Sustainable Development Goals and
Post-2015 Development Agenda
The Seoul Post-2015 Conference:
Implementation and Implications
Seoul, October 7, 2013
Dr. Kilaparti Ramakrishna
Director, ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office
UNSG at the start of 68th Session of UNGA
MDGs have captured the imagination, generated remarkable
gains and beat back doubts about development itself.
Yet on some goals, we lag badly. Inequality is growing. Too
many people face exploitation – from fields to factory floor.
2015 is the year by which we have pledged to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
It is the year in which we will adopt a new development
agenda.
A new development agenda must be as inspiring as the
MDGs, while going further.
It must be universal, with ending poverty as its top
priority, sustainable development at its core, and
governance as its glue. It must find expression in a single
set of goals.
And there should be no hierarchy among the three
dimensions of sustainable development – no deferring the
environment or social justice for later, once economic growth
is assured.
Change is inevitable, but progress is not. Leadership
makes the difference.
Road towards Rio+20
1972: UNCHE-Stockholm declaration
1970s: Polluter Pays Principle, Precautionary
Approach
1987: SD - Our Common Future (by WCED)
19080s: Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol,
IPCC
1992: UNCED – Rio Declaration and Agenda 21,
UNFCCC,
CBD, UNCCD
1990s: WBCSD, Corporate environment reports
2000: Millennium Declaration and MDGs
2002: WSSD – Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
2000s: CSR, Corporate sustainability report
2012: UNCSD – The Future We Want: green
economy, IFSD and SDG
Rio+20 Outcome: Key Elements
• Renewing political commitment
• Green economy in the context of sustainable development and
poverty eradication
• Institutional framework for sustainable development
• Framework for action and follow-up: Thematic /cross-sectoral
issues; Sustainable development goals
• Means of implementation: finance, technology, capacity building
and trade
SG Report: A Life of Dignity for All
Towards a new sustainable development agenda
• universal in nature yet responsive to the complexities,
needs and capacities of individual countries and regions
• combining the economic, social and environmental
dimensions while putting the highest priority on ending
poverty and reducing inequality
• rights-based, with particular emphasis on women, young
people and marginalized groups
• eager for new and innovative partnerships; and
supported by pioneering approaches to data and
rigorous accountability mechanisms.
(From - A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations
development agenda beyond 2015: Report of the Secretary-General)
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Proposed SDGs
High Level Panel on Post-2015 Agenda
Sustainable Development Solutions Network
Goal 1: End Poverty
Goal 2: Empower Girls and Women and
Achieve Gender Equality
Goal 3: Provide Quality Education and
Lifelong Learning
Goal 4: Ensure Healthy Lives
Goal 5: Ensure Food Security and Good
Nutrition
Goal 6: Achieve Universal Access to Water
and Sanitation
Goal 7: Secure Sustainable Energy
Goal 8: Create Jobs, Sustainable
Livelihoods, and Equitable Growth
Goal 9: Manage Natural Resource Assets
Sustainably
Goal 10: Ensure Good Governance and
Effective Institutions
Goal 11: Ensure Stable and Peaceful
Societies
Goal 12: Create a Global Enabling
Environment and Catalyze Long-Term
Finance
Goal 1: End Extreme Poverty including Hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Development within Planetary
Boundaries
Goal 3: Ensure Effective Learning for All Children
and Youth for Life and Livelihood
Goal 4: Achieve Gender Equality, Social Inclusion,
and Human Rights for All
Goal 5: Achieve Health and Wellbeing at All Ages
Goal 6: Improve Agriculture Systems and Raise
Rural Prosperity
Goal 7: Empower Inclusive, Productive, and Resilient
Cities
Goal 8: Curb Human-Induced Climate Change and
Ensure Sustainable Energy
Goal 9: Secure Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity,
and Ensure Good Management of Water and Other
Natural Resources
Goal 10: Transform Governance for Sustainable
Development
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Emerging Consensus on SDGs
• Limited in number, universal,
implementable, measurable, integrate all
three pillars of sustainable development
• Bridge the gap between MDG
implementation and sustainable
development agenda
• Means of Implementation
Concluding Remarks
• GEO5, GSP, UNTT, HLP, SDSN and many others
advanced their recommendations.
• The development of SDGs represents a new critical
phase - ‘a culmination and convergence of agendas’ UNEP
• OWG is hard at work in the United Nations, 69th session
of UNGA is critical in considering and adopting SDGs
• How to overcome institutional, technological, financial
and capacity development barriers in implementation of
SDGs
• Voices from the Field by definition contain diverse views
but the most important element in all of them is like the
UNSG said “Change is inevitable but Progress is not”
Concluding Remarks
Impacts of Climate Change cannot be
underestimated
Unsustainable consumption patterns, as
well as resource management must be
addressed
Concrete steps to be taken
Integrate the three dimensions of SD and
draw from their synergies
Revise, adjust and modify SD indicators
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Thank you!
Kilaparti Ramakrishna
Director, UN ESCAP-ENEA
ramakrishna@un.org