations Statistical Commission created an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), which will coordinate proposals of a global indicator framework. 4 This should be properly recognized by all countries and associated organizations who are working towards consistent methods of tracking progress so that duplication can be avoided, gaps identified, and resources directed most effectively. While work continues on international action to support the SDGs, all countries are ‘expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving the 17 goals’. The UN states that countries have the ‘primary responsibility for follow-up and review’ and this ‘will require quality, accessible and timely data collection’. In the UK, for example, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), has been working with the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD) to consult on national indicators for the SDGs. And some countries (notably Sweden, Germany, Colombia, the Philippines and Czechia) already have national institutional arrangements. 5

There is general agreement on the breadth and depth of the goals. There are clear obligations and responsibilities for all member states (for which they will be held to account) and a recognition that cross systems approaches to implementation will be needed. This is a significant change from the MDG process and requires explicit contributions from every country, particularly in developing and aligning the complex analytical tools to assess progress and assist decision making. The UN report on ‘critical milestones’ 6 refers to ‘an overarching vision and framework’. Getting accountability structures fit for purpose is already a key challenge. 7 A recent review in Nature 8 identifies that this requires a ‘new coherent way of thinking’ and that while it is implicit in the SDG logic that the goals depend on each other, no-one has specified exactly how. To help, different models have been developed, 9 including both scenario analysis and quantitative modelling. Some of these can be used as top-down macro-framework level tools and some as sectoral models for option level impact analysis. This independent review 7 of 16 countries who volunteered for national review (by the High Level Political Forum) noted a range of different approaches to deal with the complexity of the implementation process. Some countries with existing national sustainable development strategies have built on these and tried to align existing objectives with the new goals. Other countries have developed new national SDG Implementation Plans. Some have linked the SDGs to financial planning for sustainable development or sought to integrate SDGs either in sectoral planning (nutrition, education etc.) or in local government planning frameworks.

Other areas of agreement include the need to integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental), 10 , 11 the importance of raising awareness and creating ownership and the need for stakeholder engagement. 7 , 8 This is especially important to address the widespread misbelief that sustainable development concerns only the environmental dimension and conflicts with necessary ‘economic growth’. No strategy, not even one agreed by all member states of the United Nations, can immediately address historical cultures; yet, it remains one of the most fundamental challenges (and opportunities) for us all to address. The reality is that addressing all three dimensions collaboratively will yield the greatest benefits, whilst the alternative—addressing them separately and in competitive isolation—will deliver much less and with greater risks.

The agreement on the need for ‘systems thinking’, and integration across the three dimensions, is welcome, but the difficulties inherent in this approach should not be under-estimated. This has been illustrated by recent worked examples and case studies.

One worked example 8 concludes that action on the route to zero hunger in sub-Saharan Africa interacts positively with Goal 1 (poverty), Goal 3 (health and well-being), and Goal 4 (quality education). However, it also notes that food production has a more complex interaction with Goal 13 (climate change mitigation). This is because agriculture contributes 20–35% of global greenhouse gases, so climate mitigation constrains some types of food production (particularly meat). Additionally, food production (Goal 2) can compete with renewable energy production (Goal 7) and eco-system protection (Goals 14 and 15). Conversely, climate stability (Goal 13) and preventing ocean acidification (Goal 14) will support sustainable food production and fisheries (Goal 2).

Similarly, the UN paper on mainstreaming the three dimensions 11 highlights water as a nexus of integration and describes how water and sanitation (Goal 6) underpin other areas such as health (Goal 3), food (Goal 2), energy (Goal 7), elimination of poverty (Goal 1), economic productivity (Goal 8), equity (Goal 10) and access to education (Goal 4).

Perhaps the biggest single controversy, particularly because simplicity and logic favour collaborative and system wide implementation, is the high number of goals, targets and supporting actions that have been agreed. This raises concerns about whether governments and international agencies have sufficient skills in ‘whole systems thinking’ 12 to implement the goals without the risk of ‘unintended consequences’ and ‘perverse outcomes’. 8 Early mapping exercises 8 , 11 , 12 have demonstrated the important interconnections between achieving goals but experience suggests that government departments and international negotiations do not always have the mandate or skills to realistically address what might at first appear to be inconvenient and politically contentious trade-offs 8 and unintended consequences.

Deciding which goals to prioritize and then assessing the positive (or negative impacts) on other goals, is a crucial step. There is scope for concern if governments, corporations or agencies were to prioritize energy production (to meet Goal 7), agricultural output (to meet Goal 2) or development of business and infrastructure (to meet Goals 8 and 9), without considering impacts on climate (Goal 13), water (Goal 14) or land (Goal 15). The root cause of this problem is the failure to imagine better ways of addressing energy, agricultural output and what defines success of a business in the 21st century. It is rarely more of what has gone before. The SDGs are the formal stimulus for us to innovate collectively at scale and pace; and to think and act better not bigger. For instance, we need to be more open to the increasing evidence of the many potential positive interactions between different Goals. More equitable and sustainable food systems would help to meet Goal 2, produce ecological benefits (Goals 13–15) and help tackle problems such as obesity and non-communicable disease (Goal 3). 8 , 12

Interestingly, although the SDGs and supporting targets make little mention of tackling world population growth, there are several studies illustrating how coordinated, whole system approaches to the SDGs are already stabilizing the global population. One paper 13 looks at how the SDG targets on mortality, reproductive health and education for girls will directly and indirectly influence future demographic trends. Another paper, 14 looking from the opposite perspective, describes how reductions in fertility in Africa could reduce dependency ratios (the proportion of population not economically active) and thus help tackle poverty (Goal 1), increase productivity (Goal 8), and improve education and gender equality (Goals 4 and 5).

It should be clear that each country will pursue these Global Goals differently, and that a key benefit of the SDG approach is a degree of local flexibility. However, there are certain goals which require urgent collective action, where the clock is ticking on the world’s ability to tackle changes that are already significantly impacting on planetary health. 15 This means that international collaboration must give primacy to action on climate change (Goal 13) and the need to make economic policy subservient to the minimization of environmental impact (see Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production). This is of increasing importance with the recent expressions of electoral judgements in some western countries. The danger is that electorates are seduced into abandoning collective responsibility for the three dimensions of sustainable development in the hope that this will produce short-term benefits for individual countries while ignoring the wider longer term environmental, social and economic costs, knowingly leaving these to be borne by future generations.

A significant risk of allowing countries to take unilateral and apparently self-interested approaches by opting out of multi-state arrangements and economic agreements is the threat of a ‘race to the bottom’ where a country adopts low taxation, relaxed labour laws and reduced regulation as a deceptively attractive way to avoid economic crises. This approach risks increasing health inequity alongside continued restraints on social assistance and environmental protection, with negative impacts on many of the SDGs. Alternatively, a country, region or state could seek to build an economy which is directed at realizing the combined economic, social and environmental benefits associated with implementing the SDGs, with a focus on renewable energy, sustainable food and agriculture and environmentally sustainable technology (recycling, energy conservation and the like). This may also provide a model of sustaining prosperity given the demographic changes and likely labour shortages if countries, such as the UK, shift away from an economic model which depends on a migrant labour force for continued growth.

