Integrated implementation of the SDGs in the Asia and Pacific region
The IKI uses regional workshops to support the dissemination of the recommendations of the Global Sustainability Report in partner countries.
The global IKI project “Support for SDG Review and Implementation Processes” held a regional dissemination workshop for the Asia and Pacific region on the second Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) in close cooperation with the United Nations (UN) Department of Economics and Social Affairs. The workshop was held in New Delhi, India, from 22 to 24 October. The aim of the workshop was to disseminate the key messages of the report in the region and to familiarise experts from different stakeholder groups with the potential applications of the report in their local context.
Status Quo
Even at the halfway point, the global community is far from achieving the 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This makes it all the more important to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs at the local level, and to kick-start a comprehensive transformation. This is also the conclusion of the Second Global Sustainability Report, published in September 2023 as part of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in New York. Transformative, forward-looking approaches are more important than ever; this is particularly the view of the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) on progress towards the SDGs.
Impressions from the workshop
During the workshop, high-level representatives from India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Fiji and Germany, and representatives from UN organisations along with the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), highlighted the importance of science, youth participation, international cooperation and integrated approaches to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs. The expert authors of the GSDR 2023 highlighted the relevance of transformative development pathways and recommended the targeted use of five strategic levers to accelerate the implementation of regional transformations: governance, economy, collective action, science and capacity building.
The following workshop days, plenary sessions and small groups promoted peer learning and focused on how participants could achieve a beneficial application of GSDR findings in their respective countries. Particular emphasis was placed on the need for capacity building, strategic foresight, the importance of creating integrated national action plans, and the appropriate science-based GSDR frameworks for SDG implementation and reporting. Subsequently, numerous professional and technical contacts were identified to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the respective country and regional contexts. On the last day of the workshop, a visit to the Alag Karo waste management project in New Delhi was organised. 77 representatives from over 20 countries and various stakeholder groups from politics, science, the private sector and civil society attended.
Current relevance also for German politics
The German government was represented at the workshop by officials from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), who exchanged views with partners from the Asia and Pacific region on approaches for integrated and localised implementation of the SDGs. The GSDR also serves as an important reference document for the German government, as Germany plans to present a VNR at the high-level political forum in New York next year. The German sustainability strategy is also based on the recommendations of the first GSDR of 2019, and also takes into account the recommendations of the 2023 report in its update.
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