13 October 2014: At an event hosted by the Women’s International Forum, the Co-Chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflected on the OWG’s work and its proposed goals and targets. Csaba Kőrösi, Permanent Representative of Hungary, and Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, spoke of the possibility of a more sustainable future, in a discussion on the theme ‘Humanity at a Crossroad: How to Shape a New Sustainable Development Trajectory.’ The Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General sponsored the event, which took place on 13 October 2014, in New York, US.

Kőrösi gave a brief overview of current challenges facing the world, with a pending climate disaster, a growing population demanding 50% more food and 35% more water by 2050, 2.5 billion people with no access to electricity, growing inequalities, and increasing numbers of armed conflicts. In this context, he explained, the 17 proposed goals and 169 proposed targets of the OWG are both an evidence-based set of goals, and a political compromise about how to lead the world toward greater sustainability. All of the goals are interlinked and encompass the three dimensions of sustainable development, he said, and serve as a joint commitment to change global trends.

Kőrösi highlighted the following lessons learned from the OWG process. First, we need a sustainable development transformation on par with the industrial revolution; unlike past revolutions, however, we are now trying to design this process of transformation ourselves. Second, transformation should not be a zero-sum game. Third, we must learn from past omissions, as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did not create a coherent system between the goals. Fourth, the SDGs should not allow for business as usual. Financing and implementing the SDGs will require broad cooperation between stakeholders, renewed social contracts, local-level plans and projects, and a new institutional system, he said. He looked forward to the year ahead of continued negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and the eventual implementation of the SDGs, calling for “the political will to do it, the capacity to do it right, and the resources to do it right now.”

Kamau emphasized three words he saw as crucial to understanding the proposed SDGs: ambitious, transformative, and universal. He invited participants to use their imaginations and picture a world without poverty, diseases, and hunger, where women and men are equal, where society is truly inclusive, businesses are responsible, and ecosystems are appreciated, and a world where countries are countries are equal, cities are places of great culture, and peace is the norm. “Imagine that,” he said. “Those are the Sustainable Development Goals. That is the level of ambition we have set ourselves.” He went on to stress the need for transformative goals that improve the entire social, economic, and political realities of life, and universal goals that hold everyone accountable for achieving them and implementing sustainable development. “We are all equally responsible for transforming our world together,” he stressed.

Looking ahead, Kamau said the next phase of negotiations taking place between January and September 2015 will seek to design a way of implementing these goals, which he admitted will be difficult. He was convinced, however, that the SDGs will “gain in value in people’s imaginations” as time passes, and that collective effort will allow the world to succeed on our goals.

The former co-chairs addressed questions from participants on: the role of the private sector; the need for the UN to focus on its own sustainability; efforts of developed countries; the difficulties of implementing sustainable development; the number of goals and targets; and the presence of youth and people with disabilities in the agenda. Kamau said he is frustrated by the debate on the number of goals, and said we need to focus on the one overarching goal: a more sustainable world. Kőrösi said sustainable development is perceived as incredibly expensive, and that it is difficult to implement long-term projects with short-term election cycles. Kamau stressed that all developed countries agreed to the SDGs and their universality, realizing that development challenges exist in their countries, too. On youth, Kőrösi said that the entire agenda must be about the next generation, and Kamau insisted that young people must be front and center. [WIF Event] [IISD RS Sources]