Given that it took 21 years of annual conferences of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change before a substantial agreement for action (the Paris Agreement) was achieved in December 2015, there could well be international controversy if reneging on key global commitments weakens the collective resolve. If we accept the fact that human health, and its future survival and prosperity, depend on a liveable earth, we would argue therefore that a refocus of population health to ecological 16 and planetary health 15 is the golden thread which binds the SDGs together as a systems approach. 1 This brings us to a fundamental challenge for governments, businesses, consumers and communities.

To what extent can we seek to implement the SDGs by improvements in current systems and at what point do we need a paradigm shift in our outlook and aspirations? This subject has been explored in relation to health and food systems 17 and in relation to regional trade agreements and health related SDGs. 18 However, it has also been clearly addressed by the United Nations Environment Programme’s ‘Inquiry into the design of a sustainable financial system’. 19 This inquiry points out that ‘failure of the financial system to take adequate account of climate change could result in extensive damage to financial assets globally, may well threaten the stability of the financial system itself, and most importantly could impose irreversible damage to the underlying state of the real economy and the quality of life for those who depend on it for their livelihoods’, a point that has been repeatedly echoed by some of the most powerful financial organizations and people globally. It is not enough to simply wait until action is obviously needed. As Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, says: ‘…once climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late’. 20

The existing macroeconomic model had already been challenged by a report prepared for the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission in 2009 21 and developed further by their Economics Commissioner. 22 Essentially, this is a challenge to a global economic model, which sees wealth creation based on rising production to meet ever increased demand as the basis of development. This continued consumption based model would be unsustainable even if the world’s population was stable but is compounded by the projected increase from 6 billion people in 2000 to potentially 9 billion by 2050; the consequences in terms of resources consumed, waste generated and boundaries exceeded will be an unprecedented planetary emergency. 23

However, before we despair completely, some of these reports are also clear that there would be many social, environmental and economic benefits in changing our current model and that ‘transitioning to a green economy opens us to many opportunities as well as posing many challenges’. 19 , 21 The fundamental challenge is aligning the three dimensions across all 17 SDGs and that will challenge many current sectoral interests.

The UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development recently coordinated an open letter, 24 from over 80 UK businesses, to the Prime Minister, asking her to highlight the UK’s commitment to the SDGs at the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos. This included not just many UK ethical environmental businesses but also many more traditional major multinational companies such as Coca Cola, Tesco, HSBC, Nestle, Land Rover, KPMG and Standard Chartered. It would seem that large corporations are more aware of the need to fundamentally re-shape the economy than many political parties.

The last two centuries have seen huge advances in our understanding of what causes diseases in individuals. There has been far less progress in understanding systematically exactly what causes health in populations: from a village level or a planetary level. The challenge for this generation is to synthesize our knowledge into creating those conditions that foster health and protect us from poverty as much as they protect us from polio. If we continue to devote resources disproportionately to finding ever more detailed causes of disease without considering the solutions to some of the obvious problems we have created for ourselves and others, we will be breaking the implicit contract we have with future generations, with those people who have no voice or choice; that is the agreement that we make every effort to leave the world in a better place than we found it. Without understanding how we collectively protect and improve all those conditions that make life worth living for all, we will be forever remembered as the generation who knew too much and did too little. The art and science of making change is fraught with more human and cultural barriers than with technical or knowledge barriers. The SDGs provide perhaps the last best hope we have of being honest about why and how we should implement the evidence we already have. The number of challenges and opportunities we face, from demographic transitions to new models of economic activity and workforce development makes it essential that we embrace clear and systematic frameworks for action that are measurable and monitorable and for which we should all be held accountable and responsible. Every generation in history has faced global challenges. ‘We Are the First Generation that Can End Poverty, the Last that Can End Climate Change’. 25

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest.

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UNESCO and Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,  adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.  

These objectives form a program of sustainable, universal, and ambitious development, a program of the people, by the people and for the people, conceived with the active participation of UNESCO. 

UNESCO's action to achieve the SDGs

Utilizing its mandate and proficiency across various domains including education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information, as well as oceanic affairs, UNESCO consistently endeavors to execute initiatives aligned with the principle of inclusivity, ensuring "leaving no one behind." 

Education 

UNESCO actively helped to frame the Education 2030 agenda which is encapsulated in SDG 4. The Incheon Declaration, adopted at the World Education Forum in Korea in May 2015, entrusted UNESCO to lead and coordinate Education 2030 through guidance and technical support within the overall SDG agenda. 

Natural Sciences 

The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a significant step forward in the recognition of the contribution of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to sustainable development.

Social and Human Sciences 

UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Programme aims to firmly entrench universal values and principles, such as global solidarity, inclusion, anti-discrimination, gender equality and accountability, in the implementation of the SDGs.

Culture 

Placing culture at the heart of development policies constitutes an essential investment in the world's future and a pre-condition to successful globalization processes that take into account the principle of cultural diversity.

Communication and Information 

UNESCO advocates the recognition of the vital role that freedom of expression and access to information and knowledge play in sustainable societies.

Ocean 

The  Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC )  of UNESCO holds a universal mandate and global convening power for ocean science and capacity development in support of the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable goals.

COMING TOGETHER

17 rooms global flagship synthesis report.

file-pdf Coming together: Forging new paths to action for the Sustainable Development Goals

About 17 Rooms A partnership between the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings and The Rockefeller Foundation, 17 Rooms is an experimental method for advancing the economic, social, and environmental priorities embedded in the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2021, more than 200 participants contributed to the global flagship process. See the list of participants here .

1. Seeking new paths to progress

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) embody many of the world’s foremost priorities for cooperation. Protecting people. Promoting prosperity. Preserving the planet. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the objectives embedded in the Goals were ambitious and wide-ranging—from the elimination of extreme deprivation to major reductions in inequality and switching course to safeguard nature. None of the 17 SDGs are optional. Major progress on each is essential for humanity to thrive. Moreover, for each individual Goal, the needed scale and scope of action requires new collaborative alliances across public, private, academic, civil society, and philanthropic sectors.

But the world is wracked by division. Too many existing institutions and processes meant to foster cooperation are not measuring up to the moment. Across communities, countries, and continents—there is widespread sentiment that things are stuck. The SDGs already called for new approaches to problem-solving. Setbacks triggered by COVID-19 have only amplified the need for a new path forward.

