The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will require a new culture of “shared responsibility,” described by the UN Secretary-General as based on agreed universal norms, global commitments, shared rules and evidence, collective action, and benchmarking for progress. This includes new forms of solution-oriented, inclusive and integrative multi-stakeholder partnerships, which will be a key element of Agenda 2030 and efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Many successful examples of such partnerships already exist and we should build on those which have proven to deliver meaningfully on commitments related to sustainable development. At the same time, there is an urgent need to mobilize new partnership initiatives that can accelerate the transition to environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development pathways to achieve the SDGs and ensure no one is left behind. These must be partnerships that are transparent and accountable, based on long-term commitments, reflect national ownership, and can mobilize the cross-sector actors needed to advance the kind of integrated and scalable solutions capable of realizing system-wide change.

To help meet this challenge, leaders from governments, civil society, business and international organizations met at this high-level event on the margins of the UN Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda. The event provided a platform to focus international attention on the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships that work across regions and at multiple scales to achieve collective impact through agenda-setting, policy change, communications and on-the-ground implementation.

Speakers discussed action in three clusters:

  • A life of dignity for all: building economic frameworks and capacities for innovation, for promoting sustainable trade, consumption and production patterns and for green and inclusive growth;

  • Breaking the silos: building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions and implementation partnerships at national and local levels for sustainable development;

  • Mainstreaming biodiversity: restoring and sustaining healthy ecosystems for people and planet.

Speakers

  • H.E. Oyun Sanjaasuren, President of the United Nations Environment Assembly, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  • H.E. Mr. Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico
  • H.E. Ms. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany
  • H.E. Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Barbados
  • H.E. Ms. Eva Kjer Hansen, Minister for the Environment and Food, Denmark
  • Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP
  • Ms. Maria Eugenia Casar,* Associate Administrator*, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  • Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union
  • Ms. Yolanda Kakabadse, President, WWF International
  • Mr. Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute
  • Mr. Gino Van Begin, Secretary-General, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
  • Ms. Inger Andersen,* Director General*, International Union for the Conservation of Nature

Objectives

The high-level event is part of a strategic effort to enhance collaboration among leaders of the environmental sustainability community and to strengthen links with the social, economic and financing communities. The event has three objectives:

  • Provide a platform that brings together actors from different fields to showcase integrated, solution-oriented partnerships to accelerate implementation of the SDGs, with a focus on transitions to environmentally-sustainable and climate-resilient development pathways;

  • Galvanize international support for expanding the role of partnership approaches for collective impact that are multi-stakeholder, transparent and accountable;

  • Launch a ‘call for joint action’ to advance priority multi-stakeholder partnerships, building on key international fora to be held in 2016, including the 2nd Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), the IUCN World Conservation Congress, the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), and the 13th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-13).

 

Share With Your Networks