By Elena Kosolapova and Lynn Wagner, SDG Knowledge Hub

In his New Year’s message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries “to forge a more peaceful, equal, stable and healthy future for all people,” not as “a world divided” but as “nations united.” While we need functioning multilateralism to effectively respond to challenges and achieve a better future, Guterres’ entreaty could remain but a pipe dream. Or not?

Amid growing geopolitical tensions and power shifts, the 2024 Summit of the Future (SoF) offered some assurance that the world is broadly on the same page regarding international cooperation, adopting a pact that marked “a new beginning in multilateralism.” Reconfirming the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs as the blueprint for sustainable development, Member States committed to actions that will advance, through relevant intergovernmental processes, sustainable development and financing for development (FfD), promote international peace and security, and transform global governance. Digital cooperation and support for youth and future generations are also among the focal areas of the Pact for the Future.

At the same time, more than half the world’s population went to the polls in 2024, including in the US, the UK, India, and South Africa, among other 60+ countries. Election results suggest people were often unhappy with the way their incumbent leaders tackled the crises plaguing the planet and its inhabitants. The newly elected leaders often find themselves on the opposite side of the political spectrum. At present, there is little clarity on how they will interact with global agendas. This year’s upcoming elections in several other countries add further uncertainty.

Dynamics within and between country blocs are also shifting. The BRICS alliance that recently expanded from its original core of five countries (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa) to include Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has indicated at least nine more countries, including Cuba, Bolivia, Indonesia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and Thailand can be expected to join in 2025. While there is significant crossover with the membership of the Group of 20 (G20), of which South Africa holds the 2025 Presidency, the BRICS could be seen to represent alignment along ideological lines, with potentially significant implications for the voice this group brings to geopolitics.

How will governments engage with the Pact for the Future? What are the mandated processes to be mindful of? Looking ahead at 2025, the SDG Knowledge Hub’s editorial team has identified five areas for sustainable development professionals to watch. 

1. Tackling the climate crisis

Revised nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change are due in February. Each country’s contribution is supposed to represent a progression compared to the previous NDC and reflect the highest possible ambition. Current pledges “fall miles short of what’s needed” to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, and their implementation excluding conditional elements may even lead to greater emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Will the Paris Agreement’s ratchet-up mechanism pass the test? There’s much frustration surrounding the climate process. Last year, Argentina and Papua New Guinea – albeit for different reasons – withdrew their negotiators from the Baku Climate Change Conference. In light of national leadership changes, we may see countries withdraw from the Paris Agreement altogether. It is also unclear whether developing countries will step up their game, given the disappointment with the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate finance. Whether the remaining climate plans will align with the outcomes of the first Global Stocktake (GST), which was meant to inform the 2025 round of NDCs, including by calling on countries to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, also remains uncertain.

Perhaps anticipating these hurdles to ramping up climate ambition, last year, Vanuatu spearheaded an initiative within the UN General Assembly (UNGA) that led to a request for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion with respect to climate change. Due in 2025, the advisory opinion is expected to set a legal benchmark for States’ climate-related obligations under international law, including consequences for their breach. The SDG Knowledge Hub will be covering these developments.

2. Delivering for chemicals and waste

Last year was supposed to be a big one for chemicals and waste, with two major negotiations expected to conclude. Negotiations on the science-policy panel (SPP) on chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention and on the plastic treaty did not conclude. Having received their mandates from the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) in 2022, the parallel negotiating tracks had admittedly little time. So what happened and how does this bode for 2025?

At the SPP negotiating session that was supposed to be the final meeting, delegates were unable to reach consensus on the “foundational document” that would outline the basic structure of the Panel. With the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, also struggling to conclude its work on time, this is not surprising. A plastic treaty could provide much-needed clarity on the issues related to pollution from chemicals and waste, who would control the Panel’s decisions, and whom it would serve.