In this context, the Center for Sustainable Development at The Brookings Institution and The Rockefeller Foundation joined forces again in 2021 to convene the fourth annual 17 Rooms global flagship process. This evolving and experimental initiative aims to augment action, insight, and community across all 17 SDGs. The underlying motivation is to provide a neutral and creative space, alongside official processes, where leaders from different sectors and backgrounds can connect to collaborate and carry forward decisive next steps for the SDGs. Seventeen working groups or “Rooms”, one per SDG, came together to advance action within each Goal, while expanding opportunities for collaboration across Goals.

Emerging from the pandemic…we didn’t have the response that we needed to give us a good chance at recovery, and to put the SDGs back on track. This cannot just be about leaders and governments…we need to bring people into the room. The 131 U.N. offices…need to be inspired by this incredible energy that you have in these 17 Rooms…Because that is really where we need to implement in 9 years the sustainable development agenda. — Amina Mohammed, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General

A number of common themes, elements, and principles emerged across this year’s Rooms. The pandemic was never far from mind, including the catastrophic global inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines. The working group focused on global inequality (Room 10 on SDG 10) did not shy away from calling out leadership failures among powerful countries. Too few have followed through on their own self-interest to cooperate with less powerful societies to bring the pandemic to an end.

Several other themes for action emerged too. First, digital public goods (DPGs) can be gamechangers for SDG progress. Building on successful recent cases like Togo (emphasized in Room 1 on SDG 1), more and more countries can develop digital cash transfer systems to respond to emergencies, preempt disasters, broaden inclusion, and reduce poverty. To realize the broader benefits of DPGs (a focus of Room 9 on SDG 9), a range of actors need to come together to support common protocols and communities of practice that strike a balance between the autonomy of locally-calibrated systems and interoperability across systems. Global outreach strategies are also needed to educate communities, policymakers, and investors on the value of DPGs, such as participatory digital health and data collection tools for pandemic preparedness and response (proposed by Room 3 on SDG 3).

Second, prompted by a summer of extreme weather events in the northern hemisphere, three Rooms (Rooms 13, 14, and 15) came to the view that focusing on the security and benefits that nature delivers to people where they live can be an effective strategy for catalyzing large-scale investments in ecosystems. Multiple environmentally-focused Rooms also emphasized the need for new financing frameworks to achieve necessary SDG outcomes (e.g., Room 13’s key pillars for a “breakthrough” in climate finance).

Third, multiple groups pursued practical avenues to shift global systems of power and agency to provide greater support for local leaders and communities, including to advance the needs of women and girls. For change to occur, international actors need to embrace existing local models and update legacy funding structures and mindsets (articulated by Room 11). Fiscal transparency is also essential to ensuring local disparities are squarely addressed (a Room 16 priority). Innovative conceptual approaches are needed too: one Room proposed a novel process tool to help local actors in any community negotiate areas of tension and align on areas of mutual benefit (Room 14’s “SDG narrative approach” for working seascapes).

Fourth, on themes of justice and equity, younger generations received attention as key partners for driving change across many fronts of sustainable development. This ranged from new approaches to promoting intergenerational learning teams (Room 4), networks for women leaders working for gender equality in faith contexts (Room 5), and communities of practice for a next generation of education, leadership, and innovation around the SDGs (Room 16).

It’s really nothing short of remarkable that the flagship process brings all of you together, such an extraordinary network of leaders from so many disciplines and sectors and organizations around the world…It’s also inspiring to know that the 17 Rooms approach now extends well beyond this flagship process… It’s invigorating to see 17 Rooms emerge as a more informal platform for bottom-up cooperation… The actions you take across the 17 Rooms are simply essential to carving a better path forward. — John R. Allen, President, The Brookings Institution

Fifth, recognizing that private capital and business need to play a crucial role in achieving the SDGs, several Rooms sought ways to make capitalism more accountable to the true societal cost (and value) of doing business. New tools, metrics, data systems, and reporting requirements can help drive better alignment between private sector incentives and SDG outcomes (Room 2, Room 8), especially when informed by more refined public debates (Room 12). In one instance (Room 17), this entails a pioneering multi-stakeholder collaboration to help steer market investors away from companies using forced labor.

Sixth, multiple Room deliberations called for reframing SDG ambitions. Sometimes this was conceptual, such as promoting a mindset shift around human waste management as a key input to tackling climate change (Room 6). In one other instance it was more technical, such as to update SDG energy access metrics to capture essential requirements for escaping poverty and supporting livelihoods (Room 7). These efforts reflected a desire for ongoing improvement in how the SDGs can promote human dignity, opportunity, and co-benefits across Goals.

This report captures key outcomes from this year’s 17 Rooms global flagship process, written from the perspective of the 17 Rooms secretariat. All of the Rooms have published their own short documents, in their own voice, as a companion series to this report. Section 2 provides a recap of the latest developments in the 17 Rooms methodologies. Section 3 summarizes each Room’s action agenda, alongside some opportunities for joint action that bubbled up across Rooms. Readers who are less interested in the methodological questions might wish to skip Section 2 and jump straight to Section 3. A brief concluding section provides a look-ahead to 2022.

2. Flagship 4.0: Shortening the path to action

Any 17 Rooms process is anchored in three design principles: all SDGs get a seat at the table; take a next step, not the perfect step; and engage in conversations, not presentations. (See 17 Rooms: A new approach to spurring action for the Sustainable Development Goals for more details.) Groups convene to discuss what “we,” in the Room, can do next. Participants are asked to “leave their institutional agendas at the door” to create space for new forms of collaboration.

In the 2021 flagship process, as in previous years, all Rooms were given a common assignment to identify one to three actionable priorities to advance over the coming 12-18 months (i.e., by the end of 2022) to improve some aspect of their Goal’s 2030 outcomes. In a concerted effort to confront COVID-19’s implications as the most gendered crisis in modern history, Rooms this year were also asked to articulate how their actionable priorities would help drive gains for women and girls (See Gender equality as a cross-cutting theme ).

Promoting action within Rooms

Within the flagship process, all Rooms work to a tight timetable, with only a limited number of meeting hours available to share perspectives, identify opportunities, and clarify next steps. Each Room had its first meeting in early June 2021, and then met at least once more before the end of July, when each Room shared its draft action plans to inform an all-Room summit on September 13th and 14th. By the beginning of October, Rooms finalized their action strategies for 2022.

Within each Room, the goal is to zero in on problems that are consequential and not already being solved elsewhere, ones where a neutral platform could help bring a critical mass of different people together to make gains. Rooms are encouraged to avoid “boiling the ocean”-type conversations that tackle every topic embedded within an SDG. Instead, Rooms are given freedom to “pick a swim lane within a swim lane” of their SDG, i.e., a slice of their Goal they deem ripe for action. In turn, Participants are encouraged to identify prospective actions that are “big enough to matter and small enough to get done.”

