December 2015: As 2015 came to a close, civil society organizations (CSOs) released reflections on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as other key agreements of 2015, and commented on the SDG indicator selection process and a toolkit to monitor progress on SDG 2 on hunger. They also began to focus on the role of the High-Level Political Forum for sustainable development (HLPF) in implementing the 2030 Agenda. The private sector launched reports addressing country and corporate progress towards sustainability more broadly.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 21 CSOs suggests key points for consideration in Ban’s forthcoming report to the 2016 meeting of the HLPF. The CSOs call for, inter alia: a people-centered accountability architecture that enables effective citizen engagement; inclusion of the principle of integration in developing and designing programmatic and policy approaches and implementation of the agenda; prioritization of disaggregated data; and continued inclusion of civil society in implementing and monitoring the SDGs, including the creation and maintenance of a safe, enabling environment for civil society to operate free from insecurity and hindrance, as set out in SDG 16. The CSOs stress that the SDG indicators must reflect human rights principles and priorities, and should monitor progress on more difficult aspects of each target, such as equality of access and outcomes.

Also on indicators and monitoring, the Brookings Institute’s Ending Rural Hunger project released a toolkit to monitor and compare national progress on SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture). The project emphasizes that ending hunger by 2030 is realistic and attainable but will require close review and follow-up on progress, including metrics to track progress and actions. The toolkit maps countries’ policies for food and nutrition security (FNS), their vulnerability to consumption shocks and their malnutrition needs, and ranks countries on metrics such as climate change vulnerability and rural investment. Developing country profiles provide an overview of rural FNS while developed country profiles present individual country actions to contribute to—or detract from—progress on ending hunger, including an assessment of 29 developed countries’ agricultural and biofuel policies. A report presents key results and recommendations on FNS.

Investment in food security and nutrition, particularly food fortification, is the “single best return on investment of almost any development intervention,” argues Marc Van Ameringen, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, in a blog on Devex. In a video interview, he explains that public investment in fortification will then help leverage other investments from the private sector.

Many of the proposed SDG indicators “remain inadequate,” writes Barbara Adams in a blog post on Global Policy Watch. According to Adams, the IAEG-SDGs has failed to identify structural problems and means to address them, pointing to two “grey” (not yet agreed) indicators on poverty, weak indicators on measuring inequality within countries, the absence of an indicator to measure inequality between countries, and inadequate indicators for SDG 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development). Adams also raises concerns related to: capacity and resources to collect, analyze and report on data; declining funding to support the use and production of statistics; and parallel actions by the Group of 20 (G20), which she says “brushed up some of the initiatives designed to meet existing G20 goals and linked them to the SDGs.”

Together 2030, an initiative to bring together partners around national implementation and tracking progress on the SDGs, issued an open call for CSOs to join the initiative and engage with governments and others to advocate for implementation on Agenda 2030 and track and report on progress, actions and positions, beginning in January 2016. The group invites suggestions on collaboration and highlights its website, which will serve as a space to shared experiences and resources. Together 2030 also states its intention to share information on global events such as the HLPF.

Other year-end publications and reports highlight country and corporate progress towards sustainability. A report by Ceres and Sustainalytics finds individual examples of leadership among US company responses to environmental and social challenges but a “significant need for overall improvement.” ‘The Road to 2020: Corporate Progress on the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability’ stresses the opportunities for companies to transform themselves to analyzes the performance of 600 companies and calls for collaborative efforts to close the sustainability gap. Stand-out performances include: Intel, which links executive and employee compensation to environmental goals such as reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use; Coca-Cola, which is working to improve water efficiency by 20%; and Kohl’s Department Stores, which achieved net-zero GHG emissions at its stores.

Iceland and other Scandinavian countries top the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index, which evaluates 180 countries based on their ability to generate income and sustain freedom, security and stability without compromising the basis for future generations to retain or increase income, freedom, security and stability. The Index evaluates countries based on quantitative indicators of natural capital, resource intensity and efficiency, social cohesion, intellectual capital and governance capital. Countries with rich biodiversity, sufficient water resources and favorable climates, including Congo, Guyana and Suriname, lead the natural capital ranking. Countries in Asia, such as China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore, rank highest on intellectual capital but have high resource intensity, according to the report.

To gain an understanding of Africa’s young people’s needs within the context of the post-2015 development agenda, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Youth (SDSN Youth) and the Network of African Youths for Development (NAYD) are conducting a survey. It asks, “How can young people help achieve youth-led sustainable development and create viable livelihoods and opportunities for youth to contribute to inclusive economic development and well-being in Africa?” The survey includes questions on barriers to the engagement of youth in sustainable development, knowledge acquisition related to sustainable development and support to empower youth to engage in sustainable development. [Open Letter to UN Secretary-General] [Ending Hunger Website] [Ending Hunger Report] [Devex Blog] [Global Policy Watch Blog] [Together 2030 Concept Note] [Link to Join Together 2030] [Together 2030 Website] [CERES Press Release] [Sustainalytics Press Release] [The Road to 2020] [Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index] [SDSN Youth Survey]