High Level Political Forum 2023: A Report

10^th -19^th July 2023

By

Dr. Arvind Kumar

“Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Only 12% of the SDG targets are on-track. Nearly 50% of the targets are moderately or severely off-track. About 30% have either stagnated or “regressed below the 2015 baseline.” World hunger has returned to 2005 levels and, at the current pace, bridging gender inequality could take 300 years.

The UN Secretary-General’s latest progress report on the SDGs makes for sobering reading. Only 12% of the SDG targets are on-track. Nearly 50% of the targets are moderately or severely off-track. About 30% have either stagnated or “regressed below the 2015 baseline.” World hunger has returned to 2005 levels and, at the current pace, bridging gender inequality could take 300 years. If present trends continue, it is projected that by 2030. 575 million people will be living in extreme poverty; 84 million children will be out of school, and of those still enrolled, 300 million will leave unable to read and write; renewable sources will constitute a mere fraction of global energy supplies; and 660 million people will live without electricity and nearly two billion will have no access to clean cooking. We’re at half-time, we’re behind, and we’re losing. How do we turn this around in the second half and win?

HLPF 2023 reviewed five SDGs in detail: SDGs 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and 17 (partnerships for the Goals). Here, too, the reports from the field were sobering. SDG 6 is alarmingly off-track. Achieving SDG 7 by 2030 poses an unprecedented challenge but is still doable with scaled-up ambition and the right policies. Regarding SDG 11, there is a growing urban divide, inadequate housing is a pressing problem, and only half of the world’s urban population has access to public transport. During these specific reviews, many delegates were struck by how often they heard panelists and experts note that we have most of the data, indicators, and diagnoses we need, as well as policy recommendations to follow, and declarations of general commitment to build upon. For example, on SDG 6, the March UN 2023 Water Conference produced what most participants regarded as a concrete action agenda, and the SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2023 on Water and Sanitation provides a clear blueprint to accelerate progress.

Over and over speakers urged translating plans, blueprints, recommendations, and statements of support into concrete, ambitious action. Instead of lip service, it’s time to turn the pledges of leave no one behind into actions, actions, actions. How We Got Here?

It’s not just a goal to be accomplished – it’s hope for a better future to be delivered.

In recent years it has become fashionable among some politicians to blame the lack of implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain constraints, the war in Ukraine, climate-related extreme events, and even the triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution). But as UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Jinhua pointed out more than once during HLPF 2023, countries were already falling short of the Goals before COVID-19 struck or the Ukraine war began. As many speakers during the Ministerial Segment acknowledged, the crafters of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, and the UN General Assembly that adopted the package, knew it was ambitious and aspirational. Most were not naïve or self-deluding. They knew the SDGs’ predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), did not meet many of its less ambitious targets, so setting more comprehensive and ambitious targets with another 15-year timeline was aiming high. They chose to offer hope to the world for a better future all could aspire to: “the future we want.”

Some of the difficulties in implementing the 2030 Agenda are inherent in the package itself. The Goals are not just about a few tangible deliverables like clean water and affordable and clean energy for all, but also harder to measure Goals that the UN has spent 78 years seeking, such as peace, justice, good governance, and equality for all. Another difficulty is that the SDGs and targets are considered a package deal—they are all linked and should be pursued together without unduly favoring one over another. This can be frustrating to champions of particular Goals (climate, energy, water, or cities), who see their favorite as key to success in all others, the connector to them all, and want to push progress first and/or hardest on their SDG. But as HLPF 2023 panelists were at pains to point out repeatedly, work on one Goal affects achievement of another, positively or negatively. Everyone likes to point out synergies where they can be identified, but as a panelist on SDG 9 said, tradeoffs and unintended impacts must also be analyzed and considered, but often are not.