Early in 2021, the 17 Rooms secretariat began referencing a notion of “right-sizing” practical ingredients to promote cooperation for the SDGs. But later, it became clear this wasn’t the right word choice, since right-sizing often connotes scaling back ambition, and 17 Rooms seeks to raise ambitions for action. By the end of the 2021 flagship cycle, the term “action-sizing” was deemed a more fitting jargon for the 17 Rooms mindset—cultivating conditions to shorten the path toward ambitious cooperative actions.

In the spirit of action-sizing, one of this year’s core innovations was to frame a three-part menu for the types of cooperation that could help each group quickly align expectations around definitions of success. This typology included: “campfire” strategies for diverse stakeholders to forge a new consensus, “trial balloon” approaches for domain experts to vet and pilot actionable ideas, and “direct ascents” to mobilize collective execution on a shared priority (see “Room typologies” image below). The secretariat then worked with each Room Moderator team to align an appropriate mix of Room participants to match the task.

Promoting interaction between Rooms

Accelerating cooperation within Rooms frames only a first layer of the 17 Rooms logic. A next layer is to forge productive interactions between Rooms. In the first instance, convening 17 concurrent groups of energized and committed people generates natural positive peer effects. Progress in one Room can inform, motivate, and even guide best practices for other Rooms. Other forms of interactive opportunity also emerge. This year’s Rooms benefited from targeted (cross-Room) expert feedback on emerging Room actions, cross-Room learning on topics of common interest, and exploring joint Room strategies on shared action priorities.

Engaging expert feedback

Convening domain experts across all 17 Rooms creates enormous opportunities for Participants with relevant expert knowledge, resources, or perspectives to support other Rooms’ emerging actions. In the 2021 flagship, the most structured form of this occurred during the September virtual summit, in a curated “Room Charging Station” session. Participants visited other Rooms based on their individual interests and expertise, making suggestions to help each host Room succeed. In a post-summit survey, two-thirds of respondents deemed this session “essential.” According to one participant, the discussion provided “a great way to cross-pollinate,” while another described it as an opportunity “really to deepen [the] Room’s thinking as well as provoke new insights.”

Learning different perspectives on shared interests

Exchanging outlooks on common interests between Rooms can generate productive insights to inform action. As Room work streams began to take shape this year, the secretariat was able to spot common threads and opportunities to share perspectives between Rooms. For instance, Moderators from Room 16—focused on justice in COVID-19 recovery and relief funding—met with Moderators from Room 9—experts in digital public goods and digital public infrastructure—to discuss opportunities and challenges around establishing open and transparent community-level data sources disaggregated by gender and race. During the September summit, a more structured “Big Tents” session invited participants from all Rooms to explore bottlenecks and possibilities for progress across six emergent cross-cutting themes, ranging from digital public goods to environmental management, private sector metrics, gender equality, localizing power, and intergenerational collaboration. By sharing perspectives across Room domains, Participants had the opportunity to foster new insights through small-group discussions with other members of the 17 Rooms community.

Exploring joint action

The most intensive form of cross-Room connection is when Moderator teams start collaborating to co-design joint action. Within a time-constrained process like the 17 Rooms flagship, in which each Room faces an intensive challenge even to identify its own focused priorities, it is no small task to identify joint priorities across Rooms. Nonetheless, this year’s flagship saw some alignments bubbling up across Rooms, and facilitated opportunities for Room Moderator teams to explore collaboration directly. The upshot of these exchanges, including coordinated pursuit of advancing DPGs (Room 1 and Room 9) and a cross-Room proposal for a “Natural Security Initiative” (Room 15, Room 13, Room 14), are described in the next section below.

[17 Rooms is] needed now more than ever. We used to call this convening, and we realized that it’s not just convening […] By connecting folks, providing some resources, moving forward ideas …[we can] re-imagine what connected leaders can do around the world..to change the future outlook of human vulnerability and opportunity — Rajiv Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation

Gender equality as a cross-cutting theme

Within the 2021 17 Rooms global flagship process, each Room was asked to respond to the following common assignment:

What are 1 to 3 actionable priorities that your Room can identify and advance over the coming 12-18 months (i.e., by the end of 2022) to improve some component of your Goal’s 2030 outcomes? In light of COVID-19’s profound and widespread exacerbation of gender inequities, how can your Room’s actionable priorities help drive gains for women and girls?

The first question reflects a perennial design principle for 17 Rooms—focus on a next step, rather than a perfect step. The second question represents a concerted effort to elevate issues of gender inequality across all the Rooms in 2021.

A community survey at the outset of this year’s flagship process found that different Rooms had differing degrees of comfort in identifying gender-relevant priorities within their respective domains. Respecting this variation in starting points, the 17 Rooms initiative aimed to encourage each Room to take at least a concerted step forward in advancing gender equality within its chosen action domain.

Across Rooms, there was broad recognition of the enormity of the gender equality problem. Women and girls carry a disproportionate burden of adversities in the workplace, in education, in access to health care and DPGs, in personal security, and within the home. They are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and related health, social, and economic volatility. Because of this, women and girls can secure particular benefits from new approaches to advancing SDG outcomes. For example, when technology provides remote learning opportunities in areas where travel is unsafe, when equitable digital cash transfer systems for emergency response are in place, when quality jobs with advancement opportunities are supported, and when clean fuel is used for cooking, women and girls can realize outsized benefits. Specific examples of Room insights and actions for gender equality include:

• Room 5 emphasized faith actors as agents for reshaping community norms for gender equality and supporting women leaders in faith contexts through cross-generational learning.
• Room 11 made clear that local communities and national governments need strong protocols to avoid elite capture, while supporting women leaders and women-led groups with financing.
• Room 13 noted a need for women and girls to be at the center of designing and benefiting from locally-led climate solutions, particularly for access to electricity and microfinance.
• Room 14 plans to ask the communities prototyping their “SDG narrative approach” to address the needs of women and girls in creating local stories for sustainable ecosystem management.
• Room 16 proposed ways to improve the collection of gender-disaggregated data at the community level—to identify equity gaps and help hold communities accountable for closing them.

During the September virtual summit, a cross-Room “Big Tents” session was devoted to advancing the needs of women and girls across the SDGs. Gender also featured as a strong theme during the summit’s final Room report out plenary, when keynote listener U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed spoke powerfully to the importance of gender equality in her response to Rooms’ proposed action plans. Moving forward, the 17 Rooms initiative will keep prioritizing gender inequality and keep experimenting with ways to advance action-oriented priorities for gender equality across all SDGs.

