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The Global Sustainable Development Report 2023
"Times of Crisis, Times of Change: Science for Accelerating Transformations to Sustainable Development", the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), finds that at this critical juncture, midway to 2030, incremental and fragmented change is insufficient to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the remaining seven years. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda requires the active mobilization of political leadership and ambition for science-based transformations. This must be achieved globally - leaving no country, society or person behind. The report is an invitation to embrace transformations with the urgency needed to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
The GSDR 2023 highlights key transformations needed in different sectors and provides key findings from the literature, practical examples and tools for progress towards the SDGs. It provides a stylized model to help unpack and understand the transformation process over time and outline the roles of different levers in facilitating various stages of transformation through a systematic and structured approach. As history has shown, transformations are inevitable, and this report emphasizes that deliberate and desirable transformations are possible - and, indeed, necessary.
Documents
- Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) 2023 Key Messages
- What scientists need to do to accelerate progress on the SDGs: Nature commentary
- Unlocking and accelerating transformations to the SDGs: a review of existing knowledge
- Background Paper: Recurring Patterns of SDG interlinkages and how they can advance the 2030 Agenda
Background
The Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) originated in “The Future We Want,” the outcome of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, when Member States were laying the groundwork for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The negotiators knew that the 2030 Agenda would be complex, and unprecedented in ambition, and that a siloed approach to development would not be adequate. They recognized the power of science to understand and navigate relationships among social, environmental and economic development objectives, and so they called for a report to strengthen the science-policy interface.
In 2016, Member States decided that the report should be produced once every four years, to inform the quadrennial SDG review deliberations (SDG Summit) at the General Assembly, and that it should be written by an Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General. They mandated that the Group would consist of 15 experts representing a variety of backgrounds, scientific disciplines and institutions, ensuring geographical and gender balance.
The 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report, The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development, was the first report prepared by an Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. The 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report, "Times of Crisis, Times of Change: Science for Accelerating Transformations to Sustainable Development", is the second.
Below please find the link to read the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR):
2023 Global Sustainable Development Report
Regional Consultations
SDG implementation is achieved primarily at the local, national, and regional level. To inform the GSDR as an assessment of assessments, the Independent Group of Scientists (IGS) is conducting a series of regional consultations with policy makers, experts, and practitioners in different geographic regions to gather insights from a diverse range of local perspectives and experiences. Consultations are conducted both virtually and in-person
The IGS are collecting perspectives from different regions and stakeholders including context specific priorities, challenges, and opportunities as well as scalable, practical tools to accelerate progress. In these consultations, the IGS are seeking perspectives from scientists, government officials in their technical capacities, private sector experts, members of civil society, youth, indigenous people, people with disabilities, and stakeholders at all levels.
Please see below for further information on each consultation.
Recent & Upcoming Regional Consultations
Latin America and the Caribbean, 7-9 November, Peru | Summary Report available here.
Africa, 14-16 November, Senegal | Summary Report available here.
Asia and the Pacific, 28-30 November, Philippines | Summary Report available here.
Africa, 30 November - 2 December, Malawi | Summary Report available here.
Western Asia, 24-25 January 2023, Qatar | Summary Report available here.
Japan: On 29 March the Japan SDGs Action Promotion Council, in partnership with UNDESA, hosted the Japan SDGs Action Forum with a designated GSDR Sessions. Please see the programme here. Summary Report available here.**
China: On 2-3 December 2021, the Research Institute for Eco-civilization and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (RIEco) co-hosted the Symposium on Global Sustainable Development Report 2023 (GSDR2023) and China’s SDG Progress and Practices, with support from UNDESA. Summary Report available here.**
Photos
Ms. Åsa Persson and Mr. Norichika Kanie presented the GSDR messages in Davos.
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Independent Group of Scientists
Ms. Imme Scholz (Co-Chair)
Imme Scholz is Co-President of the Heinrich B ö ll Foundation and former Deputy Director of the German Development Institute (DIE) and Honorary Professor of the Centre for Ethics and Responsibility at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. Imme studied sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin. She joined DIE as a researcher in 1992 and worked on trade regulations for environmental requirements to products and production processes. With her PhD she tried to understand the limited effect of certification schemes for sustainable forestry on the sustainability of the timber trade in the Brazilian Amazon region. From 1999-2002 she was an environmental policy advisor in the Amazon region of Brazil on behalf of German development cooperation, as part of a large pilot programme for the protection of Brazilian rainforests. On her return to DIE she took over the newly founded environmental department where she created a research group on adaptation to climate change. In 2009 she was appointed as deputy director of the Institute. Imme is very active at the science-policy interface, within the T20, the European Think Tanks Group and in policy dialogues with China on sustainable development. She is deputy chair of the German Sustainability Council, a member of the Steering Committee of SDSN Germany and of the German Committee Future Earth (DKN Future Earth).