This large and complex package also makes it difficult to communicate the relevance of sustainable development to the average citizen. Indeed, many of the presenters of their country’s Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) noted they had integrated the SDGs into their national plans and programmes and were in the process of doing so for local and sectoral plans and programmes but expressed concern about how to make it real to the average man or woman. The chair of the session on localization of the SDGs urged participants to work on making the SDGs relatable to everyday concerns to increase buy-in from the average person. Furthermore, means of implementation, including financial, technological, and capacity-building resources, as well as the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the global framework for financing sustainable development, have fallen short. Even funding for championed popular Goals such as climate, water, and energy is nowhere close to meeting the estimated needs for the transformative change envisioned by the Goals.

Last, but not least, the 2030 Agenda lacks a monitoring and accountability mechanism that can supplement bottom-up and multilateral pressure for SDG defaulters to change course. This concern was reiterated during a side event considering how to revamp VNR reporting processes so they are not primarily “descriptive” texts that can lean towards the self-congratulatory. They discussed how the VNRs can become self-critical and action-oriented reflections capable of spurring genuine learning and improvements in policy and implementation. While acknowledging the difficulty of including robust language to this end in a political declaration, various negotiators involved in preparations for the SDG Summit did call for referencing the need for stronger data to track progress, as well as requiring VNR analyses to explore policy implications of possible synergies and the costs of inaction.

Where We Need to Go!!

It’s not time for despondency, or for looking beyond 2030. We need to double down on action. The UN Secretary-General offered his own prescription when he released the progress report in April 2023. Among other things, his doctor’s orders proposed: a recommitment to accelerated, sustained, and transformative action; pledges for concrete, integrated, and targeted policies and actions to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality, and end the war on nature; strengthened national and sub-national capacity, accountability, and delivery institutions; a recommitment to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda; strengthening the UN development system; and addressing SDG-related gaps and weaknesses in the international architecture that have emerged since 2015. Subsequently, he called for reform of the international financial architecture and the creation of an SDG Stimulus plan to unlock at least USD 500 billion annually for developing countries. He has also called for forging a “new social contract” at the 2025 Social Summit.

Guterres also urged every country to come to the SDG Summit armed with concrete national plans and pledges, particularly ones that address poverty and inequality. He repeated this call during the HLPF Ministerial Segment, as did many ministers and other high-level officials who spoke during the general debate. During the HLPF panel discussions, several recommendations were floated to address specific issues, such as new intergovernmental bodies for water matters, energy, clean cooking, and an intergovernmental process to agree on new development indices that go beyond the limitations of GDP. Many of these suggestions have not made it into the draft Political Declaration to be adopted at the Summit. It also remains unclear at this juncture how many countries will come to the Summit with actionable pledges.

At the halfway point between the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 and its 2030 deadline, only 12% of the SDG targets are on-track, and some targets are regressing below the 2015 baseline. This message from the UN Secretary-General’s progress report on the SDGs haunted participants at the 2023 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) held under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The theme of general debate during the Ministerial Segment of the 2023 HLPF was “Building momentum towards the SDG Summit.” The second SDG Summit, scheduled for 18-19 September 2023, was top-of-mind for delegates throughout the entire eight days. At nearly every session, speakers voiced their wish lists and expectations for the Summit.

Five SDGs were under review at HLPF 2023: SDGs 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and 17 (partnerships for the Goals). Many status updates confirmed the somber tone of the Secretary-General’s report. SDG 6 is “alarmingly off-track.” Achieving SDG 7 by 2030 poses “an unprecedented challenge” but is still achievable with scaled-up ambition and the right policies. Regarding SDG 11, there is a growing urban divide, inadequate housing is a pressing problem, and only half of the world’s urban population has access to public transport. For SDG 9 “there is hope” with progress on some targets such as mobile network access, but the implementation pace on others needs to quicken and more support for innovation and infrastructure in least developed countries (LDCs) is needed. As for SDG 17, while there have been advances in areas such as development aid, remittance flows, and access to technology, funding for development remains a major challenge, particularly in low-income countries. Participants discussed possible responses to accelerate implementation for each Goal reviewed.