I’ll do three C’s [for] what I found useful and engaging in [the 17 Rooms] process: Conversation—Sometimes we get exhausted with having conversations over and over again, but I found that in this group, bringing together the expertise, and the leadership of networks and on ideas, and having a room for just conversations has been so powerful; Connections—…there’s so much value in this process of connecting the dots between what already exists. How can we be dot connectors versus generators of new ideas? Catalyzation—How can we use our energy, our networks, our ideas, our experience, to catalyze what exists? — Blessing Omakwu, Deputy Director leading Goalkeepers, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

3. Room actions for 2022

A synopsis of each Room’s action agenda is presented below. Consistent with the 17 Rooms approach of honing in on targeted actions, each group’s area of focus is described alongside at least one key next step the Room aims to advance before the end of 2022. Readers can explore the companion series of individual Room documents for a fuller sense of each Room’s outlook.

• Action: Help at least three countries build their government-led digital cash transfer infrastructure for emergency response and social protection, and promote 12 principles for equitable reach.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 1 DOCUMENT

• Action: Develop and mainstream a holistic impact assessment tool for investors to optimize for the True Cost/True Value of food.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 2 DOCUMENT

• Action: Run Bluetooth-enabled simulations of participatory digital health tools for pandemic response at high-level global meetings to increase uptake of and investment in the tools by world leaders, decisionmakers, and philanthropists.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 3 DOCUMENT

• Action: Establish a Global Coalition on Learning Teams to support governments to learn about and adopt distributed teaching models for more effective and resilient education systems.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 4 DOCUMENT

• Action: Host a virtual learning exchange to foster multi-faith, cross-generational, and cross-sectoral conversations on women leaders advancing gender equality in faith contexts.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 5 DOCUMENT

• Action: Establish the economic and business cases for making human waste a resource at scale, including energy, fertilizer, freshwater, and carbon credits.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 6 DOCUMENT

• Action: Advance new targets and metrics for energy reliability, productivity, and quality. This could include a target for non-residential electricity consumption, such as the Modern Energy Minimum, and an average floor for the wider economy.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 7 DOCUMENT

• Action: Pilot the “Opportunity Metrics” framework with partner firms to help them monitor and increase job quality, mobility, and equity within their companies.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 8 DOCUMENT

• Action: Develop and socialize a guide to utilizing digital public goods for digital cooperation, SDG attainment, and innovation while also coordinating resources to implement “good digital public infrastructure” at the country level.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 9 DOCUMENT

• Action: Urge world leaders to improve COVID-19 vaccine equity by taking several immediate steps based on enlightened self-interest, e.g., by converting the COVAX facility’s structure to a permanent mechanism for global public investment in pandemic preparedness and response.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 10 DOCUMENT

• Action: Co-create or scale an existing locally led campaign to shift power, process, and funding from bilateral donors, philanthropies, and their intermediaries towards community-embedded actors so that local actors can design and deliver sustainable development solutions in their own communities

DOWNLOAD ROOM 11 DOCUMENT

• Action: Launch a public campaign to encourage business journalists to increase and intensify their reporting on ESG efforts as a way to monitor and hold the private sector accountable for SDG action.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 12 DOCUMENT

• Action: Shape a common high-level narrative for three pillars of “breakthrough” for climate finance, including: delivering and going well beyond advanced economies’ $100 billion annual commitment, scaling up private finance through reform of the international financial institutions, and aligning the financial system to become a catalyst for change.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 13 DOCUMENT

• Action: Prototype an “SDG narrative approach” with local actors to develop their ocean-based vision for sustainable development. The prototype will start with a small and diverse set of places/organizations, likely in Moorea, French Polynesia; Mombasa, Kenya; and Iberostar (a family-owned tourism company) properties.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 14 DOCUMENT

• Action: Rapidly advance the “Natural Security Initiative”—to catalyze investments in nature to protect and benefit people where they live—by (i) enjoining and elevating the various existing nature-based solutions initiatives and climate campaigns and (ii) in-depth research tackling the recognized barriers to scaling up investments in nature.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 15 DOCUMENT

• Action: Identify and advance best practices for COVID-19 relief and recovery packages that produce just outcomes; and create a community of practice to advance new approaches to teaching and partnering with the next generation of university students about human rights using the SDGs.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 16 DOCUMENT

• Action: Develop an accessible, easy-to-use forced labor risk estimation tool that is easily integrated with institutional investors’ existing systems, and can deliver risk estimates at the company level across a wide universe of companies.

DOWNLOAD ROOM 17 DOCUMENT

Joint action between Rooms

The Room actions listed above reflect a broad mix of ambitions for SDG policies and practice. Readers might also note substantive alignment among some of the Room agendas. Some of these are coincidental; others reflect more structured interactions. As one example, the natural overlap between Room 1’s approach to building a digital public good for social inclusion and Room 9’s focus on global-scale strategies for implementing digital public infrastructure led to multiple meetings between Room representatives to explore opportunities for joint action. Both Rooms agreed that in the immediate term, the most effective form of joint action would be to maintain an open line of knowledge sharing and connection, but to work in parallel on their respective strategies for advancing digital public infrastructure and digital public goods in 2022.

This year’s most structured cross-Room interaction took shape after Room 15 floated the idea of a “Natural Security Initiative” (NSI) to catalyze investment in nature to protect and benefit people where they live. They shared the proposal mid-stream with the co-Moderators of Room 13 (climate action) and Room 14 (oceans), who offered strong support, provided specific suggestions on next steps, and began to incorporate relevant work into their own Rooms. The NSI proposal is continuing to evolve, but it has begun with a concerted campaign to put people and equity at the center of global climate and biodiversity agendas in key high-level meetings in 2021 (e.g., the COP26 climate summit) and 2022 (e.g., the COP15 biodiversity summit and COP27 climate summit). Next steps are likely to include a sharper assessment of the geographic spread of required investments in nature, alongside a more fleshed out action plan for mobilizing relevant actors in 2022.

4. Looking to 2022

The 17 Rooms initiative aims to create a helpfully novel environment for problem solving across all 17 SDGs. The foremost ambition is to foster actions, insights, and interpersonal connections that improve the world’s sustainable development outcomes. All of the 2021 flagship Rooms deserve tremendous credit for generating such practical agendas within such limited time constraints. But the real measure of success will lie in the delivery of actions in 2022.

Importantly, few of the Room proposals were developed in isolation; most will advance and evolve through interactions with broader efforts underway elsewhere. Some Rooms (e.g., Room 11, Room 14) even extend explicit invitations for interested parties to get directly involved in their work. The Room action agendas are best interpreted as a dynamic springboard to further progress over the coming year, rather than a stationary landing pad.

In 2022, the 17 Rooms initiative will convene a fifth annual global flagship process, exploring possibilities for mixing virtual plus in-person convenings as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. While the virtual environment offers unique opportunities for efficient and inclusive global conversations, many members of the 17 Rooms community have conveyed a strong desire for physical convenings too.

The initiative will also continue to expand opportunities for decentralized SDG engagement through the “17 Rooms-X” community of practice. A growing diversity of communities, universities, regions, and national-scale bodies are exploring or already deploying 17 Rooms methodologies to connect and advance SDG actions in their own local contexts. The initiative is keen to see how its methods can support action, insight, and community for the SDGs at any scale of geography or network.

