30 August 2019: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a website on SDG integration, providing recommendations on integrated solutions to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The website also presents stories of how countries are “moving the SDGs from paper to practice.”In an introductory video, the website illustrates several global challenges, including tackling inequalities, combatting the climate crisis, managing rapid urbanization and preventing protracted conflicts. The video emphasizes these challenges “are intertwined and cannot be dealt with in isolation.” The video calls for “integrated solutions to connect the dots” among the 17 SDGs, with an emphasis on designing policies for the future, generating finance, analyzing data and driving integration. It calls these gaps between the Goals “the missing pieces” the world needs to tackle to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Future-oriented policies, finance, data and integration are “missing pieces” for achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The website also provides an overview of the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, which aims to ensure a more integrated approach from the UN development system to countries. This is the renamed UN Development Assistance Framework, which by UNGA resolution 72/279 was elevated to “the most important instrument for planning and implementation of the UN development activities at country level” in support of the 2030 Agenda.

A story titled, ‘Armenian Kindergartens Light the Way,’ illustrates how a partnership between UNDP and the municipality of Yerevan improved energy efficiency in an Armenian school and subsequently boosted outcomes across the SDGs, including SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action). The installation of efficient appliances, an LED lighting system, new radiators and the insulation of the building contributed to a 39% decrease in spending on electricity and gas, and reduced the school’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 23 tonnes while making the school lighter and warmer. The kindergarten head said “this new environment just boosts creativity” and explained that the reduced energy costs freed up the school budget for creative and social activities, like drama and sports, that have benefited the students alongside the environmental and health related gains.

The kindergarten is part of a larger effort by UNDP, financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), to de-risk and scale up investments in energy efficient building retrofits. An additional 30 kindergartens as well as cultural centers, hospitals, apartment buildings and single-family homes will be upgraded by 2023, contributing to energy savings and CO2 reductions between 4.4 million and 5.2 million tonnes over the investment’s 20-year lifetime.

A story on sustainable income opportunities in areas prone to natural disaster highlights how farmers in Jamaica have transitioned from methods that degraded the environment towards ones that respond to climate change and natural disasters. UNDP has helped farmers to improve their livelihoods while promoting organic agriculture (SDG 2, zero hunger) and climate action (SDG 13), such as by growing drought-resistant crops and diversifying agriculture. The example highlights the role of disaster risk reduction (DRR) as an SDG accelerator that can boost progress across the SDGs.

In addition to illustrating the individual benefits and showcasing early project results, the success stories draw out broader lessons on how to achieve the SDGs, and share how UNDP support helps countries implement the SDGs. The Armenian kindergarten example, for instance, references reports on SDG 7 progress and Armenia’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) presentation to the 2019 session of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The Jamaica example also notes that Jamaica’s VNR highlighted the country’s progress on DRR and resilience as key in progress on the SDGs. [SDG Integration Website]