Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR)

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Background

The Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) is a United Nations publication aiming to strengthen the science-policy interface at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, the main United Nations platform providing political leadership and guidance on sustainable development issues at the international level. It is one of the only two mandated reports to inform the decision-making process at the HLPF.

The GSDR adopts an assessment-of-assessments approach, documenting and describing the landscape of information on specific issues that are policy-relevant in the field of sustainable development, bringing together dispersed information and assessments.
The GSDR is complementary to other assessments and substantive reports being prepared by the UN system and other institutions; it draws upon contributions from a wide range of experts and stakeholders from across the world, bringing together diverse perspectives and disciplinary backgrounds.
The GSDR is global in coverage while taking into account the perspectives of the five UN regions.
In developing the GSDR, extensive inputs are sought from within the UN system, as well as from external experts including scientists, government officials and stakeholders at all levels, including representatives of academies of sciences and relevant expert groups.

Building on three prototype editions of the GSDR in 2014, 2015 and 2016, in the Ministerial Declaration of the 2016 HLPF, Member States decided that the GSDR should be produced once every four years to inform the quadrennial SDG review deliberations at the High-Level Political Forum under the auspices of the General Assembly, and that it should be written by an Independent Group of Scientists (IGS) appointed by the Secretary-General. The IGS would consist of 15 experts representing a variety of backgrounds, scientific disciplines and institutions, ensuring geographical and gender balance. It would be supported by a task team of six UN entities (UN DESA, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO and the World Bank).

GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2027 (forthcoming)

GSDR 2015

GSDR 2014

Prototype edition

Scope and methodology

Mandates

2012 As outlined in the Rio+20 outcome document, the HLPF would, as one of its functions, "strengthen the science-policy interface through review of documentation bringing together dispersed information and assessments, including in the form of a global sustainable development report, building on existing assessments" (§85k).

2013 General Assembly resolution A/RES/67/290 of 9 July 2013 confirmed the role of the GSDR and requested “…the forum to consider, in 2014, the scope and methodology of a global sustainable development report, based on a proposal of the Secretary-General reflecting the views and recommendations of Member States, and relevant United Nations entities…”.

2014 In response to resolution A/67/290, all Member States, political groups and all 53 UN organizations of ECESA-Plus were invited to make proposals on the scope and methodology of a global sustainable development report. The views expressed were summarized in Secretary General’s report E/2014/87 of June 2014. The report synthesized the positions of Member States and other stakeholders on the scope, methodology and frequency of the report. The report also proposed three broad options for the GSDR going forward: option 1: Conventional UN flagship publication model; option 2: Multi-stakeholder, multi-level approach; option 3: Approach following that of the IPCC. Option 1 was the least resource intensive and option 3 the most costly. A prototype GSDR, issued in June 2014, was prepared by the Secretariat. At the second meeting of the HLPF under the auspices of ECOSOC, the Prototype GSDR was presented to Member States, and the scope and methodology of the GSDR were discussed. Preference was expressed for a multi-stakeholder, multi-level approach to preparing future reports.

E/2014/87 - Options for scope and methodology for a global sustainable development report
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2015 A second edition of the report, published in June 2015, was prepared by the UN Secretariat. Consistent with the expressed preference of Member States as summarized in the SG’s Report, the approach adopted was a multi-stakeholder one, documenting and describing the landscape of information on specific issues, based on extensive inputs from the UN system, the scientific community, including scientists involved in key international assessments, government officials and stakeholders at all levels.

“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (A/RES/70/1) paragraph 83 “Follow-up and review at the HLPF will be informed by an annual SDG Progress Report to be prepared by the Secretary General in cooperation with the UN System, based on the global indicator framework and data produced by national statistical systems and information collected at the regional level. The HLPF will also be informed by the Global Sustainable Development Report, which shall strengthen the science-policy interface and could provide a strong evidence-based instrument to support policy-makers in promoting poverty eradication and sustainable development. We invite the President of ECOSOC to conduct a process of consultations on the scope, methodology and frequency of the Report as well as its relation to the SDG Progress Report, the outcome of which should be reflected in the Ministerial Declaration of the HLPF session in 2016.”