The 17 Rooms 2021 global flagship process convened an extraordinary mix of people pushing for large-scale global change. Their actions and insights show the types of progress that are possible when diverse communities come together. They can help to elevate, and hopefully inspire, decisive gains for sustainable development within every community around the world.

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Introducing 17 Rooms, a podcast about the people driving a new approach for the Sustainable Development Goals

Acknowledgments.

The secretariat thanks Margaret Biggs, Homi Kharas, George Ingram, and Tony Pipa for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this report. The secretariat thanks participants in the 17 Rooms 2021 process for contributing remarkable insights and ideas, as reflected in the companion series of individual Room publications, which inspired the contents of this report. The secretariat is also particularly grateful to the Room Moderators who provided such energizing leadership, feedback, and support for the 17 Rooms process throughout 2021.

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and policy solutions. Its mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations for policymakers and the public. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars.

Support for this publication was generously provided by The Rockefeller Foundation. Brookings is committed to quality, independence, and impact in all of its work. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment. The Rockefeller Foundation advances new frontiers of science, data, policy, and innovation to solve global challenges related to health, food, power, and economic mobility. As a science-driven philanthropy focused on building collaborative relationships with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation seeks to inspire and foster large-scale human impact that promotes the well-being of humanity throughout the world by identifying and accelerating breakthrough solutions, ideas, and conversations. For more information, visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org .

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The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Essay

The Sustainable Development Goals are a kind of call to action emanating from all countries – poor, rich, and moderately developed. This call aims to improve the well-being of people and animals and protect our planet and nature. All countries admit that poverty liquidation measures must be taken at the same time with efforts to improve economic growth. Also, addressing a range of issues in the areas of education, health, social protection, and employment as well as combating climate change and protecting the environment should be done as soon as possible. The purpose of this paper is to list and discuss the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations or U.N. is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to keep international safety, peace, and security, develop healthy and friendly relationships between people from different countries, be the center for harmonizing the actions of nations, and achieve international cooperation. The Sustainable Development Goals are considered to be the foundation for a better future for everyone. These goals appeal to the global problems that are related to inequality, poverty, environmental degradation, climate change, justice, and peace (“About the Sustainable Development Goals”). All the seventeen goals are connected with each other, and the United Nations want to achieve all of them by 2030.

The first goal is to get rid of all kinds of poverty by ensuring that all people have equal rights and access to basic services, economic resources, ownership, natural resources, inherited property, financial services, and relevant new technologies. The second aim is to eliminate hunger by providing all people with permanent access to adequate, healthy, nutritious, and safe food. The third goal is to promote well-being and ensure healthy lives for all people of all ages. It may be achieved by reducing mortality rate, ending preventable deaths of children and newborns and premature mortality, increasing health financing.

Also, this goal’s steps are completing the epidemics of tuberculosis, AIDS, tropical diseases, and malaria and combating water-borne diseases, hepatitis, and other infectious sicknesses. The fourth aim is to establish quality education by providing all boys and girls with quality, free, and equitable early childhood development, care, preprimary, primary, and secondary education (“About the Sustainable Development Goals”). Also, it is necessary to make sure that all people have equal access to affordable and quality higher education and that all gender disparities in education are eliminated.

Goal number five is to achieve gender equality by ending discrimination, harmful practices, and violence against all girls and women all over the world. The sixth aim is to provide all people with clean and safe water by eliminating dumping, reducing pollution, and minimizing the release of dangerous materials and chemicals. Also, it is important to halve the amount of wasted water and increase reuse and recycling. The seventh aim is to provide people with access to reliable, affordable, modern, and sustainable energy.

It may be achieved by upgrading technology and expanding infrastructure for supplying sustainable and modern energy services for everyone in all developing countries. Goal number eight is to promote employment, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and decent work for everyone (“About the Sustainable Development Goals”). The ninth goal is to foster innovation, build sustainable infrastructure, and promote stable industrialization by raising industry’s share of GDP and employment and increasing access to communications and information technology.

Aim number ten is to reduce inequality within and among countries by empowering the economic, political, and social inclusion of all people despite their race, age, religion, and other differences. Moreover, it is essential to provide equal opportunities and reduce outcome inequalities by destroying discriminatory policies, laws, and practices. The eleventh goal is to make towns and cities safe, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient by providing access to secure transportation, improving road safety, and protecting and safeguarding the world’s natural and cultural heritage. Aim number twelve is to ensure sustainable and responsible production patterns and consumption.

This may be done by halving global food waste per person and reducing food losses (“About the Sustainable Development Goals”). The thirteenth goal is to take action to fight climate change and its impacts by integrating necessary measures into national policies and strategies and improving people’s awareness of the problem.

The fourteenth aim is to conserve and sustainably use marine resources. People need to prevent or at least reduce all kinds of marine pollution, minimize the impacts of acidification of ocean, and prohibit some forms of fisheries subsidies. Goal number fifteen is to fight with desertification, manage forests, and stop and reverse land degradation. It may be achieved by ensuring the conservation of mountain ecosystems and restoring degraded soil and land.

Aim number sixteen is to promote equitable, inclusive, and peaceful societies by reducing violence and death rates that are related to it, ending exploitation, abuse, trafficking, and torture of children, and reducing bribery and corruption. Finally, the seventeenth goal is to achieve sustainable development by revitalizing the global partnership (“About the Sustainable Development Goals”). In other words, this goal is about strengthening domestic resource mobilization, mobilizing additional financial resources, and assisting developing countries.

To draw a conclusion, one may say that these goals are essential for achieving sustainable development, a safe society and atmosphere, the world’s proper condition, and the prosperity of all people. It is hard to disagree that most of these goals, like combating climate change or protecting the marine resources, are so crucial that they need to be achieved in the nearest future. Unfortunately, it is impossible until all people realize the problems and unite to change the world for the better together.

“About the Sustainable Development Goals.” Sustainable Development Goals . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 29). The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/

"The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals." IvyPanda , 29 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals'. 29 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/.

1. IvyPanda . "The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/.

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UNICEF Data : Monitoring the situation of children and women

GOAL 17: PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Goal 17 aims to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.  Partnerships are the glue for SDG implementation and will be essential to making the Agenda a reality. Goal 17 calls to strengthen the means of implementation and to build and enhance partnerships with diverse stakeholders.

The targets of Goal 17 are among the primary tools for the advancement of child rights and well-being, globally. This goal defines, for example, whether there are enough data available to identify those children most at risk of being left behind.

