Draft Paper on How to Address the 2020-2025 Targets of the Sustainable Development Goals
Introduction
By Felix Dodds - comments to felix@felixdodds.net
To many people the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) targets are focused on 2030 as the completion date. For 23 targets that
is not the date of completion. For twenty it is 2020 and for the remaining
three it is 2025.
The agreement on the SDGs and their targets was a long process starting in 2011 when Colombia put the idea on the table.
It also aimed to recognize and honor other processes that were either happening:
·
parallel to the SDG negotiations such as the Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030;
·
or had already happen such as the setting of the Biodiversity targets by
the CBD or the SAICM target set at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD).
This brings into question should something be done
to updatethe targets for these 23 to bring them in line with the 2030 timeline or
not?
One of the important developments that will frame
this conversation is that the indicators that have been developed for these
targets will give Member States real information on progress towards the
targets and baseline data for any discussion on developing new targets. This
wasn’t the case when the SDGs were agreed to.
This paper looks at a number of suggestions which
Member States might be interested in considering.
In the production of this paper I consulted the
relevant UN Agencies and Programmes and a number of Member States on their
thinking on what to do with the targets.
So, what to do?
1.
That no new targets will be added to the SDGs to update those that have
fallen.
2.
That no new targets will be added to the SDGs to update those that have
fallen but there will be continued reporting on the target and indicators.
3.
That any updated targets that are agreed through whatever process has to
be endorsed by the UN General Assembly through tis Committee Structure.
4.
That any updated targets agreed by the relevant UN body substitutes the
old target without going through renegotiation in the UNGA. Where there is no
UN body that can address that target then it is done through the UN General
Assembly.
5.
The SDG Open Working Group is reconvened.
This paper will look at
each of the options the pros and cons. The paper will not make a recommendation
but hope that the discussion helps Member State and others to think through
early enough what is the best path forward.
For the benefit of this paper I am going to group
targets into those where it is possible for a UN body to set replacement
targets and those that do not have that possibility. The full list of the
targets that will fall between 2020-2025 as the appear in the SDGs is in Annex
1 under the relevant Goal
To start with this table will collect what I
understand in the present thinking under each of the targets. This I am sure
will change as the paper acts as a primer for discussion.
Goal
|
Target
|
Process already planned
|
Suggestion
|
Goal 2. End hunger,
achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
|
2.1 By 2020, maintain the genetic
diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and
their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified
seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and
promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the
utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as
internationally agreed.
|
Nothing planned
|
|
2.2 By 2030, end all forms of
malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed
targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address
the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and
older persons
|
Nothing planned
|
||
Goal 3. Ensure healthy
lives and promote well- being for all at all
|
3.6 By 2020, halve the number of global
deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
|
Nothing planned
|
|
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive
and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all
|
Nothing planned
|
||
Goal 6. Ensure
availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
|
6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water
related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers
and lakes
|
CBD COP?
|
|
Goal 8. Promote
sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all
|
8.1.A By 2020, substantially reduce the
proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
|
Nothing planned
|
|
8.7 Take immediate and effective
measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking
and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child
labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end
child labour in all its forms
|
Nothing -planned
|
||
8.b By 2020, develop and operationalize
a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of
the International Labour Organization
|
Nothing planned
|
||
Goal 9. Build resilient
infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
|
9.c Significantly increase access to
information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and
affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020
|
Nothing planned
|
|
|
|
11.a By 2020, substantially increase the number of
cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies
and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to
climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line
with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels
|
Nothing planned
|
|
Goal 12. Ensure
sustainable consumption and production patterns
|
12.4 By 2020, achieve the
environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their
life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and
significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to
minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment
|
SAICM Conference in 2020
|
SAICM Conference 2020
|
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts
|
UNFCCC Paris text 53. Oceans
Conference is 2020?
|
UNFCCC have a target
|
|
Goal 14. Conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
|
14.1 By 2025, prevent and significantly
reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land- based
activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
|
CDB 8
|
CBD COP?
