UN reform for Sustainable Development Goals

Ahead of the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024, a new SDSN report calls for a United Nations 2.0 to strengthen global cooperation and financing for sustainable development.

None of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track to be achieved by 2030, and only an estimated 16% of the SDG targets are progressing, reveals the 9th edition of the Sustainable Development Report (SDR) by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). The first report’s chapter, endorsed by 100+ leading scientists and practitioners worldwide, identifies priorities to upgrade the United Nations to meet the great challenges of the 21st Century and achieve sustainable development, including five strategies to address the chronic shortfalls in SDG financing. Published each year since 2016, the global edition of the SDR includes the SDG Index and Dashboards ranking the performance of all UN Member States on the SDGs. In addition to the SDG Index, this year’s edition includes a new Index of countries’ support for UN-based multilateralism covering all 193 UN Member States and new FABLE pathways demonstrating how to achieve sustainable food and land systems by mid-century.

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the SDSN and a lead author of the report, emphasizes the following:
“Midway between the founding of the UN in 1945 and the year 2100, we cannot rely on business as usual. The world faces great global challenges, including dire ecological crises, widening inequalities, disruptive and potentially hazardous technologies, and deadly conflicts, we are at a crossroads. Ahead of the UN’s Summit of the Future, the international community must take stock of the vital accomplishments and the limitations of the United Nations system, and work toward upgrading multilateralism for the decades ahead.”

This year’s SDR highlights five key findings:

1. On average, globally, only 16% of the SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030, with the remaining 84% demonstrating limited or a reversal of progress.

2. The pace of SDG progress varies significantly across country groups. Nordic countries continue to lead on SDG achievement, with BRICS demonstrating strong progress and poor and vulnerable nations lagging far behind.

3. Sustainable development remains a long-term investment challenge. Reforming the Global Financial Architecture is more urgent than ever.

4. Global challenges require global cooperation. Barbados ranks the highest in its commitment to UN-based multilateralism; the United States ranks last.

5. SDG targets related to food and land systems are particularly off-track. The SDR presents new FABLE pathways to support sustainable food and land systems.

Citation Details: Sachs, J.D., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G. (2024). The SDGs and the UN Summit of the Future. Sustainable Development Report 2024. Paris: SDSN, Dublin: Dublin University Press. doi:10.25546/108572

Website: https://sdgtransformationcenter.org/

SOURCE: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sustainabledevelopment.report/2024/press-relea…