Wrtitten by Dr Carl Wright, a trustee of UNA-UK, and Secretary-General Emeritus of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum. He was closely involved in the UN negotiations leading to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 targets and many indicators address a wide range of developmental issues. They are complemented by other key international agreements, notably the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction, the Addis Ababa agenda on development finance, Paris agreement on climate change and the Quito agenda on urbanisation.
The timescale of SDG implementation is ambitious: only 15 years from 2015. Unlike their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs are also universal: they apply to the UK and all countries, not only developing states.
The UK Government is due to report to the UN in 2019 on its implementation of the SDGs and it is required to report to Parliament on what it has done to promote the 2030 Agenda across Government. In late 2016, I presented oral evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit sub-committee on behalf of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and the Local Government Association. In 2017, the committee released a report critical of the Government for its limited action in taking forward the 2030 Agenda compared to many other countries. This critical assessment was highlighted at a recent UNA Westminster meeting held in Parliament.
How, therefore, can the 2030 Agenda be implemented more effectively? The answer is to localise implementation. The SDG negotiations in which I participated in during 2012-15, recognised the need to ensure a multi-stakeholder, bottom-up, approach to implementation – by civil society, academia, local government and the private sector. The role of local actors is formally recognised in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and has been taken up enthusiastically by community bodies and local government across the world.
This bottom-up approach is known as ‘localising the SDGs’. There is now a substantial literature on localising SDGs, including toolkits and roadmaps as well as practical examples of what is being done; for more details see www.localizingthesdgs.org This work has been facilitated by international bodies such as the UN Development Programme and the EU. Last year, I liaised with EU delegations responsible for implementing the current Cotonou Agreement – the most comprehensive partnership between developing countries and the EU – and it was encouraging to see how many recognised the importance of localising the Goals.
But what does all this mean in practice, and how can localising the SDGs be taken forward in local communities in the UK, including by local UNA groups? In Kent and Canterbury, UNA is working with local NGOs, the two local universities and the local MP, Rosie Duffield, with a particular focus on implementing SDG 5 on promoting equality for girls and women. The group has been able to engage Canterbury City Council – many of the objectives set out in the Council’s corporate plan 2016-20, such as ‘making the most of our unique and natural environment’, reflect targets under key SDGs, such as SDG11 on sustainable cities and communities. However, these are currently not called (or recognised) as SDG targets and this connection needs to be made.
Indeed, academic studies, for example by the Technische Hochschule Berlin, have shown that over two thirds of all 169 SDG targets require implementation at local government level. This is obvious given the targets on poverty reduction, economic development, urbanisation, infrastructure provision, climate mitigation, environmental issues, governance and much more.
UK local government suffers from excessive central government control over finances and has experienced massive budget cuts. This had led to a slashing of pervious activities, such as supporting Agenda 21 or promoting international exchanges/twinning. However, there is an opportunity for local UNAs, community groups and academia to provide resources, expertise and advice to cash-strapped councils to support SDG implementation locally.
The experience of Flemish local government is instructive. This has involved extensive public SDG awareness raising through the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities, working in 20 local pilot programmes, encompassing everything from producing simple SDG logos, posters, flags and even comic strips, to developing sophisticated interactive SDG games and apps and providing financial grants, all designed to inform the public and allow local governments include SDG targets in their policy plans. For more information, see www.vvsg.be/sites/sdgs.
Local UNAs, civil society and academia – perhaps also with local business support – can map the extent to which local government corporate plans already incorporate key SDG targets, identify existing good SDG practices, and help produce and utilise materials and tools to raise public awareness of SDGs. They could also assist local government in further developing good practice examples of localising SDGs, and push to have these documented in the UK Government report on SDG implementation to the UN in 2019.
To trigger localisation of the SDGs, political vision and will is required. Local UNAs can act as catalysts for action to ensure local implementation of the 2030 Agenda, to facilitate active engagement of the local community, and to empower us, the people, in promoting sustainable development.