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Bringing in voices that are otherwise not heard

Participation processes can be undermined

A question of trust

“Halfway through, but nowhere near – we heard that time and again in New York to sum up the international community’s progress towards the global sustainability goals”, reports Kai Niebert, member of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), who was at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York in mid-July: “One thing is for sure, it will go right down to the wire by 2030.”

We are already at the midway point in the 2030 Agenda. Eight years ago, with the Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global community resolved not only to enable a decent life for all, but also to permanently protect the natural resources this would require. Ambitious goals that were set by the United Nations in September 2015 aimed at bringing together the economic, ecological and social aspects of sustainable development. Since then, all 193 UN member states have been called upon to act in accordance with this pledge. Because the 17 SDGs are indivisible – in other words, they must all be met by everyone, not just some of them by a few.

As things stand, we still have seven years to go. A fitting time, then, to take stock – even though it was already clear before the HLPF started that this mid-term review would be at the very least sobering. Because on the one hand, the multiple global crises of recent years have also set the world back in terms of sustainability and development, but on the other, countries are not doing enough as a whole. Thus far, most of the SDGs have seen little progress, as was also confirmed in the latest progress report of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. As such, Germany, too, is pushing for a redoubling of national and international efforts in a bid to deliver the 2030 Agenda in the second half.

A platform for dialogue and exchange

From 10–19 July, the HLPF saw representatives of the UN member states and civil society organisations gather in New York to discuss the most pressing issues around achieving the SDGs. A whole range of events and topic reviews took place, both in person and online, while 39 states presented their voluntary national reviews (VNR). These progress reports are not just made in a vacuum; the HLPF provides an opportunity for other member states and voices from civil society to comment on them directly. VNRs are normally preceded by a comprehensive one-year social consultation process with stakeholders at local and national level.

The HLPF is the central United Nations platform for reviewing the sustainability progress of the individual states. Although this year’s attendance was more or less back to pre-pandemic levels, many of the delegations, especially those from emerging and developing economies, were smaller than before the pandemic. This meant the respective national stakeholders were not as strongly represented as would have been necessary for an adequate global exchange and learning process between the various countries.

This year’s HLPF ran under the somewhat unwieldy theme of “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels”. In this context, measures and successful examples for overcoming the impacts of the pandemic were presented. After all, even if we seem to have largely pulled through this emergency health situation, the economic consequences and a loss of trust have now come to the fore. Another reason why the debt situation of many countries in the Global South continues to escalate dramatically.

Normally the Forum ends with a political declaration, and there is indeed an initial draft which is still in negotiation between the UN member states, but this year the declaration will not be made until after the SDG Summit in September.

Topics for the SDG Summit

Following the HLPF, it is clear that one of the main topics for the SDG Summit will be financing the sustainable transition. As such, federal development minister Svenja Schulze had already called for a reform of the World Bank at the German Conference on the 2030 Agenda in May, where the German stance for the HLPF was developed. It must become a transformation bank, one which can not only combat hunger and poverty but also drive solutions for climate and nature protection.

The RNE, too, has already published a statement on the reform of the international financial architecture and during the HLPF was represented at an event on the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future 2024 where positions in this statement were discussed. All in all, the RNE played an active part in New York with two of its own events and many discussions, says RNE Secretary General Marc-Oliver Pahl. “My main concern there was expanding our cooperations with African partners, the African Union and the African Peer Review Mechanism.”

Taking responsibility as a continent

One thing worth noting at this year’s HLPF was that the European Union gave its first voluntary review at continental level. It was a plea for multilateralism, which referenced the successes of international cooperation and the implementation of sustainable development in Europe. However, it also pointed out the external effects of European consumption in other regions of the globe.

“This first-time, but honest and ambitious review of the EU was impressive”, says Kai Niebert. “Team Europe” promised the international community it would step up the transition and extend its hand to the Global South as equals. “We, the RNE, with our European and international partners will do everything we can to ensure that we deliver in 2030 and sustainability becomes a reality.”