But the topic of plastic pollution governance is complex, and the negotiations have stalled. On the one hand, there are upstream measures of production, manufacture, and design. On the other, there are more “agreeable” downstream options that focus mostly on pollution. Significant economic interests underpin these options, with high stakes for many players. While the INC’s fifth session (INC-5) sought to generate agreement and bridge differences on key contentious issues, it became apparent that without creative approaches, it would be difficult to get the talks over the finish line. INC-5 provided little indication as to where leadership to facilitate this could come from.

At the SDG Knowledge Hub, we’ll be watching for announcements of additional negotiating sessions in 2025.

3. Accelerating action for the ocean

The year 2025 is significant for ocean governance. The Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) will convene in June to generate transformative action and provide solutions the ocean needs, supported by ocean science and funding for SDG 14 (life below water). The first edition of the Conference in 2017 generated more than 1,300 voluntary commitments towards ocean conservation. In 2022, the Second UN Ocean Conference yielded approximately 50 high-level pledges, including an investment of at least USD 1 billion to support the creation, expansion, and management of marine protected areas (MPAs) and Indigenous and locally governed marine and coastal areas by 2030.

Convening under the theme, ‘Accelerating Action and Mobilizing All Actors to Conserve and Sustainably Use the Ocean,’ UNOC-3 will be co-hosted by France and Costa Rica in Nice. The Conference will involve all relevant stakeholders and “build on existing instruments to form successful partnerships towards the swift conclusion and effective implementation of ongoing processes that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean.” The preparatory process has been underway since 2023.

Our Ocean Conference 2025 will precede UNOC-3 in April. It will promote global actions for a sustainable ocean and discuss ‘Ocean Digital’ – a concept that brings together the ocean industry and digital technology to serve as an implementation tool for a sustainable ocean.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has scheduled two sessions to continue negotiations to develop rules, regulations, and procedures (RRPs) relating to commercial exploitation of mineral resources from the deep sea. In 2023, the ISA Council indicated it “intends” to continue the elaboration of RRPs, with a view to their adoption in 2025. The task of balancing competing interests is nothing short of monumental. Some member States are calling for a precautionary pause, moratorium, or ban on deep-sea mining. Others want to initiate commercial exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources as soon as possible.

4. Reforming global financial architecture

In his New Year’s message, the UN Secretary-General recalled the promise of the Pact for the Future to “reform the global financial system so it supports and represents all countries.” The call for such reform dates back to the 2022 Bridgetown Initiative, which recognized the need to transform the current multilateral financial system into one that drives financial resources towards climate action and the SDGs. In 2023, the Secretary-General outlined concrete steps that could be taken to that end, including strengthening global economic governance, delivering debt relief and lowering the cost of sovereign borrowing, scaling up international public development and climate financing, and strengthening the global financial safety net. Six of the Pact’s 56 actions are dedicated to global financial architecture reform.

In 2025, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will address new and emerging issues in support of reform of the international financial architecture to fully implement the SDGs. The preparatory process is underway, with a zero draft of the outcome document to be released in mid-January and a third session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) scheduled for mid-February. FfD4 will convene in Seville, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July.

5. Advancing social development to implement 2030 Agenda

In the last quarter of 2025, countries will come together in Qatar for the Second World Summit for Social Development, also known as the World Social Summit. Convening 30 years after the First World Summit for Social Development, the meeting is expected address the gaps and recommit to the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action and “give momentum towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.” A roadmap for the negotiations of the political declaration – the Summit’s expected outcome – was released in December. Dedicated to the social pillar of the 2030 Agenda, the Summit’s outcome could serve as an important catalyst for implementation of sustainable development objectives.

At the SDG Knowledge Hub, we’ll be tracking these and other events and intergovernmental processes. We’ll continue monitoring for cues from Brazil on its priorities for the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) it will host in Belém in November. 

Throughout 2025, we’ll be updating the SDG Knowledge Hub calendar as more event announcements are made, so please check it frequently.