SDGs Goals for 2030: proposals for acceleration

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The Force for Good report, titled "Capital as a Force for Good: Shifting the Global Order Through the Mass Mobilization of Solutions" revealed that only 16% of the 169 targets underlying the SDGs are currently on track to be achieved by 2030. 50% of the targets are significantly behind schedule, while 30% show regression from 2015 levels. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a programme of action adopted in 2015 by the governments of the 193 United Nations member states, broken down into 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), comprising 169 specific targets. The official launch of the SDGs began in 2016, charting a course that countries have committed to follow by 2030, with some targets to be achieved even earlier.

In order to realise the2030 Agenda, the involvement of all parts of society is crucial: business, the public sector, civil society and information and cultural actors. The UN Agenda's Goals do not only address environmental issues, but also economic and social ones, with the aim of eradicating poverty, combating inequality, tackling climate change and building peaceful societies that respect human rights. Each state is called upon to undertake its own sustainable development strategy to achieve the goals, reporting progress in a process coordinated by the United Nations.

The HLPF (High Level Political Forum) is the UN's main platform for monitoring sustainable development. The platform plays a pivotal role in monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs at the global level, relying on voluntary reports outlining national and sub-national progress. The first meeting of the Forum took place in September 2013. Every four years, a debate on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is held during the UN General Assembly, with the participation of heads of state and government. The EU is also strongly committed to the implementation of the principles of the 2030 Agenda. During the opening speech of the plenary session of the European Parliament in July 2019, the European Commission, presented a comprehensive action programme for the next five years, emphasising the EU's commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in relation to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Despite global efforts, progress towards achieving the SDGs targets by 2030 has stagnated. Several crises, including economic shocks, conflicts and environmental degradation, have made the situation even more complex. These crises threaten to create a 'polycrisis'; moreover, the liberal international order that supports the multilateral cooperation needed to deal with this polycrisis is also threatened. This scenario aggravates the global challenge and diverts the attention and resources needed to achieve the ESG and SDGs goals.

The report by Force for Good, emphasises the urgency of immediate action to unlock the progress towards the SDGs and proposes "nine ideas" that could facilitate catching up, allowing nearly 90 per cent of the commitments to be completed by the end of the decade. Ideas for accelerating the achievement of the SDGs include: 1. the creation of a framework for the climate transition; 2. the development of connectivity enabled by artificial intelligence; 3. the introduction of universal digital financial services; 4. the coordination of actions through the involvement of governments, the private sector and multilateral institutions for a high-impact global rollout.

Current spending on sustainable development is insufficient to cover the total financing needs of the SDGs. The financing gap, i.e. the additional investment or spending needed annually until 2030, is estimated at between USD 14 and 17 trillion, mainly in developing economies. Although the world has over USD 433 trillion in liquid assets that could support these goals, most of these resources are not aligned with the SDGs. These proposals could have a significant impact on achieving the SDGs and, if implemented on a global scale, could help close the annual financing gap.

On 4 July 2024, ISTAT published its seventhSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) report, providing an update and analysis of 373 statistical measures, of which 342 are associated with a single goal, related to 139 indicators proposed by the Inter Agency Expert Group on SDGs (UN-IAEG-SDGs). The analysis shows an overall positive picture: almost 60% of the measures are improving, while less than a fifth are worsening. However, despite some progress, such as the increase in certified forest areas, significant criticalities remain. This is the context for the projects of 3Bee, a naturetech that develops technologies to monitor, protect and restore biodiversity. Thanks to an innovative approach combining technology and scientific data, 3Bee assists organisations and companies in achieving several SDGs, in particular 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 17.