Another enduring topic in New York was the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and its impact on the global community. One of the biggest setbacks concerns the second SDG of ending hunger, as both Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of food, fertiliser and energy.

The necessary clout

The new Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) 2023, which is set to be published in its final version at the SDG Summit, was also the subject of debate at the numerous events. On this, the RNE held an event with application examples from Belgium, Tanzania, Finland and Germany to critically discuss how sustainable development reports can develop the necessary clout. But also how integrated action can be anchored in national governance structures. “An integrated view of the 17 SDGs allows coherent and targeted implementation. To still achieve the 2030 Agenda, we need this honest engagement to create the pathways for transition”, says Hannah Janetschek, head of sustainable development/international affairs at the RNE.

The global community has plenty of input as it looks ahead to the SDG Summit in the autumn. After all, even though there are still many unanswered questions, one thing is clear: this summit must be the launchpad for a phase of renewed urgency. Because the international community is still off track and 2030 is fast approaching.

Sobering stock-take

German stance for New York

Reform of international financial institutions

Where do things stand with the United Nations’ global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the face of numerous global crises, from the war in Ukraine to the impacts of the climate crisis? This question was discussed by a high-level panel at the Annual Conference of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE).

Back in July, at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had already pulled no punches in his analysis: the world is in a desperate situation, and the SDGs are no exception, he lamented. But in his video message he gave the public hope: “We can still turn the tide if we all stand together – governments, civil society and the private sector.” But this mission needs, more than ever, the support of countries like Germany.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul: We must prevent new blocs from forming

Already last year Guterres himself launched various reforms towards inclusive and networked multilateralism, summarised in “Our Common Agenda”, including proposing a UN Summit of the Future. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, former German Minister for Development and member of the RNE, acknowledged Guterres’s proposal to establish a regular joint summit of the G20 and ECOSOC (UN Economic and Social Council) states together with international financial institutions. This could act as a kind of global sustainability council, she explained, which would serve as a compass for the further development of the SDGs.

“The multilateral system is not suited to resolving the combined crises we are facing”, said Wieczorek-Zeul. She went on to accuse the industrialised countries, in particular the G7 states and the EU, of hypocrisy for failing to provide sufficient funding to combat climate change and the pandemic. “We have to stand by our commitments”, insisted Wieczorek-Zeul. The German budget plan for 2023 would not be enough to expedite progress on the SDGs. Wieczorek-Zeul was applauded for her call to defend democracy, rule-based multilateralism and international law against their critics – but at the same time do everything we can to avoid new blocs forming in the international community. “I know this happens, but we must prevent it”, she said.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Think bigger and boldly lead the way

Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia until 2018, also recounted in a video message where the multilateral system has done too little for people and the planet in recent times: on climate action, global healthcare, food security, handling forced migration and upholding human rights and democracy.

Sirleaf is also Co-Chair of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, which was founded by Guterres to put the ideas of the Common Agenda into practice. “Be bold, think bigger, we cannot solve the challenges of our time half-heartedly”, she urged, calling on Europe and Africa to work together on transformative change – and create multilateral institutions in which the Global South plays a genuine role in decision-making processes.

Svenja Schulze: Structural answers to ongoing crises

Svenja Schulze, current German Minister for Development, gave four answers to the ongoing crises. Firstly: 828 million people around the world are starving – that’s considerably more than before the pandemic. Against this backdrop, the G7 in partnership with the World Bank set up the Global Alliance for Food Security with the aim of establishing not only acute aid but also structural change, such as more resilient agrarian systems. Secondly, the impacts of the pandemic are still very much being felt, especially in the Global South. Efforts are therefore being concentrated on ensuring that vaccines are available – and also produced – worldwide. Healthcare systems, too, must become more resilient.