HLPF 2023 also held sessions on the implementation challenges faced by different groups of countries, including small island developing states (SIDS), Africa, LDCs, landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and, for the first time, middle-income countries (MICs), which are not considered poor enough to receive concessional financing yet face significant difficulties in raising capital for SDG implementation initiatives. In addition, a session was held to examine how to “localize” the implementation of the SDGs and another spotlighted the perspectives of Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS). Thirty-eight countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) during HLPF 2023: one for the first time, 36 for the second, and one for the third. The European Union (EU) presented the first-ever supranational review. These sessions facilitated the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.

HLPF 2023 was convened at UN Headquarters in New York from 10-19 July 2023. Several hundred side events, special events, VNR Labs, and exhibitions took place during the HLPF, which was attended by more than 120 ministers and vice-ministers, as well as other representatives from governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society. Participants discussed possible responses to accelerate implementation of the Goals that underwent in-depth review this year.

The ENB summary report of the meeting highlights that:

• SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) is “alarmingly off-track”;
• While achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) by 2030 poses “an unprecedented challenge,” the Goal is still achievable with scaled-up ambition and the right policies;
• “There is hope” for SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), with progress on some targets such as mobile network access, but the pace of implementation on others needs to quicken, and more support for innovation and infrastructure in least developed countries (LDCs) is needed;
• Challenges to achieving SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) include a growing urban divide, inadequate housing, and limited access to public transport; and
• While there have been advances in some areas of SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals), such as development aid, remittance flows, and access to technology, funding for development remains a major challenge, particularly in low-income countries.

While delegates acknowledged that only 12% of the SDG targets are on track, according to the ENB analysis of HLPF 2023, the Philippines Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs captured the mood best when he said: “We have not failed. The deadline is still ahead of us.”

Thirty-eight countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) during HLPF 2023. Saint Kitts and Nevis presented its first VNR. Chile presented its third. Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros, Croatia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the EU, Fiji, France, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Maldives, Mongolia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Syria, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, and Zambia presented their second VNRs. The EU presented the first-ever supranational review. These sessions, ENB notes “facilitated the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.”

HLPF 2023 also included sessions on the implementation challenges faced by different groups of countries, including Small Island developing States (SIDS), Africa, LDCs, landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and, for the first time, middle-income countries (MICs). According to ENB, MICs “are not considered poor enough to receive concessional financing yet face significant difficulties in raising capital for SDG implementation initiatives.” In addition, a session convened on how to “localize” the implementation of the SDGs. Perspectives of Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) also received attention.

Thirteen special events convened during the Forum:

• 2023 SDGs Learning, Training, and Practice Special Event;
• Launch of the Sustainable Development Goals Report: Special Edition;
• Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report and the SDG 7 Policy Briefs Launch;
• Launch of State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2023;
• Local 2030 Coalition Special Event at 2023 HLPF;
• Sixth Local and Regional Governments Forum on the 2030 Agenda;
• Science Day at 2023 HLPF;
• Fourth Global Climate and SDG Synergy Conference;
• HESI Global Forum 2023;
• SDG 6 Water Action Agenda Special Event;
• 2023 SDG Global Business Forum;
• Parliamentary Forum at the 2023 HLPF; and
• Intergenerational Dialogue on Leveraging Skills and Investment to Achieve the SDGs.

Sixteen VNR Labs and several hundred side events and exhibitions also took place. More than 120 ministers and vice-ministers, as well as other representatives from governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society attended HLPF 2023.

But most participants refuse to give up hope. Clinging to the sports metaphor that pervaded the 2023 Forum, optimists called for a pep talk at halftime and team captains that can lead everyone to double down on their efforts in the next seven years of the 2030 Agenda and eke out a victory. Using a crew metaphor, current UN Environment Assembly President Leila Benali urged synchronized teamwork, since “nothing is more powerful than everyone rowing together in the same direction.” Perhaps the Philippines Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs put it best in his statement during the general debate: “We have not failed, because that negates all we have accomplished. We knew the Agenda had lofty ideas and we committed to this journey. We have not failed. The deadline is still ahead of us.