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Feature

Volume 27 | No.7 | July 2023
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This is how we can turbocharge the global goals

This month, government representatives, businesses, civil society organizations, young people and other international actors will gather for the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, taking place on 10-19 July 2023 at UN Headquarters in New York. They all come together with one purpose: to review and assess progress to achieve the global goals.

This year’s Forum will be critical. Many goals are currently off track or even reversing in progress. But there is no need for despair. The time is now to turbocharge their implementation and the HLPF will provide a unique opportunity to make this happen in the lead up to the SDG Summit in September.

Bringing together close to 1000 participants, the Forum will feature 39 countries and the European Union presenting their plans for advancing the SDGs as part of the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). Goals 6 on clean water and sanitation, 7 on affordable and clean energy, 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities and 17 on partnerships, will be in focus. In addition, the Forum will feature 200 side events, 18 VNR labs and 12 special events.

At the opening day of the Forum on 10 July, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Special Edition, will be launched at the noon press briefing and also presented at a special high-level event taking place that same day.

The report will present the latest data on how the world is fairing on the goals. It will also feature policy recommendations, revealed earlier in the UN Secretary-General’s report “Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet.” Here are the five main solutions to get the world back on track:

  1. 1. Governments must strongly commit to seven years of sustained action to deliver on the promise of the SDGs.
  2. 2. Governments must create policies to leave to no one behind, end the war on nature, and protect the most vulnerable.
  3. 3. Governments must strengthen their own public institutions, building capacity and ensuring transparency and accountability.
  4. 4. The international community must invest in low- and middle-income countries to help them accelerate progress towards the goals. The SDG Stimulus is a perfect tool for this.
  5. 5. The world needs to strengthen the UN development system to boost the capacity to tackle emerging challenges and create an enabling environment for the SDGs.

We can still deliver on the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but it will require a renewed sense of common purpose and a fundamental shift – in commitment, solidarity, financing and action.

As UN DESA’s Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua said, “this is our chance to make a meaningful breakthrough and to deliver on our promise.”