Hosts: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS); Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN; Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations (tbc); Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations (tbc); International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD); Stakeholder Forum; World Centre for Sustainable Development RIO+ (UNDP); United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development (UNCTAD); Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO); TMG – Think Tank for Sustainability
Chair:
- Mr. Alexander Müller – Study Lead TEEBAgriFood-UNEP
Speakers:
- Ms. Marianne Beisheim – German Institute for International and Security Affairs
- Ms. Layla Saad - Deputy Director and Policy Advisor of the World Centre for Sustainable Development
- Mr. Reinhard Krapp - Minister and Head of the Economic Department of the German Mission to the UN
- Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier – UNCTAD
Background:
At the beginning of 2016, the countdown to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was set in motion. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda will mainly take place at the national and local levels but one crucial element to determine the success of implementation will be the follow-up and review. The envisioned effective, participatory and integrated follow-up and review framework will help countries “maximize and track progress in implementing this Agenda in order to ensure that no one is left behind” (UN GA A/RES/70/1 2015, Para 72).
One main challenge ahead (at the national and also global level) is to design the review and follow up in a way that accounts for existing linkages and interdependencies between different SDG goals and targets. This implies that not only synergies between goals and targets are highlighted, but also that potential conditionality and trade-offs are identified and governed.
At the global level, the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is expected to follow up on the implementation of sustainable development and member states have actively been engaged in discussions to determine the best design for the HLPF to fulfil this role. Conducting thematic reviews follows the plan of action of the 2030 Agenda. In particular, the Agenda 2030 calls for global thematic reviews to be conducted under the High Level Political Forum.
Thematic reviews can allow for a crosscutting review of the goals and targets in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda as a package, rather than by looking at progress on individual goals only. To conduct a thematic review in that sense, will require the cooperation of many actors, including between UN Agencies and non-UN actors, in ways that allow for an exchange and an effective integration of different sources of knowledge and expertise. Including civil-society stakeholders in this process can help ensure that thematic reviews will go beyond purely quantitative and scientific assessments towards integrating context related and localized perspectives and knowledge. Including localized knowledge in the general review and follow up of the 2030 Agenda will be essential to safeguard that no one is left behind.
This Side Event will invite representatives from Member States, UN Organisations, ministries, science and academia, civil society and the private sector to discuss the potential framing and set-up of an integrated, inclusive and participatory thematic review in support of the HLPF. Drawing onto the mandates and expertise of the hosting organisations and our speakers the event will take on a natural resources framing. Concrete examples, will be presented to better define the specific set-up and feasibility of such reviews and their potential contribution to the HLPF. The options presented can be further developed and applied to other thematic and cross-cutting areas of the 2030 Agenda. In the course of the discussion the outcomes of a High Level Event on ‘Thematic Reviews for an integrated, inclusive and participatory Follow-Up & Review of the 2030 Agenda’ 7-8 July in New York City, US will be presented.