2016 The Secretariat prepared GSDR 2016, which informed the 2016 HLPF. The President of ECOSOC conducted a process of consultations on the scope, methodology and frequency of the Report as well as its relation to the SDG Progress Report, the outcome of which was endorsed by the Ministerial Declaration of the 2016 HLPF (E/HLS/2016/1). The GSDR will be produced once every four years to inform the quadrennial SDG review deliberations at the High-Level Political Forum under the auspices of the General Assembly, and it should be written by an Independent Group of Scientists (IGS) appointed by the Secretary-General. It was mandated that the Group would consist of 15 experts representing a variety of backgrounds, scientific disciplines and institutions, ensuring geographical and gender balance. Resolution 70/299 of the General Assembly reaffirmed the quadrennial schedule of the GSDR as an input to the HLPF.

Asia and the Pacific Regional Consultation

2027 GSDR Asia and the Pacific Regional Consultation

November 4th - 6th, 2025

To inform the 2027 GSDR as an assessment of assessments, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) and its UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), together with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), are organizing a GSDR regional consultation on November 5-6, 2025 in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The consultation will be an opportunity for the IGS to interact with 30-40 invited participants from countries in the region to help compile evidence of key challenges to achieving the SDGs in the Asia-Pacific region, and lessons learned grounded in science that can start to inform a final push to scale up progress to 2030 and beyond.
At the consultation, the IGS will collect evidence from the region, including context-specific analysis of sustainable development priorities, challenges, and opportunities, as well as the latest analysis on practical, scalable tools to accelerate sustainable development. They will also seek the latest evidence from the natural and social sciences and community and indigenous knowledge on what has worked well to advance progress on the SDGs, and what has not been successful since 2015, to inform future approaches to sustainable development. The IGS is seeking knowledge from scientists, government officials in their technical capacities, private sector experts, members of civil society, youth, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and stakeholders at all levels. The aim will be to give shape to the 2027 GSDR, including the evidence-based policy recommendations that the Member States are expecting.
The Independent Group of Scientists would have a separate closed-door working meeting preceding the consultation on 4 November to begin preparing a zero-draft of elements for the 2027 GSDR. These preparations would enable them to test some of these elements with the consultation participants over the next two days. DESA would provide facilitation and note-taking support for this meeting.
The consultation will be guided by the following questions (subject to change with IGS review):

In the years of SDG implementation since 2015, what does the latest evidence show about interventions that have worked in achieving the SDGs? What does it say about interventions that have not been as successful? Is there new research on synergies and trade-offs in the Asia-Pacific context that can help inform actions in the final 3 years of SDG implementation from 2027 to 2030?
What does the latest evidence show are the main impediments to achieving desirable transformations in the entry points identified in past GSDRs? How are national systems of policy prioritization and weakening multilateralism in many areas shaping outcomes? Is there context specific analysis indicating how these impediments can be overcome, including in the areas of institutional and behavioral change?
What are some examples of policy frameworks in the region that are aligned with the SDGs, and what are the impediments to such alignment? What is the level of capacity in the labour market for implementing the SDGs in different countries in the region, and where is additional investment needed in training and education?
With hindsight and a greater body of analysis, what institutional, governance, and measurement innovations would need to be implemented to ensure that economic, social, and environmental sustainability are advanced holistically as called for in the 2030 Agenda in the near future and beyond 2030?
How have the frameworks from the 2019 and 2023 GSDRs been used in policy making (VNRs, national plans, NDCs, etc.) in the Asia and Pacific Region? What are the promising lessons learned from the application of GSDR frameworks? What are the challenges in implementation?
How could the role of science as a key means of implementation for the SDGs be strengthened to support progress on the SDGs to 2030 and beyond?
Looking beyond 2030, what are the most crucial opportunities and challenges for sustainable development in the region? How can tools like foresight and scenario analysis help inform policy that is resilient to uncertainty and shocks?

GSDR Asia and the Pacific Regional Consultation Agenda