Mr. J. Jaime Miranda (Co-Chair)
Mr. John Agard
Professor John Agard, Ph.D. is Professor of Tropical Island Ecology and Director of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. His research interest is in the field of sustainability science especially as it relates to mainstreaming environmental considerations such biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation, along with climate change mitigation and adaptation, and blue and circular economy development into the core of policy and decision making.
Internationally he has served as an independent advisor on environment and sustainability policy to the Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC. He has also been on the Scientific Advisory Panel of UNEP for the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO6) and was previously a Coordinating Lead Author for the Scenarios chapter in GEO4. He has also been a Coordinating Lead Author of the of the Intergovernmental (Science-Policy) Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), first global assessment chapter 5 ‘Pathways to a Sustainable Future’. He is currently the Review Editor for Small Islands in the current 6th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has previously served as a Lead Author in IPCC’s previous 4 and 5th Assessments.
Ms. Kaltham Al - Ghanim
Kaltham Al - Ghanim is a professor of sociology at Qatar University and Director of the Social & Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) 2020, Director of Center for Humanities and Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University from September 2014 until May 2018. Prof. Kaltham conduct several researches related to social issues, culture, human and sustainable development. She is Author of three specialized academic books and published several articles in high-recognized peer reviewed journals. Her interests cover a wide range of issues including woman studies, social problems, values and attitudes. Family, gender roles, sustainable development, indigenous culture and heritage. She led several interdisciplinary research projects funded by various national and international institutions. Dr. Kaltham contributed in the preparation of many national strategies plans, head of the team to develop the first human development report for the State of Qatar 2006, Major reviewer of the second and third Arab knowledge report and Qatar University Strategic Plan. She has collaborated with many universities and international institutions as an expert in social studies.
Mr. Sergey N. Bobylev
Sergey N. Bobylev, born 1952, Head of Environmental Economic Division, Full Professor of Moscow State “Lomonosov” University, Doctor of Science, Honoured Scientist of Russian Federation, Academician of Russian Ecological Academy and Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Head of the Center for Bioeconomy and Eco-Innovation at Moscow State “Lomonosov” University.
S.Bobylev was economic head and coordinator of the projects funded by United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, and Global Environmental Facilities. He was lead expert and member of economic task force for preparing of the projects and programs for State Council of Russia, Russian Parliament, Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Russian Ministry of Natural Resource, Russian Public Chamber.
In 2000-2018 he was Chief Editor of fifteen “Human Development Report of Russian Federation” for United Nations Development Programme (2000-2013) and Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation (2014-2018).
S.Bobylev was Guest Professor in Dauphine University (Paris) and Vienna Economic University (Vienna).
The complete list of publications includes over 250 items, including the twenty five author's books.
His areas of research include: sustainable development and its indicators and goals, green economy, ecosystem services and biodiversity economics, environmental issues of macroeconomic policy.
Ms. Opha Pauline Dube
Associate Professor, University of Botswana; PhD, University of Queensland, Australia (2000). A global environmental change scientist with many years teaching and supervising students while working with national -regional - international research groups focusing on integrating social and biophysical aspects of the environment in particular: applications of Remote Sensing, land degradation and wildfires, energy and environment, climate change and integrated environmental resources management. Served as Co-Vice Chair (2010-2015)- International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), while leading a synthesis on “Global Environmental Change - LDCs and SIDS in Asia Pacific ”. Served in the IPCC Working Group II assessment since the 3rd report, and was Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC special reports: Extreme Events (SREX) and Global warming of 1.5°C (IPCC SR1.5) and currently Review Editor, IPCC WGII AR6, Chapter 5 on Food, fiber, and other ecosystem products. Served as Deputy Chair of Botswana National Climate Change Committee (2017-2019). Currently serving as Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Climate Research for Development in Africa (CR4D)-UNECA; Vice-Chair of the WMO Scientific Advisory Panel; and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Journal.
Mr. Ibrahima Hathie
Dr. Ibrahima Hathie is the Research Director for the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR Senegal). His research focuses mainly on agricultural performance, climate change, youth employment and the sustainable development goals. He was the Africa regional coordinator of Southen Voice for the Post 2015 development agenda from 2013 to 2018. He has also served as a Professor at the National School of Applied Economics (ENEA, Senegal) from 1992 to 2009 where he assumed the position of Director of studies and fieldwork from 2004 to 2007. From 2009 to 2011, he was a value chain manager at the USAID Economic Growth Project in Senegal with a focus on a business approach to food security. Ibrahima Hathie holds a PhD and MSc in Agricultural & Resource Economics from the University of Connecticut, USA.