|
14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect
marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including
by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in
order to achieve healthy and productive oceans
|
Combined elements from
CBD 6,11,15
|
CBD COP?
|
|
14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate
harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management
plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at
least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by
their biological characteristics
|
Elements from CBD
2,3,4,6,7,12,19
|
CBD COP?
|
|
14.5 By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent
of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law
and based on the best available scientific information
|
Elements from CBD 5,11
|
CBD COP?
|
|
14.6 By 2020, prohibit certain forms of
fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing,
eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated
fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that
appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and
least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade
Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation
|
Elements from CBD 3,4
|
CBD COP?
|
|
Goal 15. Protect,
restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably
manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation
and halt biodiversity loss
|
15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation,
restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater
ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and
drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
|
Elements from CBD
4,5,7,11,14,15
|
CBD COP?
|
15.2 By 2020, promote the implementation of
sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore
degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation
globally
|
Elements from CBT
4,5,7,14,15
|
CBD COP?
|
|
15.3 Take urgent and significant action to
reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity
and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
|
Elements CBD Target 4,5,15
|
CBD COP?
|
|
15.4 By 2020, introduce measures to prevent
the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien
species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority
species
|
Elements from CBD
11,14,15
|
CBD COP?
|
|
15.5 By 2020, integrate ecosystem and
biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes,
poverty reduction strategies and accounts
|
Elements CBD 5,12
|
CBD COP?
|
|
Goal 17. Strengthen the
means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable
Development
developed countries and
small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of
high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age,
race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other
characteristics relevant in national contexts
|
17.18 By 2020, enhance capacity building
support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and
small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of
high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age,
race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other
characteristics relevant in national contexts
|
Nothing planned
|
Overall what are the Options that Member
States might consider?
Option 1: That no updates targets will be added to the SDGs to replace those
that have fallen.
Pros
|
Cons
|
The agreement on the SDGs and their targets
was one that had balanced the interests of all member states and reopening
this could cause that balance to be fractured
|
Some of the targets will be updates by other
forums and so then there will be refection of progress reported to the HLPF
in line with the new target. This will be particularly relevant to the CBD
and SAICM targets
|
Option 2: That no updated targets will be added to the SDGs to replace those
that have fallen but there will be continued reporting on the target and
indicators.
Pros
|
Cons
|
The agreement on the SDGs and their targets
was one that had balanced the interests of all member states and reopening
this could cause that balance to be fractured. It also allows reporting on
the targets even if other forums have changed them
|
These updated targets will not have been
absorbed into the SDG targets and so it creates two classes of targets. In
particular this is true for the CBD and SAICM targets. It may impact on the
level of commitment to the new targets if they are not absorbed into the SDGs
|
Option 3: That any updated target that are agreed through whatever process has
to be endorsed by the UN General Assembly through its Committee Structure.
Pros
|
Cons
|
This option recognizes that the UNGA had
agreed the SDGs and their targets so is the only ‘official body’ that can
update them.
|
This could see the whole agreement reopen
unless member states agree to recognize the agreements made in other forums.
This still doesn’t address the targets that do not have other forums to set
new targets. In these cases, option 2 could continue
|
Option 4: That any updated target agreed by the relevant UN body substitutes
the old target without going through renegotiation in the UNGA. Where there is
no UN body that can address that target then it is done through the UN General
Assembly.
Pros
|
Cons
|
This would address all of the targets that
are going to finish in 2020 and 2025
|
This would open up the SDG targets
negotiations to Committee 2 of the UNGA to address those that have no plans
to be replaced and this could be a very difficult negotiation
|
Option 5: The SDG Open Working Group is reconvened.
Pros
|
Cons
|
As the UNGA process to set the SDGs and
their targets was the SDG OWG then perhaps this is the body that should be
reconvened. It would still have to report to the UNGA for overall approval
but would be a smaller group negotiating. It would also like the original OWG
be a group that wasn’t the usual negotiating groups of the UNGA
|
Nearly all the original negotiators have
moved on as has one of the co-chairs. Whatever positive relationships that
were built and achieved the SDGs and their targets would need to be
rebuilt. This might not be possible or
desirable.
|
Some thoughts for consideration
If Member States are
considering options 3 or 4 then I have some suggestions how that might be
undertaken. In all cases these would be by an intergovernmental process.