While in 2018 there has been an increase in the countries who implemented national statistical plans, many countries lacked the necessary funding to do so: in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 23 per cent of plans were fully funded. While sufficient data on all SDGs is relevant to the fulfillment of child rights, UNICEF has prioritised work on indicators in the global SDG monitoring framework that most directly concern children. Although there has been a notable increase in data coverage on these indicators between 2018 and 2019, an average of 75 per cent of child-related SDG indicators in every country either have insufficient data or show insufficient progress to meet global SDG targets by 2030.

UNICEF’s contribution towards reaching this goal centres on working with a broad range of partners at the global, regional, country and local levels, across the public and private sectors. Goal 17 calls on Member States to significantly enhance the availability of reliable, high-quality and timely disaggregated data as well as to further develop measurements of progress, and support statistical capacity building in developing countries.

TARGET 17.8 Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology.

Proportion of individuals using the internet.

• Indicator definition
• Computation method
• Comments & limitations

The Internet has become an increasingly important tool to access public information, which is a relevant means to protect fundamental freedoms. The number of Internet users has increased substantially over the last decade and access to the Internet has changed the way people live, communicate, work and do business. Internet uptake is a key indicator tracked by policy makers and others to measure the development of the information society and the growth of Internet content – including user-generated content.

Despite growth in networks, services and applications, information and communication technology (ICT) access and use is still far from equally distributed, and many people cannot yet benefit from the potential of the Internet. This indicator highlights the importance of Internet use as a development enabler and helps to measure the digital divide, which, if not properly addressed, will aggravate inequalities in all development domains. Classificatory variables for individuals using the Internet – such as age, sex, education level or labour force status – can help identify digital divides in individuals using the Internet. This information can contribute to the design of targeted policies to overcome those divides.

The proportion of individuals using the Internet is an established indicator and was also one of the three ICT- related Millennium Development Goal (MDG) indicators. It is part of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development’s Core List of Indicators, which has been endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission. It is also included in the ITU ICT Development Index, and thus considered a key metric for international comparisons of ICT developments.

This indicator is defined as the proportion of individuals who used the internet from any location in the last three months.

The Internet is a worldwide public computer network. It provides access to a number of communication services including the World Wide Web and carries e-mail, news, entertainment and data files, irrespective of the device used (not assumed to be only via a computer – it may also be by mobile telephone, tablet, PDA, games machine, digital TV etc.). Access can be via a fixed or mobile network.

For countries that collect data on this indicator through an official survey, this indicator is calculated by dividing the total number of in-scope individuals using the Internet (from any location) in the last 3 months by the total number of in-scope individuals. For countries that have not carried out a survey, data are estimated (by ITU) based on the number of Internet subscriptions and other socioeconomic indicators (GNI per capita) and on the time series data.

While the data on the percentage of individuals using the Internet are very reliable for countries that have collected the data through official household surveys, they are less reliable in cases where the number of Internet users is estimated by ITU. ITU is encouraging all countries to collect data on this indicator through official surveys and the number of countries with official data for this indicator is increasing.

TARGET 17.19 By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries

Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration.

Population and housing censuses are one of the primary sources of data needed for formulating, implementing and monitoring policies and programmes aimed at inclusive socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability. Population and housing censuses are an important source for supplying disaggregated data needed for the measurement of progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in the context of assessing the situation of people by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location, or other characteristics.

In recognition of the above, the ECOSOC resolution E/RES/2015/10 establishing the 2020 World Population and Housing Census Programme urges Member States to conduct at least one population and housing census during the period from 2015 to 2024, taking into account international and regional recommendations relating to population and housing censuses and giving particular attention to advance planning, cost efficiency, coverage and the timely dissemination of, and easy access to, census results for national stakeholders, the United Nations and other appropriate intergovernmental organizations in order to inform decisions and facilitate the effective implementation of development plans and programmes.

The indicator tracks the proportion of countries that have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years and hence provides information on the availability of disaggregated population and housing data needed for the measurement of progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The introduction of indicator 17.19.2 (b) as part of the SDG global framework reflects the recognition of the fundamental role of the civil registration system to the functioning of societies, and the legal and protective advantages that it offers to individuals. The essential purpose of civil registration system is to furnish legal documents of direct interest to individuals. Aside from the direct and overarching importance of civil registration to the public authorities, in that the information compiled using the registration method provides essential data for national and regional preparation and planning for medical and health-care programmes, the role played by civil registration in proving, establishing, implementing and realizing many of the human rights embodied in international declarations and conventions reflects one of its most important contributions to the normal functioning of societies.

(a) The indicator tracks the proportion of countries that have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years. This also includes countries which compile their detailed population and housing statistics from population registers, administrative records, sample surveys or other sources or a combination of those sources.

(b) According to the Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, Revision 3 ( https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/standmeth/principles/M19Rev3en.pdf ), a complete civil registration is defined as: “The registration in the civil registration system of every vital event that has occurred to the members of the population of a particular country (or area), within a specified period as a result of which every such event has a vital registration record and the system has attained 100 per cent coverage.”

In a given country or area, the level of completeness of birth registration can be different from the level of completeness of death registration.

Several methods for evaluating the completeness of birth or death registration systems exist. An elaboration of these methods is available at Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, Revision 3. The evaluation and monitoring of quality and completeness of birth and death registration systems are addressed in Part three, sub-Chapters: D. Quality assessment methods; E. Direct versus indirect assessment, and F. Choosing appropriate methods for assessing completeness and qualitative accuracy of registration and register-based vital statistics (para 579 to 622).

Indicator 17.19.2(b) has two parts; the first concerning the birth registration and the second concerning the death registration of each individual country or area.

(b) The two sub-indicators of the indicator 17.19.2(b) are expressed as proportions: at the global level, the proportion of countries that have achieved 100 per cent birth registration is measured as the number of countries that have achieved 100 per cent birth registration to the total number of countries. The computation is done in an analogous manner for the death registration part as well as for the regional measurements of both birth and death registration sub-indicators.

The latest compiled data for this indicator are part of the Statistical Annex to the 2017 SG’s progress report, available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2017/secretary-general-sdg-report-2017–Statistical-Annex.pdf (please refer to the last two pages). These data are compiled using the country-reported information on availability and completeness of birth and death registration data at the country level, to the United Nations Demographic Yearbook, via the Demographic Yearbook Vital Statistics questionnaire and accompanying metadata. United Nations Demographic Yearbook collection and associated online compilations are published by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Please refer to: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/default.htm

At the present time, the thresholds used for compiling the data for the indicator 17.19.2(b) are 90 per cent for birth registration and 75 per cent for death registration, due to the classification that has been used in the Demographic Yearbook metadata questionnaire on vital statistics. This classification has currently been modified to enable reporting according to the exact formulation of the indicator 17.19.2(b).

The SDGs can only be realized with strong and inclusive partnerships, as well as significant investment in implementation, with children at the centre. UNICEF has five key asks for Goal 17. UNICEF offers support to governments and encourages them to:

• Build, strengthen and expand partnerships.
• Broker meaningful multi-stakeholder coalitions and alliances.
• Engage with the UN System as a key partner.
• Enhance North-South, South-South, horizontal and triangular cooperation.
• Leverage and pool resources, capacities, technology and data.