Thirdly, Schulze continued, people all over the world must play a part in the war on climate change. Germany, therefore, is working to ensure a just transition. Fourthly: We need gender equity in order to achieve these goals. “In most countries around the world women do not have the same rights as men”, explained Schulze. Yet research shows that societies where woman have equal rights are also more sustainable. As such, Germany fosters a feminist development and foreign policy.

Jennifer Morgan: Partnerships as diverse as possible

Former head of Greenpeace and since March 2022 Special Envoy for International Climate Action in the German Foreign Ministry, Jennifer Morgan, emphasised: “If the SDGs are not addressed, the climate crisis cannot be resolved either”, the necessary foundation for this being a global, ecological, social and market-based economic system. “Germany has a big responsibility”, she explained: “We are living at a disruptive moment.” At the next UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt in November, Morgan will lead the negotiations for compensation for future meteorological disasters as a facilitator together with the Chilean ministry for the environment. The debate around “loss and damage”, as the experts call it, has already caused major conflict at previous climate conferences in response to the industrialised countries refusing the key demands of the poorer nations. And it is not getting any easier since a member of the UN Security Council, Russia, has brutally violated international law. What the future holds for the international community, which thus far has followed the path of multilateralism, is anyone’s guess. But Morgan remained positive, pointing out there are “new opportunities to work together with allies”.

Emmanuel Ametepey: Africa is full of innovations

The great potential that partnerships can hold was highlighted by Emmanuel Ametepey, Director of the African Youth SDGs Summit – a forum set up in 2017 that now reaches more than 100,000 young people in Africa. “Africa is the continent of youth, a continent full of brilliant ideas, with enormous creativity and innovation. The question is: How can we support that?”, he asked. June 2023 will see the fifth African Youth SDGs Summit in the Zambian capital Lusaka. “I would like to issue an invitation to the young people of Europe: Come to us. Let us develop ideas and solutions together as to how we can put the SDGs into action”, said Ametepey. Last year as part of the Common Agenda, Guterres founded the UN Youth Office, in which Ametepey sees a great opportunity to coordinate, finance and boost the engagement of young people around the world. He also encouraged young people to get much more involved in national and international SDG policy processes.

The conference was brought to a close by Imme Scholz, Deputy Chairwoman of the RNE, who looked ahead to the next Global Sustainable Development Report 2023, which she will co-edit: “It is important to us that there is a better understanding of what transformation means. If something new is to emerge, for example a renewable energy system, then not only will the new system proliferate, but there will also be things we have to leave behind. That is a painful process, which goes hand in hand with much resistance – we need to work proactively with that situation. Moreover, the transition is taking place at different speeds, which makes it all the more important that the federal government and the new German Sustainable Development Strategy will act across policy fields and within the six main areas of transformation.”

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Women most affected by climate crisis

Feminists in power

Not a summit for resignation

Events with RNE’s involvement

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is a man of clear words, and the ones he chose to open this year's UN Sustainability Forum (HLPF) were crystal clear: The Corona pandemic has driven 124 million people into poverty, global inequality and violence against women has increased. Four billion people worldwide were without social security, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were at record highs, as was the rate of global species extinction. "This High-Level Political Forum is intended to assess progress on the 2030 Agenda. But we must face facts. Rather than progress, we are moving farther away from our goals," Guterres said at the start of the annual eight-day meeting, where UN countries were represented by their ministers.

However, Guterres also raised hope: the situation "can and must" be turned around, he said. Despite the pandemic, 42 countries have submitted Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) on how they are implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Germany was part of this year’s countries - the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), however, still sees "greater need for action". Apart from the grim global development: Institutions worldwide are working tirelessly to help the SDGs achieve a breakthrough in their countries. This was also the focus of the recent meeting in New York and its many side events. The main purpose of these events is to promote global networking and the exchange of knowledge and experience.

