3 Achieving international consensus
on the SDGs
46. The Secretary General's synthesis report states
"the stars are aligned for the world to take historic action
to transform lives and protect the planet. I urge Governments
and people everywhere to fulfil their political and moral responsibilities.
This is my call to dignity, and we must respond with all our vision
and strength". [134]
Justine Greening told us that "broadly" there is consensus
about what constitutes sustainable development:
We think we can get some consensus across the
broad base of issues. From my perspective, the most effective
route we can take is to find common ground and then build out
from that, but be realistic about the fact that there will always
be some areas of policy where you cannot reach agreement.[135]
DFID described the SDGs as a "unique chance
to mobilise action to eradicate extreme poverty entirely, and
to put the world on a sustainable development pathway."
[136] They
told us "The UK has five key priorities for the goals in
the post-2015 framework:
· A
simple, inspiring, relevant framework centred on poverty eradication.
· A framework
that finishes the job on the Millennium Development Goals.
· The
integration of environmental sustainability across the goals,
and targets that ensure visibility for climate change.
· A strong,
standalone goal on gender equality.
· A goal
on the critical issues left out by the MDGs: peace, good governance,
and economic development."[137]
BOND Beyond 2015 told us "the UK Government's
priorities for the SDGs are strong, but limited in their ambition.
The Government should prioritise full integration of the environmental
dimension of sustainable development across the goals, including
environmental sustainability as the 'green thread' that is addressed
within all goals".[138]
NUMBER OF GOALS
47. The ODI thought that the "strengths of the
[Open Working Group] process mirror the apparent weakness of the
output. The participation and buy-in of a wide range of member
states along with intense engagement from many non-government
voices have led to a principle of 'leave nothing out'."[139]
Andrew Scott from ODI also told us "the consensus on the
17 goals and 169 [OWG-recommended] targets was reached partly
through the vagueness of some of the targets".[140]
Dominic White of WWF nevertheless believed that the number of
goals in the OWG report reflected the "inherently complex"
nature of sustainable development:
To that extent, intellectually it makes sense
that those issues are captured, but of course there are interesting
challenges before us in how we make this actionable and ensure
that we get the political will and the means to make the framework
happen.[141]
48. Before the publication of the Secretary General's
synthesis report, the Government told us that it wanted to reduce
the number of Goals. Justine Greening thought that "17 [Goals]
is too many and the Prime Minister said that he would ideally
like to see 10. The High-Level Panel report had 12."[142]
DFID told us:
While there is a lot of good content [in the
OWG report], the overall framework is too long and unwieldy, and
does not meet the Prime Minister's ambition to agree a framework
that is simple inspiring, and relevant.
Aside from being long and unwieldy, many proposed
targets are unworkable or unmeasurable. If adopted, it would struggle
to inspire international action, drive meaningful accountability
or implementation, and would be a burden on the governments of
developed and developing countries alike. It will be important
to find ways to streamline and consolidate the Sustainable Development
Goals while preserving the good content. [143]
49. WWF argued however that "it is not the number
of goals that matters but what they can deliver. How these are
communicated and to which audience is a matter for communication
expertise once the goals and targets are agreed."[144]
Dominic White of WWF noted that "not all countries implemented
eight MDGs—nobody necessarily communicated eight MDGs".[145]
He told us:
It is not so much a numbers issue but it is about
getting on with an actionable and implementable framework. Although
it is quite unwieldy and there are some refinements that can be
made, we need to focus on holding the big picture ambition for
what we set out to achieve and then practically finding solutions
to moving that through.[146]
The European Commission told us:
We have a longer list of goals on the table for
the moment than we might have thought at the outset. But from
an EU position, that is not at all a problem. It encompasses the
17 goals that we have on the table for the moment, which really
cover all three angles of the sustainable triangle. In that way,
we think that they are a useful guidance for the process.[147]
50. IIED believed that the Government's "insistence
that there should be no more than twelve SDGs, presents risks
to the agreement of a robust set of SDGs", and suggested
"softer options for restructuring or repackaging" rather
than removing issues altogether.[148]
WWF told us that "a partial framework for sustainable development
will not deliver the long-term systemic change required that would
begin to address inter-generational equity issues."[149]
Stakeholder Forum argued for "aggregation" and
"integration" rather than "prioritisation".[150]
51. Justine Greening gave us an "absolute reassurance"
that the Government "do not see having a shorter, more compelling
framework as being at the expense of sustainability at all."[151]
Dan Rogerson told us "the most important thing is that we
have a framework that is simple, inspirational and is going to
deliver things, and that we are able to implement it as well."[152]
However, Karl Falkenberg of the European Commission cautioned
that "For the moment, a combination of the different elements
of sustainability is on the table. It is going to be difficult
from our perspective to further reduce that without risking doing
an injustice to one of the three pillars … My concern is
particularly that in this exercise the environmental side of sustainability
might suffer if we tried to reduce the number of goals."[153]
The Secretary General's synthesis report, published
after we received that evidence, appeared to envisage scope for
the SDGs to cover the ground of the 17 OWG goals but with a focus
on six 'elements':
Member States have agreed that the agenda laid
out by the Open Working Group is the main basis for the Post-2015
intergovernmental process. We now have the opportunity to frame
the goals and targets in a way that reflects the ambition of a
universal and transformative agenda. I note, in particular, the
possibility to maintain the 17 goals and rearrange them in a focused
and concise manner that enables the necessary global awareness
and implementation at the country level. [154]
52. The current wide consensus on the components
of sustainable development, as set out in the 17 Goals listed
in the Open Working Group's report, is historic and powerful.
