16 October 2017: During the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) workshop of the Group of 20 (G20) Development Working Group, participants considered how the G20 could pursue implementation of the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UNDP notes that considering the inadequate financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), G20 members could lead by example in adopting economic and financial policies that are consistent with the SDGs and agree on collective actions that can pave the way for broader systemic changes to a global financial architecture.

Globalization needs to be redirected towards sustainable development for all, and in this regard, “Agenda 2030 is the plan.”

According to UNDP, G20 members’ commitment to aligning their work with the 2030 Agenda implies putting sustainable development at the core of the G20 agenda, and “leveraging the group’s political clout to give further momentum to advance a long-term and common vision.” The statement notes that the current course of globalization needs to be redirected towards sustainable development for all, and in this regard, “Agenda 2030 is the plan.” The statement elaborates that local and national solutions alone will not suffice to address the many challenges the world currently faces – ranging from climate change to violent extremism – since those issues are global and increasingly interconnected. The statement calls for collective action and for revitalizing international cooperation to build a better future for people, planet, prosperity and peace.

G20 members adopted the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2016, during the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China. The Action Plan aims to show the G20’s leadership in achieving sustainable development worldwide and in contributing to the 2030 Agenda’s implementation. The Action plan includes High Level Principles that seek to guide the G20 contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The principles calls for, inter alia: implementing the 2030 Agenda domestically according to national priorities, needs and capacities, and internationally in fostering peaceful, just and inclusive societies; resolving to integrate sustainable development into G20 members domestic policies and plans and in international development efforts, as applicable; promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth consistent with the 2030 Agenda that creates productive employment and decent work and benefits all segments of societies; ensuring and strengthening the coordination and policy coherence on G20 work that contributes to sustainable development outcomes across all G20 work streams; and supporting efforts to report on the implementation progress of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the UN follow-up and review process, led by the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

In July 2017, during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, G20 members adopted the ‘Hamburg Update: Taking forward the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ as an annex to the G20 Leaders Declaration on ‘Shaping an interconnected world.’ The Hamburg Update is a first step for putting the G20 Action Plan into practice and making the collective and concrete G20 actions more visible. The Update highlights concrete actions to make progress on the SDGs, such as launching a G20 Africa Partnership to foster sustainable development (SDGs 8, 9, 17); advancing measures for more effective use of Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) existing capital (SDG 17); and contributing to creating approximately 1.1 million new jobs benefitting young people, including in rural Africa, by 2022 through an array of possible actions, such as supporting the Global Agriculture Food Security Program and stimulating job creation by other means and mechanisms (SDGs 1, 2, 8).

The UNDP and OECD G20 workshop took place on 16 October 2017. The Development Working Group is one of several working groups established within the G20. [UNDP Statement for the UNDP-OECD G20 Workshop] [Hamburg Update: Taking forward the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development] [G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on G20 Summit 2017]