Did the creation of Agenda 2030 forge a new way of engaging on global issues for humanity’s future?

Even before it was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, Agenda 2030 was widely talked about as being “historic” and, even, “transformative.”

Built around 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), the 15-year global development plan seeks to reinvent the way the world approaches the great global challenges of our time as they relate to poverty eradication, gender equality, health, and environmental conservation.

In a new book, Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world, three key players in the Agenda’s creation offer an intimate view of how the plan was put together — and, perhaps most interestingly, how the objections to its ambitious and all-encompassing framework were overcome.

Authors Felix Dodds, David Donoghue, and Jimena Leiva Roesch make clear that there was no guarantee of victory in efforts by the UN to create a new set of goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are often cited as among the UN’s most successful anti-poverty programs.

Governments started to discuss in earnest what should replace the MDGs in 2012. And early on, the authors say, there was “strong pushback” against the idea of expanding the eight MDGs from their focus on poverty and health issues to the more encompassing idea of promoting sustainable development, a concept that includes a much broader notion that couples a push for overall economic growth with strong environmental protections.

“The SDGs were seen as a direct threat to countries that had invested in the MDGs — which meant most member states,” the authors write. “Developing countries feared that funding would be cut off if the agenda was going to be universally applicable. Bilateral aid agencies from many donor countries were not interested in changing the structure of their aid, which was largely based on the MDGs.”

But, in the end, the authors say, hard work and innovative new forms of multilateral negotiation won the day for those who favored a more universal and encompassing set of development goals, which would require efforts by all countries at all stages of development. The result was the adoption of 17 goals addressing a much larger palette of issues, such as climate change, patterns of consumption and production, and even some peace and governance issues.

One key to reaching this broader, more universal framework was the creation of new modes of working at the UN, the authors write. Specifically, this involved the creation of a so-called “open working group” (OWG) that allowed member states to participate in a fluid manner, instead of through fixed committees or negotiating blocks established along regional lines.

“Despite numerous meetings with regional groups organized by the Brazilian Ambassador, the different regions could not decide which countries should be nominated,” they write. “The number of countries wanting to participate vastly exceeded the number of seats allocated.”

“After six months of negotiations, which went nowhere, a new and creative format emerged: one seat could be shared by more than one country.” In addition, they note, the size of the OWG was expanded from 30 to 70 countries.

“With upwards of seventy countries participating,” they write, “the discussions did on occasion become very long and repetitive; nevertheless the format made for a truly cross-regional and indeed universal process.”

Another element in creating a broader agenda was the adoption of an inclusive approach that sought input from a wide range of actors, including not only UN agencies but also non-governmental organizations, business groups, municipal authorities, trade unions, scientists, and others, known collectively as “Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS).”

Among other things, they said, the co-chairs of the working group instituted a ground breaking practice where delegations would meet with stakeholders each morning before negotiating sessions.

There were numerous other forums for input from major groups and other stakeholders during the run-up to Agenda 2030’s adoption as well. Later in the process, for example, the co-chairs held a series of “interactive dialogues” that brought diplomats and MGoS representatives together at the UN. And there were a number of informal events held outside the headquarters building.

The authors mention, for example, the Nexus Conference 2014, held at the University of North Carolina, which brought together negotiators, scientists and MGoS to discuss “integrated approaches” to the SDGs.

Another example of such informal contributions, although not mentioned in the book, was the series of more than two dozen monthly breakfast meetings held at the offices of the Bahá’í International Community in New York during the negotiations. These breakfasts brought together diplomats, UN officials, and civil society representatives in an off-the-record format that encouraged an open and frank exchange of ideas. These meetings have continued and are now addressing issues like monitoring and the implementation of the Agenda.

All put together, the authors write, the negotiating process behind Agenda 2030 came to “alter the traditional format of UN multilateral negotiations” in a manner that “truly changed the way in which member states engage with stakeholders on issues of such importance for the future of humanity.”

The authors speak from substantial experience. Mr. Dodds was executive director of the Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future from 1992 to 2012. Ambassador Donoghue is Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York and was co-chair of the OWG. And Ms. Leiva Roesch was a diplomat for the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the UN during the negotiations and is now a Senior Policy Analyst at the International Peace Institute. 

Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals is an important book for anyone interested in sustainable development — or anyone who wonders how UN negotiations work, and how future modes might be on the horizon as humanity increasingly faces complex global challenges.