12 September 2019: Ahead of the SDG Summit, countries and other stakeholders have submitted 45 ‘SDG Acceleration Actions,’ describing voluntary initiatives to speed up implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is featuring the acceleration actions on a website. The platform indicates that the Goals on poverty eradication (SDG 1), climate action (SDG 13), and partnerships (SDG 17) are the subject of the greatest number of initiatives, while the lowest number address SDG 10 (reduced inequalities).

In May 2019, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces announced the call for SDG Acceleration Actions, which will be highlighted by the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) when it meets under the UNGA’s auspices from 24-25 September 2019 (also known as the ‘SDG Summit’). The Summit takes place at the level of Heads of State and Government, and is mandated to follow up and review progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs.

Finland commits to carbon neutrality by 2035, and becoming “carbon negative” soon after that.

Per the call for SDG Acceleration Actions, they are expected to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resource-based, with Time-based deliverables), and to contribute to policy coherence and reflect interlinkages among SDGs. The platform also allows users to report on the implementation of their commitment.

Among the actions featured on the platform,

• Finland has registered a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 and to become “carbon negative” soon after that;
• The Netherlands indicates that it will double its target for the number of people who obtain access to justice in 2020, and that half of them will be women;
• Project Everyone’s World’s Largest Lesson Nigeria says it aims to have “an immediate impact” of 500,000 children engaged in learning about the SDGs, 30,000 children engaged in after-school clubs and local community action projects, and 8,000 youth and teacher volunteers trained to teach the SDGs; and
• The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) announces that it will host a ‘Trees in Cities’ Challenge to plant more trees in urban areas, in cooperation with local governments.

DESA intends to update the SDG Acceleration Actions webpage on a daily basis to reflect additional submitted actions. The most innovative, ambitious and impactful commitments will be announced to the media through channels such as the VIP social media studio or the SDG Media Zone during the 74th UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) high-level week in September 2019.

In addition to the SDG Summit, the UNGA high-level week also will include: the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit; a one-day high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) (23 September); a high-level dialogue on financing for development (FfD) (26 September); and a high-level meeting to review progress made in addressing the priorities of small island developing States (SIDS) through the implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway (27 September). [SDG Acceleration Actions Platform] [SDG Knowledge Hub Sources]