Mr. Norichika Kanie
Norichika Kanie is a professor at the Graduate School of Media Governance, Keio University. Before joining Keio, he had tenure positions at Tokyo Institute of Technology and The University of Kitakyushu, and was a Marie Curie Incoming International Fellow of the European Commission and Visiting Professor at SciencesPo, Paris (2009-2010). He serves various committees and steering groups, including: Earth Commissioner, Earth Commission of Global Commons Alliance ( https://earthcommission.org/); SDGs Promotion Round-Table in the SDGs Promotion Headquarters, the Government of Japan; Local Government SDGs Promotion Evaluation and Study Group, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. In the process making the SDGs, he was the project leader of the "Project on Sustainability Transformation beyond 2015 (POST2015)", a large transdisciplinary project involving a hundred of researchers to provide inputs into the SDGs negotiation process, supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. His recent publications include, “Governing through Goals: Sustainable Development Goals as Governance Innovation” (2017, MIT Press, co-edited with Frank Biermann), “SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)” (2020, Chuo Koron Shinsha (in Japanese)). He received Ph.D. in Media and Governance from Keio University (2001).
Ms. Nyovani Janet Madise
Nyovani is Director of Development Policy and also Head of the Malawi office of the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP). Her work at AFIDEP focuses on research to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting the use of evidence among African decision-makers for the formulation of strong development policies and programmes.
Nyovani has a degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Malawi; MSc and PhD in Social Statistics from the University of Southampton and Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from the University of Aberdeen. She worked for about 25 years at the University of Southampton until 2018. She held roles such as: Professor of Demography and Social Statistics; the University’s lead for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity; Associate Dean (Research); Deputy Head of School; and Director of the University’s Public Policy Unit. Nyovani previously worked in Kenya and at the University of Malawi. Nyovani is Vice-President and President-elect of the Union of African Population Studies.
Nyovani sits on many boards including: Plan International Inc; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; AmplifyChange; the Population Council; UKRI’s GCRF; NIHR’s Global Health Research programme, and NWO-Wotro Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights programme.
Ms. Shirin Malekpour
Dr Shirin Malekpour (Australia) is senior lecturer and researcher in planning and governance for sustainable development, based at Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University. As a social scientist, her research explores how transformative change towards sustainable development could be unlocked through long-term strategic planning and governance processes. She has been chief investigator in multiple transdisciplinary action research programs, focusing on transformative adaptation, futures thinking, collaborative and multi-level governance under conditions of deep uncertainty. She has established a research program at Monash University on localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The program aims to understand the potential of the SDGs to foster transformative change at different scales: in cities, in regional and rural communities, and within sectors and organisations. She advises government and industry in Australia, and her work has been adopted to guide strategic planning processes in the urban water sector. In 2018, she was recognised as one of the top 25 young scientists in the world in the field of sustainable development and received the international Green Talents award. Shirin has an interdisciplinary background and has previously worked as an engineer in large water and wastewater infrastructure projects in Africa and the Middle East.
Mr. Jaime C. Montoya
Highly trained and multi-awarded Infectious Disease Specialist with M.Sc. and Diploma in Clinical Tropical Medicine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, U.K. and certified by both the Royal College of Physicians, London, U.K. and the Philippine Board of Internal Medicine and the Philippine Board of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases ,MSc in Bioethics from the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine and PhD in Medicine from the Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. He is a Fellow of the Philippine College of Physicians, Fellow of the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Thailand. He is currently Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, Chair of the Health Sciences Division and Secretary, National Academy of Science and Technology and the Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology. He is currently also the President of the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST). He is also currently a member of the Board of Advisers of the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation
Mr. Jiahua Pan
Jiahua Pan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Director of the Institute of Eco-civilization Studies and Professor of Economics, Beijing University of Technology, Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Urban & Environmental Studies. Received his PhD at Cambridge University in 1992. Areas of study include economics of sustainable development, energy and climate policy, world economy and environmental and natural resource economics. Worked for the UNDP Beijing Office as an adviser on environment and development; Lead author of the IPCC Working Group III 3rd, 4th and 5th Assessment Report on Mitigation; Ex-director-general, Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Member of China National Expert Panel on Climate Change; Member of National Foreign Policy Advisory Group; Adviser to the Ministry of Ecology and the Environment. President of Chinese Association for Urban Economy, vice president of the Chinese Society of Ecological Economists. Author of over 300 papers, articles and books in both English and Chinese. First and Second prize of best research work, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2002, 2004 & 2013), Winner of Sun Yefang Award of Economic Sciences, 2011, China Green Person of the Year 2010/2011. China Environment Prize (2016).
