The core principles of indivisibility, integration and universality are essential to the success of the SDGs by 2030, but have not been fully embedded in the necessary policies, institutions, and regulatory frameworks argue Mistra Geopolitics and SEI researchers in a Comment in Nature Sustainability.
The authors outline their recommendations for putting the core principles into practice, and ensuring that they are reflected in progress measurement, during the second half of SDG implementation. Henrik Carlsen, Co-Director of Mistra Geopolitics and Therese Bennich, Mistra Geopolitics Project Lead, and their SEI colleagues write:
Thus far the core principles of indivisibility, integration and universality have been ‘little more than catchphrases’, but that without these principles, the SDGs are no more than a ‘compilation of goals and targets that already existed under other agreements’. However, this halfway point offers an opportunity to tackle the faltering SDG progress and accelerate implementation up to 2030.
— Nina Weitz, Henrik Carlsen, Therese Bennich, Åsa Persson and Måns Nilsson.
Delegates at the UN high-level meeting in New York 2019. Photo: Matthew Ten Bruggencate / Unsplash.
The 17 SDGs were established in 2015 as an urgent call to action by all countries to tackle global challenges such as poverty and inequality, climate change and environmental decline. 2023 marks the midway point to the 2030 implementation deadline, but SDG progress has so far been slow and piecemeal.
The authors make a series of recommendations to strengthen the alignment between implementation and the core principles, which would “not only accelerate progress towards the vision of the 2030 Agenda but also revive confidence that multilateral cooperation can solve urgent, multiple and intertwined global challenges”.
Weitz, Carlsen, Bennich, Persson and Nilsson – emphasize:
In particular, with respect to indivisibility and universality, we emphasize the importance of the interlinkages between the different SDGs, and the need for researchers and policymakers to provide stronger evidence on how progress towards one goal may positively or negatively affect progress towards another goal — including across country borders.
Mistra Geopolitic’s researchers
- Henrik Carlsen, Co-Director of Mistra Geopolitics and SEI Senior Research Fellow
- Therese Bennich, Project Lead of Mistra Geopolitics and SEI Research Fellow
- Åsa Persson, Member of the Mistra Geopolitics Advisory Board and SEI Research Director
Comments in Nature Sustainability
The press release above refers to a Nature Sustainability Comment piece, not a Nature Sustainability research paper or article. Comment pieces are topical, authoritative Op-Eds pertaining to scientific research and its ramifications.
This Comment is part of the Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Collection, which marks the mid-point of the 15-year period envisioned to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Collection includes content published in journals across the Nature Portfolio and highlights the progress made towards the SDGs.
Foresight capabilities and emerging technologies
This research is performed within Mistra Geopolitics research theme “Foresight capabilities and emerging technologies”.