Goal 2: Updating could
be done by FAO Conference 2019 or 2021
Goal 3: Updating could
be done by WHO World Health Assembly
Goal 4: Updating could
be done by UNESCO Governing Conference 2019 or 2021
Goal 6: Updating this
could be undertaken by the CBD COP.
Goal 8: Updating
targets could be addressed through the ILO Executive Body
Goal 9: This is on
communication and internet the process under the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) is generally on a ten-year cycle so would not be meeting again
until 2025 or 2026. This target could be addressed by
the Inter Agency Expert Group on the SDGs and agreed through the Statistical
Commission. The present target is for 2020.
Goal 11: This target
is a Sendai target the next World Conference on Disaster Relief is probably not
happening until 2025. The present targets is in 2020
Goal 12: The easiest
target that can be updated is the SAICEM target as there is a process that is
already underway to address that in 2020. The original target is one from WSSD
in 2002 and which was absorbed into the SDGs.
Goal 13: UNFCCC
already has a more update target for 2025 and will in xxxx update that target.
Goals 14 and 15: For
the CBD related targets it isn’t as easy as each of the targets in Goals 14 and
15 except for target 14.1 are amalgams of different CBD targets. One approach
that the CBD COP could take is to start with the SDG targets and to update them
within the CBD COP . This ensures that irrespectively of the options above the
CBD COP as a sovereign body which is made up of biodiversity experts would have
set updated targets.
Goal 17: This could be
addressed by the Inter Agency Expert Group on the SDGs and agreed through the Statistical
Commission which could come forward with an updated target.
Concluding remarks
There are no perfect
ways to address the reality that the SDG targets are not all 2030 targets. All
the 5 options have merits. My main
worry if the targets are not updated within the SDGs is that it will create two
levels of targets that will by their nature focus resources and implementation
more to those in the SDGs than those not.
This paper is meant to
be food for thought please do send any comments to me so it might improve.
Annex 1
Goal 2. End hunger,
achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
2.1
By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and
farmed and domesticated animals and their related
wild species, including
through soundly managed
and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and
international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated
traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.
2.2
By 2030,
end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the
internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5
years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant
and lactating women and older persons
Goal 3. Ensure healthy
lives and promote well- being for all at all
3.6 By 2020, halve the
number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
4.a
By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships
available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries,
small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical,
engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other
developing countries.
6.6 By
2020, protect and restore water related ecosystems, including mountains,
forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for
all
8.1.A
By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
8.7 Take immediate and
effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human
trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of
child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end
child labour in all its forms
8.b By 2020, develop and
operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global
Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure,
promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
9.c Significantly
increase access to information and communications technology and strive to
provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed
countries by 2020
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
11.a By 2020, substantially increase the number of
cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and
plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to
climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai
Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015J2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels
Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and
production patterns
12.4 By
2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes
throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international
frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in
order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate
change and its impacts
13 a. Implement
the commitment undertaken by developed country parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100
billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions
and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through
its capitalization as soon as possible
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the
oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
14.1 By 2025, prevent and
significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land- based
activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
14.2 By
2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid
significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and
take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive
oceans
14.4 By
2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported
and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement
scienceJbased management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest
time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as
determined by their biological characteristics
14.5 By
2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent
with national and international law and based on the best available scientific
information
14.6 By 2020, prohibit
certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and
overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies,
recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment
for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World
Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation
Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote
sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat
desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity
loss
15.1
By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of
terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular
forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under
international agreements
15.2
By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all
types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and
substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
15.3
Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural
habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
15.4
By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly
reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and
control or eradicate the priority species
15.5
By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and
local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of
implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable
Development
17.18 By 2020, enhance
capacity building support to developing countries, including for least
developed countries and small island developing States, to increase
significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data
disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status,
disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national
contexts
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