See more Sustainable Development Goals

ZERO HUNGER

GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

QUALITY EDUCATION

GENDER EQUALITY

CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

REDUCED INEQUALITIES

CLIMATE ACTION

PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS

PARTERNSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

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The Republic of Moldova will align its fiscal policy with the priorities of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

April 2, 2024.

The Ministry of Finance will align its tax policy with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to ensure a decent living for all people in a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous environment. 

On 2 April 2024, the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Service signed a Country Engagement Plan with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which will strengthen the capacity of national authorities to shape a tax system that contributes to reforms that benefit all people, especially the vulnerable. At the same time, additional opportunities will be identified to finance national development priorities. 

“The signing of this programme is an important step in our efforts to strengthen the tax system and promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the Republic of Moldova. Working with the United Nations Development Programme will allow us to identify and implement tax strategies and policies that respond to the realities and needs of the taxpayers,” said Petru Rotaru, Minister of Finance.

“Financing for Sustainable Development Goals means making the best use of the existing domestic financial resources and directing them towards long-term development objectives so as to empower people, especially the vulnerable, to become self-reliant and have access to growth opportunities. The cooperation plan we signed today also addresses good governance and increased capacity in fighting tax evasion, fraud, and illicit financial flows. We are confident that a culture of integrity will help Moldova to benefit from more development gains,” said Daniela Gasparikova, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova.

”The State Tax Service highly appreciates the openness of the United Nations Development Program to provide assistance to our institution in the field of transfer pricing via the "Tax Inspectors Without Borders" program, as well as in the field of tax administration digitalization. It is important to mention that the State Tax Service has as a priority the development of informational solutions that improve the experience of taxpayers in the process of declaring and paying taxes to the budget and making the activity of the tax administration more efficient. Moreover, the STS makes consolidated efforts in the context of EU accession, such as connecting the information system to international standards. In this regard, the tax authority wants to capitalize on the opportunity to study the international experience related to the SAF-T standard control file, a file type based on the XML standard that is used internationally for the electronic exchange of tax information” said Olga Golban, Director of the State Tax Service.

The Tax Country Engagement Plan aligned to the SDGs provides support for developing the SDG Tax Framework in Moldova, assessment of feasibility and resource implication of tax policy change, mapping of tax expenditures towards SDGs and implementation of the UNDP-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) “Tax Inspectors without Borders” initiative, which involves specialized tax audit assistance in developing countries around the world.

Previously, with the support of UNDP and the Government of Slovakia, the strategic policy framework in the Republic of Moldova was assessed, which identified challenges and opportunities for financing and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Perceived Status Of Ecosystem Services Emanating From A Forest Reserve: Evidence From Atewa Range Forest Reserve In Ghana

• Atanga, Raphael Ane
• Kainyande, Aruna
• Tankpa, Vitus
• Osunmadewa, Babatunde

Forest ecosystem services play an integral part in the realization of global sustainable development goals due to their potential contribution to climate change mitigation and forest-based livelihoods in marginalized rural parts of the world. The Atewa Forest Range Reserve has been recognized to support forest-based livelihoods in adjacent communities and even urban areas of Ghana. While this contribution is acknowledged, information on the current status of the reserve's ecosystem services which are under serious threats from human-induced activities, remains fragmented. Therefore, through a household survey of 150 respondents complemented by key informant interviews (n = 9), this research assessed the awareness and perceptions of people on the current status of the Atewa Forest Range Reserve and its ecosystem services as well as the major drivers of change that seem to threaten the provision of these ecosystem services. Our results point to provisioning services as the most widely utilized ecosystem service, leading to their significant decline with the potential to affect the livelihoods of the local populations. Respondents' awareness and the relative importance they ascribe to the reserve's ecosystem services reinforced their appreciation for these services and interest in their sustainable management. Our results suggest the need for understanding local perceptions of ecosystem services to guide the prioritization of management decisions for balancing both utilization and conservation goals. A co-management approach that fosters the strategic inclusion of local communities in decision-making regarding the forest reserve could contribute to collaborative relationships and further increase positive perceptions of locals to preserve the reserve's ecological functions.

• Environmental benefits;
• Atewa forest;
• Forest degradation

Media Advisory | After global shocks, new UN report to say trillions of dollars in SDG financing surge urgently needed

WHO:         UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed

WHAT:       Launch of the Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024

Financing challenges are at the heart of the current sustainable development crisis. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing geopolitical tensions and intensifying climate shocks, financing gaps are widening. The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads is expected to urgently call for the world to close a trillions of dollars financing gap and reform a global financial system which is not fit for the challenges of the 21st century.

The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, issued by the UN Secretary-General’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development , is expected to offer concrete recommendations to scale up investments in the SDGs and recover lost ground. It will say that the Summit of the Future in September 2024 and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development Conference in June 2025 are the final opportunities to change trajectory.

WHEN:       9 April 2024, 12:30 pm (EDT)

after the noon press briefing by the Spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General

WHERE:     UN Press Briefing Room, S-237

Follow live on http://webtv.un.org/

Background:

• The Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024 is produced by UN DESA in close cooperation with the World Bank Group, IMF, WTO, UNCTAD, and UNDP. It includes the input of the over 60 United Nations Agencies and other international institutions that form the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development.
• The full report will be available on:  https://financing.desa.un.org/iatf/fsdr2024 on 9 April 2024.
• This report is the basis for discussions at the UN ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow up, for government officials and other stakeholders, from 22 to 25 April 2024. The report also informs the SDG Investment Fair (23-25 April 2024), which brings together government officials and investors.

For more information, please contact:

Rita Ann Wallace, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs | Mobile: +1 516 707 5570 | [email protected]

Sharon Birch, UN Department of Global Communications | [email protected]

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Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects For Low-Income Countries—2024

Publication Date:

April 2, 2024

Electronic Access:

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The outlook for Low-Income Countries (LICs) is gradually improving, but they face persistent macroeconomic vulnerabilities, including liquidity challenges due to high debt service. There is significant heterogeneity among LICs: the poorest and most fragile countries have faced deep scarring from the pandemic, while those with diversified economies and Frontier Markets are faring better. Achieving inclusive growth and building resilience are essential for LICs to converge with more advanced economies and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building resilience will also be critical in the context of a more shock-prone world. This requires both decisive domestic actions, including expanding and better targeting Social Safety Nets (SSNs), and substantial external support, including adequate financing, policy advice, capacity development and, where needed, debt relief. The Fund is further stepping up its support through targeted policy advice, capacity building, and financing.

Policy Paper No. 2024/011

External debt Monetary policy Political economy

9798400272400/2663-3493

PPEA2024011

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