One of these knowledge exchange events was hosted by the RNE: In cooperation with UN DESA, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, and other international partners, it organised a so-called VNR Lab. This session dealt with the question on how to link VNRs with national sustainable development policy cycles. During the discussion, examples and recent studies were presented that displayed promising concepts for institutional anchoring of the national implementation of the SDGs and how central councils, bodies or groups can be best organised and used for this implementation. The VNR Lab discussed these topics using examples from partners from Benin, Germany, Namibia, and Norway. Together with government representatives, speakers from national multi-stakeholder bodies gave insights into their work. They described, for example, how they are working constructively with their respective governments to ambitiously implement the 2030 Agenda. The VNR Lab particularly emphasised that trust between such advisory bodies and their governments is essential for the successful implementation of the SDGs. Another important finding was that while there is no one-size-fits-all approach that can be applied everywhere, while overarching success factors of such bodies can be identified.

Trustful proximity and critical independence

The authors of a recently published study by the Global Forum for National SDG Advisory Bodies, for example, have investigated what these factors are. The Global Forum is a network, co-founded by the RNE, in which sustainability councils and similar bodies share good practices and experiences worldwide. The challenge: How can countries establish an advisory body on sustainable development that is independent of changing governments and political undertones? The study summarises eight key points. These are a few of them: Representatives from all sectors of society must sit on these committees, that are able to formulate consensual and evidence-based advice, even in the case of conflicting positions and, at best, involve existing organisations from environmental to business associations. The balance between trustful proximity to the government and simultaneous critical independence is important. In Germany, for example, the Federal Chancellor appoints the members of the RNE every three years. They are eminent personalities from politics, business, science and civil society.

"Describing and deciding on pathways towards sustainable societies and economies is demanding and complex. It needs knowledge and evidence, networks, openness to innovation and acceptance – ideally by the entire government and by all sectors and members of society," says Prof. Dr. Imme Scholz, deputy chair of the RNE and deputy director of the German Development Institute. Above all, it must be considered how the effects of political measures influence each other: A CO2 price to reduce emissions is a burden on low-income households – social compensation is therefore needed. Central to this is what is called a whole-of-society approach, an approach that involves everyone – including local actors, faith communities, youth organisations, vulnerable groups.

Different contexts worldwide: front runners yes, but no "one-size-fits-all"

Namibia, for example, is considered one of the front runners in Africa in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The country founded a Sustainable Development Advisory Council in 2013, consisting of representatives from ministries and NGOs, ranging from the environmental sector to the Young Women's Association. Namibia presented a comprehensive VNR progress report at the most recent HLPF. For instance, a public campaign on the implementation of the SDGs will run from July to December 2021. It will involve women's and youth groups as well as people with disabilities in the policymaking process and, moreover, reach the indigenous population in all languages, for example through various radio programs.

Different countries have taken different approaches to implementing the SDGs: In some, the national SDG council is located at the head of state, elsewhere in a department such as the Ministry of Economy or Environment. If, on the other hand, a council is organised more independently, institutionalised exchange with the government is important. In that case, the possibility of inviting ministers and other officials to its meetings is crucial. In some places, ministries are even legally obliged to respond to the recommendations of their sustainability council. The Global Forum's studies highlight all of this with concrete country examples that demonstrate the contextuality of each case.

The authors of the studies emphasise, however, that trust between the sustainability councils and the government is essential. It is not a matter of simply being held accountable to yet another official body. Instead, the government and other social actors must act in consensus in order to realise the SDGs together with all of society. In another Global Forum study, four countries were examined to find out how such multi-stakeholder bodies function in practice, i.e., bodies in which various social forces must formulate consensual advice. Because of their broad composition, these bodies are highly regarded when the whole of society is struggling to find solutions. A first evaluation of the national reports on the 2030 Agenda presented at the HLPF shows: When a state makes successful sustainability policy, it succeeds through real commitment, broad participation, and access for all to the decision-making processes – and not just before decisions are made, but also after. This is another reason why national sustainability councils or similar multi-stakeholder advisory bodies must be anchored in the respective national sustainability policy architecture in the long term.

Bringing in voices that are otherwise not heard

Participation processes can be undermined

A question of trust