A paper by adelphi describes how SDG implementation can affect six foreign policy priorities.
The paper focuses on the SDGs reviewed at the 2018 HLPF, offering detailed analyses of each Goal in an Annex.
The authors identify three steps that can enable foreign policy to minimize geopolitical risks associated with the transition towards a more sustainable development pathways.
17 July 2018: A paper released by adelphi in the margins of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) maps out how the SDGs are relevant for foreign policy, focusing on the six Goals under review at the 2018 session of the Forum (SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 and 17). The paper considers how each Goal reviewed might affect progress on foreign policy.
Presented during an event at the Permanent Mission of Germany, on 17 July 2018, the paper titled, ‘A Foreign Policy Perspective on the SDGs,’ articulates foreign policy priorities including the prevention of conflict, fragility and forced migration and displacement, each of which depends on SDG progress. Janani Vivekananda, adelphi, notes in a release that not implementing the SDGs—or implementing them without a proactive, foreign-policy driven approach—can negatively affect stability and peace, among other areas.
The authors argue for “Sustainable Foreign Policy” and identify three transitional steps.
The authors argue for “Sustainable Foreign Policy,” which supports holistic SDG implementation and external actions that avoid negative events such as destabilization, radicalization or humanitarian crises. The term also includes promotion of positive events such as increasing shared prosperity, strengthening the resource base, or mutually beneficial trade and investments.
The paper identifies three steps that can enable foreign policy to minimize geopolitical risks associated with the transition towards a more sustainable development pathway. First, analyze the consequences of SDG implementation and integrate SDGs into foreign policy strategies. Second, employ “diplomatic toolboxes” for sustainable development (including diplomacy, partnerships, mediation, political dialogue, financing and global governance). Third, invest in countering fragility, particularly in countries that are emerging from conflict.
Such an analysis, the authors write, can provide a currently-lacking reference point that ensures “SDG progress does not inadvertently undermine foreign policy goals.” Noting the challenges of operating in fragile contexts and the risk-averse nature of development funding, the paper also highlights that a foreign policy frame may be able to skirt disincentives for development actors.
The authors highlighted six areas of external action, which can be used to consider the six SDGs under review:
On preventing forced migration and displacement, the paper finds that water insecurity can contribute to displacement, but that water diplomacy can ensure more sustainable and equitable use that mitigates some causes of migration. Similarly, the authors highlight that increased access to clean energy can improve the situations of refugees and address causes of migration. On SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), the paper notes that rural-urban movement is increasing pressures on cities, and that natural disasters have driven internal migration that accelerates the pace of urbanization.
Promoting trade and investment, recognized as key means of implementing the 2030 Agenda, demands shifts in regulation and international relations between countries, the paper argues. However, the authors also note that working with private sector actors can enable better risk planning, the dampening of supply shocks and positive shifts towards more sustainable production and consumption, in addition to safeguarding human rights through frameworks led by the EU and OECD.
The publication’s Annex offers a detailed Goal-by-Goal analysis of how the SDGs under review at the 2018 HLPF can contribute to and benefit from a foreign policy perspective. [Publication: A Foreign Policy Perspective On The Sustainable Development Goals] [Side Event Webpage]