Ms. Åsa Persson
Dr Åsa Persson is Research Director and Deputy Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute, where she is a member of the executive team and leads the development and implementation of the institute’s research strategy. As a social scientist and governance scholar, her research currently focuses on policy coherence in the national implementation of climate policy and SDGs. Her previous research has looked at environmental governance as international and national levels, including follow-up and review of the SDGs, global governance of climate change adaptation, environmental policy integration, and development of the planetary boundaries concept. Ms Persson has more than 80 publications, including peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Nature and Nature Climate Change and reports for policy-maker audiences. She regularly engages with stakeholders and advises governments and international organizations. She is Adjunct Lecturer at Linköping University, Sweden, and a member of several scientific steering committees and advisory boards: the Earth System Governance project, the York Environmental Sustainability Institute and the Swedish National Committee on Global Environmental Change. She holds a PhD in human geography research from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has been a visiting scholar at Australian National University and Macquarie University, Sydney.
Mr. Ambuj Sagar
Ambuj Sagar is the Vipula and Mahesh Chaturvedi Professor of Policy Studies and the founding Head of the School of Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Ambuj’s interests broadly lie at the intersection of science, technology and innovation (STI) and development. His work has focused on innovation policy for meeting sustainability and inclusivity challenges, energy innovation policy and strategies (in areas such as biofuels, clean cookstoves, coal power, automobiles, and institutional mechanisms such as climate innovation centers), climate change policy and politics, capacity development, and higher education policy.
Ambuj has been involved with a number of domestic and international scientific groups as a contributor or Board member and also has engaged with Indian Govt. ministries and multilateral and bilateral agencies. Currently he is a Lead Author in Working Group III of the IPCC and a member of the US National Academies Study Committee on Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance Agenda.
Ambuj did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at IIT Delhi. He subsequently received an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and then an M.S. in Materials Science, a Ph.D. in Polymer Science, and an M.S. in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ms. Nancy Shackell
Nancy Shackell (Canada) is a senior research scientist at Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia, working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Her research supports DFO’s core responsibilities of managing sustainable fisheries and conserving aquatic ecosystems. Throughout her career, she has used ecological theory to understand patterns in harvested fisheries and marine ecosystems. Dr. Shackell has been the lead investigator on research themes of climate change, biodiversity conservation, marine protected area design, spatial ecology and how such information can be applied in an oceans management framework. She co-led the Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program in Canada’s Atlantic Basin, coordinating scientific research necessary to identify climate change impacts and vulnerabilities, to refine applied ocean modelling and to develop adaptation tools for vulnerable coastal regions. She serves and has served on national and international committees, most recently as a member on the National Climate Change Science and Knowledge Plan (NCCSKP), the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
GSDR Events
Hosted by UNDESA in partnership with the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF) and facilitated by United Cities and Local Governments, the virtual dialogue provided an opportunity for members of the IGS to share key messages from the GSDR with representatives from local and regional governments and to engage in a dialogue about specific ways that the GSDR recommendations could be nurtured by the perspective of local and regional governments and how they can be implemented at sub-national level.
[HLPF 2023 Side Event] Youth engagement for systemic transformation at the SDG-Summit: Implementing the Global Sustainable Development Report call to action
Shaped by their experiences in a rapidly changing world, young people possess their own distinct perspectives on and ideas to address collective challenges. These perspectives often diverge from those held by previous generations. Integrating them into decision making processes is important and contributes to achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda and to delivering on the necessary systemic transformation as highlighted in the GSDR 2023. This side event offered a space to discuss key priorities and opportunities by and for youth regarding the recommendations of the 2023 GSDR. It served as a platform for youth to share their perspectives and ideas to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
WEBINAR: What to expect at the HLPF: Building momentum towards the SDG Summit and beyond
The SDG Lab, Cepei, and IISD hosted a virtual briefing and question/answer session on the 2023 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). What should you expect as the 2023 HLPF approaches, and how is this year’s forum connected to the SDG Summit and setting the scene for the 2024 Summit of the Future? IGS member Norichika Kanie presented the GSDR key findings.
UN DESA Global Policy Dialogues to Turbocharge SDG Implementation
UN DESA hosted two Global Policy Dialogues in June 2023 to discuss ways to strengthen the interlinkages between the Goals under review and present the information in an interactive format for a wide audience.
Both events featured speakers from UN leadership, Member States, the UN High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs, and the Independent Group of Scientists (IGS) preparing the GSDR 2023. Each discussion included ways to build and scale partnerships to reach our targets.
- Session 1: Accelerating Clean Water and Energy for All: Exploring SDGs 6 and 7
- Session 2: Innovations for Sustainable Cities and Communities: Exploring SDGs 9 and 11
This short presentation provided an opportunity for the Independent Group of Scientists to engage with policymakers in a discussion on key findings of the GSDR 2023 as part of the 8th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum).
Workshops
Asia-Pacific GSDR launch and workshop (Incheon, Republic of Korea) 16-19 October
Africa GSDR launch and workshop (Johannesburg, South Africa) 7-8 November
Latin America and the Caribbean GSDR launch and workshop (Brasilia, Brazil) 16-17 November
Asia-Pacific GSDR launch and workshop (New Delhi, India) 22 - 24 October 2024
