MEETING OF THE HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The Global Sustainable Development Report as a bridge between the SDGs and the scientific communities
New York, June 29, 2015
Intervention of Switzerland:
1. Opening:
We would like to take this opportunity to share our view of the future GSDR. It will be important that the work on future editions take into account the lessons learned from the 2015 edition of the GSDR.
The Rio+20 mandate calls for strengthening the science-policy interface, including through the GSDR. Since Rio, a basic idea has evolved into a very concrete agenda on sustainable development post-2015. In order for the GSDR to have the greatest added value, we strongly suggest to view it within this new context.
2. Scope, purpose, content of GSDR:
Therefore, we see the GSDR as being clearly linked to the SDGs and the follow-up and review function of the HLPF. The GSDR should not only be an assessment of assessments only but also an assessment of realization of the SDGs.
The HLPF under the auspices of the UN GA, held every 4 years, should be informed through a GSDR that highlights the most relevant information regarding the implementation of the post-2015 agenda, including from a science-perspective, and key recommendations for policy-making at the highest level.
A simple format and easy communicable messages for the target audience is key.
The GSDR should draw from the global tracking of the SDGs, based on the global indicators, on existing assessments and also provide scientific orientation.
The future GSDR, in our view, thus requires collaboration among agencies, such as through an Inter-Agency Task Team, and involvement of relevant stakeholders, in particular experts, including scientists, in order to ensure the scientific perspective. This could be achieved through an advisory committee of experts.
3. We would like to take the opportunity to share some views on reports that will form the basis for annual meetings of the HLPF under the auspices of the ECOSOC.
These discussions will need to be informed by
• Firstly: up-to-date information on the advancement of the SDGs, based on the SDG Trends report to be prepared by the Statistics Commission;
• And secondly: relevant information with regard to the theme of the respective HLPF meeting, including the latest scientific findings.
These reports will also need to benefit from strong interagency collaboration and in our view should draw heavily on the methodology of the GSDR we just described.
