Assessment of the SDG Summit 2023 and its contribution to the acceleration of the 2030 Agenda

Oct 3, 2023

About the Event

On September 28th, the SDG Lab, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Cepei held a virtual session to address the most relevant aspects of the 78th session of the UNGA, as well as the challenges and opportunities of the recently concluded Sustainable Development Goals Summit. One of the main conclusions of the event was the need to achieve in future discussion spaces a common agenda to launch actions to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

Halfway through the 2030 Agenda, the panelists called to recognize the challenges and setbacks, but above all, to value the road traveled and change the narrative from the negative to the positive to achieve the new momentum that the agenda needs. “We are moving forward, obviously not at the expected level, but we are moving forward. There is water in the glass; it’s not full, but it’s not empty either,” said Edward Mishaud of the SDG Lab.

Philipp Schönrock, executive director of Cepei, shared his three conclusions from the summit:

The key role of Latin America and the Caribbean in leading global scenarios such as UNGA, COP 28, and ECOSOC. In fact, Cuba will chair the G77+ China group, Chile holds the presidency of the UN ECOSOC and Brazil will host the G20 and COP 30 meetings.
Digital transformation and AI need to track progress on the SDGs to make action-oriented decisions.
The urgency of deep reforms in the UN and international financial institutions.

On short- and medium-term priorities, panelists noted the importance of focusing on what is already agreed and trying to accelerate implementation. Shönrock said: “The 17 SDGs still need to be resolved, and that is what we should focus on through a holistic, action-oriented approach. We need to stick to the plan and align on the same path.

Finally, Shönrock recalled that the summit was a space to present valuable projects that seek to give new momentum to data. One of them is the Data Action Plan 2030, whose Vision Statement was presented by Cepei, together with a consortium of global partners (PARIS21, SDSN TReNDS, GPSDD and Open Data Watch).

The aim of the plan is to unleash the power of data through initiatives that modernize methodologies and statistical systems, while fostering responsible and effective data partnerships.