Publications

The Energy Statistics Pocketbook highlights the availability of data on various aspects of energy production, transformation and use and its linkages to other key statistics. It uses visual representations of key energy indicators to facilitate the understanding of the current state and developments in the energy sector. Energy is central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, and sound energy statistics are the basis for the reliable measurement of progress, thereby assisting the formulation of policy measures to achieve international and national sustainable development goals.

The United Nations National Quality Assurance Frameworks Manual for Official Statistics (UN NQAF Manual) provides recommendations on quality assurance, a UN quality assurance framework, and guidance for the implementation of a national quality assurance framework. The Manual aims at addressing quality assurance in different circumstances and situations, hereby supporting countries in safeguarding the role of official statistics as trusted source of information. The Manual is directed at assuring the quality of official statistics throughout the entire national statistical system but also provides guidance for engagement with entities that are outside of the national statistical system…

47 countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council, held in New York from 9 to 18 July 2019. Since 2016, when the first reviews were presented, a total of 142 countries have reported on their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As in previous years, this report provides an overview of the approaches and actions taken by all countries reporting in 2019 and showcases best practices, lessons learned, gaps and challenges encountered in working towards the achievement of the…

Achieving human well-being and eradicating poverty for all of the Earth’s people—expected to number eight and a half billion by 2030—is still possible, but only if there is a fundamental—and urgent—change in the relationship between people and nature, and a significant reduction in social and gender inequalities between and inside countries, according to a new United Nations report by an independent group of scientists to be launched at the 2019 SDG Summit, but made available today.

The Report, requested by all countries to evaluate progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, is the first of its kind since the landmark Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted…

The impacts of climate change and increasing inequality across and within countries are undermining progress on the sustainable development agenda, threatening to reverse many of the gains made over the last decades that have improved people’s lives, warns the  2019 report on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Launched during the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, a critical annual stocktaking event, the report, based on the latest available data, remains the cornerstone for measuring progress and identifying gaps in the implementation of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Four years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals --…

The 2018 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development took place from 9 to 18 July. A total of 46 countries presented voluntary national reviews, up from 43 countries that conducted reviews in 2017. Since the inaugural reviews in 2016, 111 reviews have been presented, by 102 countries, with a number of countries conducting second reviews. Looking ahead to the 2019 HLPF, it is anticipated that 51 countries will present their national reviews, of which 41 will be doing so for the first time.

The voluntary national reviews document how countries are tackling the transformative challenge of the 2030 Agenda. The reviews are country-specific and complement the broader…

A fast-changing climate, conflict, inequality, persistent pockets of poverty and hunger and rapid urbanization are challenging countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the UN’s latest SDG progress report.

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 found that conflict and climate change were major contributing factors leading to growing numbers of people facing hunger and forced displacement, as well as curtailing progress towards universal access to basic water and sanitation services.

For the first time in more than a decade, there were approximately 38 million more hungry people in the world, rising from 777 million in…

The 2017 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) took place from 10 to 19 July. A total of 43 countries presented voluntary national reviews, up from 22 countries that presented inaugural reviews at the 2016 HLPF. With this, more than a third of countries will have conducted a voluntary national review, sharing progress, experiences, lessons learned and challenges in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Looking ahead, at the 2018 HLPF, 47 countries will present their national reviews. Four of these will be conducting their second review at the HLPF (Colombia, Egypt, Mexico, and Switzerland) and one country its third (Togo). This report synthesizes some of the…

If the world is to eradicate poverty, address climate change and build peaceful, inclusive societies for all by 2030, key stakeholders, including governments, must drive implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a faster rate, according to the The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017, launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Using the most recent data available, the annual Sustainable Development Goals Report provides an overview of the world’s implementation efforts to date, highlighting areas of progress and areas where more action needs to be taken to ensure no one is left behind. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017report found that…

The 2016 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) took place from 11 to 20 July 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Twenty-two countries presented voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and particularly the sustainable development goals (SDGs), over a day and a half during the Ministerial Segment of the HLPF under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This report synthesizes some of the findings of the VNRs, drawing primarily from the written reports and executive summaries of the majority of countries. It uses a theme based analysis drawn largely from the voluntary common guidelines contained in the Annex…

The first annual Global Multi-stakeholder SIDS Partnership Dialogue was held on 22 September 2016 during the 71st session of the General Assembly as a High-level Breakfast Event, focusing on the launch of new partnerships devoted to SIDS, and the announcement of new commitments from existing SIDS partnerships.

The Dialogue is an integral of the SIDS Partnership Framework which was launched by the General Assembly in 2016 as a follow-up to the SIDS Conference, held in Samoa in 2014. The Framework is one of a kind at the United Nations in following up and monitoring progress of voluntary commitments from multi-stakeholder partnerships aimed at driving sustainable development…

Launching the first-ever Sustainable Development Goals report on the new global development agenda adopted in 2015, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the 15-year undertaking was “off to a good start” but would require all parts of the UN family and its partners to work together.

“We have embarked on a monumental and historic journey,” the Secretary-General told the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which opened on 11 July and ended on 20 July 2016, at the UN Headquarters in New York.

“We must all learn, in national governments, in local authorities, in business and civil society, and also at the United Nations, to think differently,” he…