Transcript UNOSD 1St Sustainable Development Transition Forum Farooq Ullah Executive Director Rio+20: Success or Failure? • “Was Rio+20 a success or a failure?” – Simplistic and reductive,

UNOSD
1St Sustainable Development
Transition Forum
Farooq Ullah
Executive Director
Rio+20: Success or Failure?
• “Was Rio+20 a success or a failure?”
– Simplistic and reductive, the answer is more nuanced
– Successes and failures must be itemised
– Rio+20 was the starting point of various processes
• Time will be the truest judge of Rio+20.
• But time is not on our side; we are sitting on a
socio-ecological time bomb.
Where Are We Now?
Read Report Here
Rio+20: Landmark Commitments
Overall
Stakeholder
Progress Target Work
Commitment
engagement Transparency assessment
so far
date plan
mechanisms
High level
political
forum
Sustainable
Development
Goals
Financing
sustainable
development
VERY
GOOD
GOOD
GOOD
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• SDGs set to replace the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) when they expire at end of 2015.
• SDGs and post-2015 development formally merged in
Sept 2013.
• At Rio+20 States agreed that SDGs should be:
– Action-oriented
– Concise and easy to communicate
– Limited in number
– Aspirational
– Global in nature and universally applicable to all countries
• while taking into account different national realities, capacities and
levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.
Open Working Group on SDGs
• Group of UN Member States currently working on a
report proposing a set of SDGs, including targets and
indicators
• Recently published 19 focus areas the goals should
address.
• Currently discussing possible
goals and targets (300) under
each of these focus areas
• Not yet discussing indicators
• Not a negotiation, agreement
by consensus
New Post-2015 Process
• Intergovernmental Negotiations
– Starts September 2014
– UN Secretary General’s Synthesis Report (Nov 14)
• Draws on OWG report, HLP report, SDSN report, ICESDF
report and UNDG consultations.
• Could be the basis of a Zero Draft for negotiations.
– Culminates in Global Summit in September 2015.
The Universality Dilemma
• What do we mean by ‘universal’?
– Norms and principles are relevant to all nations, irrespective of
economic, social or environmental contexts, so the goals will apply
to all countries
– But global goals don not easily translate to national contexts
– Therefore targets and indicators will be developed that reflect
national contexts.
Challenge:
• How to ensure coherence between broad global goals and
widely differing national contexts, i.e. how do we differentiate?
– Universality vs. differentiation (CBDR principle)
SDGs Tests of Success
Foundation Filters
Integration
TARGETS
- Are different baselines and
national starting points
accounted for at the target level?
- Are countries able to
independently decide how to go
about achieving the targets and
at what pace?
each goal together cover the
three dimensions of sustainable
development for that goal area?
Measurement &
Implementation
Transformation
- Do the targets reflect the
established consensus of the
scientific community in the goal
area?
- Are the targets relevant and
applicable to each country in
measuring progress?
- Do the targets define observable
actions such as quantity, quality
and efficiency?
- Do the targets contain a clear
indication of how to achieve the
objective, e.g. a challenge, a
measurable target, the actors
involved?
- Are the inter-linkages
between and amongst the
goals explicit and clear?
GOALS
- Does the goal have universal
relevance and communicate
common aspirations for all
countries?
- Do the various targets under
Delivery Filters
- Does the goal address the root
causes and drivers of the identified
challenge?
- Is the goal dynamic? i.e. does it allow
for the incorporation of new and more
ambitious international agreements
and adjustments to account for new
scientific evidence and technological
breakthroughs?
- Does the goal contribute to systemic
change at all levels (from sub-national
to global)?
- Is the goal tweetable?
- Can the goal be understood
by school children?
- Is the goal expressed in
language that is compelling and
motivational?
- Does the goal clearly identify
and define the challenge(s) and
problem(s) to be addressed?
- Are the necessary resources
available to achieve the goal in
each and every country?
- Is the goal realistically
achievable within the timeframe
outlined? And is there a
sequential plan for the
achievement of the goal?
- Is the goal within a country’s
control and influence?
- Does the goal reflect the established
consensus of the scientific community
in the goal area?
FRAMEWORK
- Does the framework compel action
to be taken by all countries?
- Does the framework allow for
differentiation based on national
circumstances under its commonly
agreed and applicable goals?
- Does the framework facilitate a
transfer of resources and support from
developed to developing countries to
support their efforts towards
sustainable development?
- Has a rights-based approach been
taken in the development of the goals
(even if human rights are not
mentioned)?
- Does the overall framework
address the three dimensions
of sustainable development in
a balanced way?
- Does the framework promote
integrated thinking and
system-based approaches?
- Does the framework
acknowledge and account for
interlinkages between different
thematic areas/sectors?
- Does the framework uphold the principle of
non-regression in relation to all previously agreed
international commitments in the environmental,
social and economic fields?
- Is equity pursued across the framework, i.e.
through targets or goals focused on narrowing
disparities?
- Is the framework more ambitious than the mere
continuation of current trends for all countries,
i.e. progress beyond current national baseline
activities?
- Does the framework tackle the key current and
future global sustainable development
challenges?
- Does the framework acknowledge the needs of
different social and economic groups, such as
women, youth, the elderly, indigenous peoples,
and different income groups, so that no one is
left behind?
- Does the framework clearly
identify roles and
responsibilities for all
stakeholders?
- Does the framework have a clear
timeframe?
- Does the framework put
forward a coherent narrative
centred on poverty eradication
and sustainable development?
- Does the framework use credible and
internationally comparable metrics and data?
- Have intermediate milestones or target
dates been set or are individual countries
expected to set them in order to monitor
progress?
- Does the framework rely on the best
available data and contribute to the collection
of new data while also improving the quality
of statistics and information available?
- Does the framework contribute to
accountability at all levels of governance?
Vertical Alignment
Vision
Post-2015
Goals
SDGs
Strategies
Implementation
National SD Strategies & Councils
National Policies
Local Delivery Programmes
Closing Thoughts
• Good Governance is foundational to sustainable
development
– Need multi-layered, multi-dimensional systems of governance.
– Clear strategies for implementation
• Created Horizontal Integration, Vertical Alignment
• Move from Partnerships to Multi-Stakeholder Approaches
• Improve Accountability driving by Monitoring and
Reporting
– The enforcement challenge
• Continue to drive awareness, coupled with Education for
SD.
Thank you!
www.sustainabledevelopment2015.org
www.stakeholderforum.org
e-mail:
[email protected]