What we saw during the 2023 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals summit was anything but “action and delivery.” In a series of statements delivered by member states, a pattern emerged of Global South states calling for increased investment and action to meet the SDGs, while Global North countries provided their reasons for being behind on their action plans. This raises the question: When will the Global North finally take responsibility for their emission target failures? When will that responsibility be turned into action?
This summit, which occurred on Sept. 18, was the United Nation’s third since the establishment of the SDG goals. It reviewed the cohort’s progress in meeting its lofty humanitarian objectives.
The 17 SDGs were established in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to drive economic propensity, social mobilization and environmental preservation. The general assembly meets every four years, with the body last declaring that they would gear up “for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development” in 2019.
Barriers to progress
At the summit, leaders discussed the many setbacks they have faced in implementing the SDGs, such as the escalating costs of climate change-induced disasters and hardships and from Covid-19 recovery.
Developing nations, the ones most at risk of the effects of climate change, expressed a need for more support from the global community.
“Flow of development finance to developing countries continues to be inequitable and inadequate. Developing countries, especially those in Africa, are forced to focus on debt management instead of development. In addition, resource allocation for climate action, especially resilience and adaptation measures are nowhere near the prevailing needs,” said H.E. Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Ethiopia.
These concerns were echoed by many other developing nations around the globe.
Ranil Wickremesinghem, president of Sri Lanka, a country in severe debt exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, said not enough resources have been allocated to allow for the success of the SDG framework. He called on developed nations to step up on both their financial aid commitments and transitions to their own sustainable development practices.
Carmelo Abuela, incumbent labor MP of Malta focused on the fundamental shifts in global attitudes toward nature and gender that will be required to achieve the SDGs. “Taking early and sustained action to address existing [social] gaps is critical if we are to translate this ambitious ‘leave no one behind’ commitment into action,” he said.
Following the trend of ‘leaving no one behind’ described in the title topic of Leader’s Dialogue 5, many state leaders also spoke of the necessity of addressing social inequities that act as barriers for reaching the SDGs.
“Our ability to reach SDG is dependent on our ability to put people first … Nothin about people without people,” said Mr. Steven Letsike, the founder and executive director of Access Chapter 2, a South African organization that works to protect the human rights of women, youth and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
A Brazilian delegate, appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, described the bottom line: social participation and equality are key in SDG policy implementation. Many countries will not be able to meet their 2023 Agenda goals if international inequities are not addressed.
“There will be no future as long as we continue to widen the inequality gap that separates rich and poor,” the delegate said. “There will be no future as long as children start to sleep hungry and without studying. There will be no future until there is real equality between men and women. There will be no future under the shadow of a climate disaster caused by human action.”
And with all of these injustices, the climate reality for Brazil, along with all nations at the summit pressing for action, is that they can only do so much until the world’s largest emitters begin to step-up.
“The implementation of the 2030 Agenda is threatened, and humanity is faced with a crucial moment. We must act now,” the delegate said.
Transition over Action
As the Conference of Parties in Dubai nears, leaders of developing countries are keen to hear their partner's progress on the climate-related SDGs 7 and 13. Goal 7 looks for a transition to “affordable and clean energy,” while goal 13 calls directly for climate action, emphasizing that developed countries are most responsible for the climate crisis and must take appropriate action. At the summit, countries of the Global North focused on how they were attempting to transition international energy grids toward the renewable energy SDG rather than focusing on meeting the targets and indicators set forth by the Climate Action SDG. This includes not mentioning topics of climate financing (Target 13.a), increasing education and awareness of the climate crisis (13.3) and institutionalizing equity measures that include marginalized communities (13.b). The tone was sent from the beginning with Andrzej Duda, the president of the Republic of Poland and the moderator for the “resilience and equity” portion of the conference, stating in his opening statement that the country’s most important climate priority is the investment and “diversification of energy supplies and promoting just transition.”
Germany focused on its Just Energy Transition Partnerships — its plan to finance international energy transitions to create climate-neutral industrial sectors — but did not mention international climate financing ahead of the COP. First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic boasted about the country’s climate plan, but only focused on its commitment to “increase energy efficiency” to achieve its climate goals.
The rhetoric within this conference reveals two major trends with the developed states. First, it is clear that, when addressing climate, states are more comfortable discussing energy transition than climate financing and action. The lack of mention of climate funds, adaptation measures and financing by developed countries reveals their hesitancy to discuss implicating climate policy on international stages. They are much more comfortable discussing their individualized energy transition, avoiding talk about exterior financing.
This is also evident by the lack of statements made by developed countries throughout the conference. Though all member states were in attendance, they consistently gave short statements or no statements at all regarding their progress on the climate-related SDGs. This emphasizes the importance of the “show and shame” nature of the COPs, as developed countries will be forced to talk about their climate action plans and will be pressured on a world stage.
Blame Game
In the halfway point toward the SDG deadline, it is clear that the global community is nowhere near reaching the emissions targets to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the SDG summit, the Global North’s attempts to bypass and escape blame from these failures came alongside the frustrations of developing nations.
Germany, Canada and the EU discussed how they can help finance developing nations’ implementation of SDG goals. While financial aid and reform directed toward nations of need is a step forward, Global North countries often did not acknowledge the responsibility they fold for SDG implementation within their own borders.
Several questions arise: Why, when these developed nations have the financial ability, are they not reaching the SDG goals? Why are they rebranding the SDGs as an issue impacting only the Global South? Why are the world’s highest emitters preaching green energy implementation to the world’s lowest emitters?
This year’s COP in Dubai will give rise to these questions again, among others. And with the conclusion of the SDG Summit, it is important to remember that the world still has hope for future policy decisions.
As Charles Angelo Savarin, President of Dominica put it: “The 2030 Agenda is achievable. There will always be challenges. However, the capacity to overcome the most severe challenges is not an anomaly for humankind.”
The SDGs are still within reach — we just have to get working.
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