The UN Secretary General has indicated that the 17 Goals should
be taken forward in the final SDGs, but has put forward a set
of six 'essential elements' to facilitate engagement and communication
of the sustainability message. To reduce the number of goals,
as the UK has proposed, would inevitably be to omit key aspects
of the sustainable development framework after 2015, potentially
including those relating to environmental sustainability. That
would be a mistake. Environmental limits are a key challenge that
we face in the 21st Century, and a reductionist approach risks
removing the growing international focus on these key areas. Communicating
the goals is important (as we discuss in paragraph 79), but ultimately
what counts is global action across a range of areas that is truly
sustainable.
53. It is important that the UK respects the wider
international consensus established around the 17 Open Working
Group goals, in order for the process to have national ownership
and legitimacy. The Government is right to seek an SDG framework
that can be compellingly communicated, but any continued argument
for a smaller number of Goals, in the face of the Secretary General's
recent guidance, risks creating unnecessary divisions between
countries when it should be seeking to build support for ambitious
action. At the forthcoming European Council, and beyond, the
Government should push for an EU position which favours a comprehensive
coverage in the SDGs of all pillars of sustainable development
as set out in the Open Working Group's 17 Goals.
CO-ORDINATION AND ENGAGEMENT
54. Helen Dennis of Christian Aid told us that the
BOND Beyond 2015 group of international development organisations
had had good engagement from the Government:
We have had very constructive engagement with
the post-2015 team at DFID, where it is now hosted. Prior to that,
around the High Level Panel process, we had some strong engagement
with Michael Anderson [the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on post-2015]
and some of the other people involved. We very much welcomed that
engagement.[155]
Dominic White of WWF, on the other hand, empathised
that the Government needs to "engage the UK domestic civil
society, because at the moment it is the international NGOs who
are engaged with the UK Government on this agenda. We need to
get national level dialogue running on this agenda as well."[156]
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities told us that there
has been "no specific engagement with the UK Government in
shaping the UK negotiating position with regards to … the
Sustainable Development Goal … agenda. We believe that this
needs to change."[157]
55. Many of the submissions we received highlighted
the importance of cross-government co-ordination. Christian Aid
noted that:
There has been an attempt as well to bring together
cross-Whitehall officials on some thematic areas, bearing in mind
that this is not just the DFID agenda but that other departments
are inherently involved in it. That has been very positive. DFID
has put a lot of resource into this and it has quite high capacity
both in the UK and the mission in New York, so that is very welcome.
They are playing a very active role in the process… At ministerial
level there has been strong championing from DFID but not necessarily
from other departments.[158]
DFID told us "We are working across government
to ensure that all departments' equities are retained in the process.
We are also ensuring that the expertise available in all relevant
departments is called upon to inform the process."[159]
Justine Greening explained that "We have had an inter-ministerial
working group in relation to setting out our policy position on
the post-2015 framework, mainly because it does cut across so
many different departments."[160]
Amber Rudd told us that her fellow DECC minister Baroness Verma
had attended two ministerial meetings.[161]
56. In terms of implementation, Christian Aid believed
that "the Cabinet Office is best placed to lead".[162]
DFID told us that "specific governance arrangements have
been developed with the Cabinet Office to ensure that all Whitehall
departments with an interest can feed into the Post-2015 agenda."[163]
Justine Greening explained that the Cabinet Office had a
"Sherpa role, which would essentially see them liaising internationally".
She added:
Essentially, it is an ability for Government
to have preparatory discussions and positions understood, of our
Government but also of other governments, that means we can then
get a clear sense of where the lie of the land is politically
so that at that stage you can then understand what the best strategy
is to proceed.[164]
57. The Government has committed significant time
and energy to the process of developing new Sustainable Development
Goals, including officials and Ministers from different Government
departments. The focus has primarily been international, however,
with much less thought having been given to the domestic implications
of the Goals (which we discuss below). The Government seems readier
to consider goals for other countries than for itself. Defra
should now start to play a stronger role, in collaboration with
the Cabinet Office, in working with all departments, including
the Treasury, to consider the domestic implications of the goals
and pursue policies consistent with sustainable development.
134 United Nations The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Agenda - advanced unedited version
(December 2014) para 25 Back
135
Q15 Back
136
DFID (SDG 0011) para 4 Back
137
DFID (SDG 0011) para 9 Back
138
BOND Beyond 2015 UK (SDG0015) para 2.3 Back
139
ODI, Taking the Sustainable Development Goals from 'main basis' to effective vision - what's the roadmap?
Working Paper 402 (September 2014) p1 Back
140
Q90 Back
141
Q90 Back
142
Q3 Back
143
DFID (SDG 0011) para 6 Back
144
WWF (SDG0014) para 12 Back
145
Q92 Back
146
Q92 Back
147
Q207 Back
148
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
(SDG0017) p2 Back
149
WWF (SDG0014) para 7 Back
150
Stakeholder Forum (SDG0021) Back
151
Q4 Back
152
Q137 Back
153
Q218 Back
154
United Nations The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Agenda - advanced unedited version
(December 2014) para 137 Back
155
Q91 Back
156
Q90 Back
157
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) (SDG0025) Back
158
Q91 Back
159
DFID (SDG 0011) para 17 Back
160
Q10 Back
161
Q142 Back
162
Christian Aid (SDG0009) para 3.2 Back
163
DFID (SDG 0011) para 18 Back
164
Q57 Back
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