During the UN’s 2025 Annual Parliamentary Hearing, members of parliaments around the world reflected on the role of finance, institutions, and politics in “rebooting” the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The meeting revealed sharp divides over priorities and outlook, with some calling for renewed commitment and others questioning whether the SDGs should be replaced entirely.
UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Philemon Yang identified closing the financing gap and mobilizing political will to implement the 2030 Agenda as the most pressing challenges of our time, with only five years remaining to achieve over 80% of the SDGs. Noting that “parliaments hold the legislative, budgetary, and oversight powers needed to turn global commitments into tangible action,” he said we can strengthen the link between the national and international levels and translate the SDGs into national and sub-national policies and programmes through systematic engagement.
According to a UN news story, “[d]ebt emerged as a key sticking point, with countries like Malta and Morocco pointing to the ‘great difficulty’ of accessing financial mechanisms designed to support SDG implementation.” Benin said global wealth remains unevenly distributed, calling for structural concessions for heavily indebted nations.
Speaking in defense of its “tailored tax system,” Cyprus said “small service-based economies cannot afford high taxes without stunting growth essential to development.” Chile expressed concern over the increasing use of tariffs as leverage, giving rise to “economic coercion in an already unequal system.”
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) President Jeffrey Sachs emphasized that many developing countries bear no historical responsibility for climate change, yet struggle to access funding, calling for action based on “fundamental fairness” that would enable finance to flow to low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).
Meanwhile, UN officials insisted that a lack of political will remains the central barrier to achieving the SDGs. Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy, said commitment has not translated into sufficient results. Some questioned the effectiveness of existing frameworks.
Sweden argued the SDGs “had run their course,” calling forreplacing them with new, more relevant goals. Morocco countered, warning against abandoning existing commitments. Nigeria recommended aligning national interests with global multilateralism in a redesigned approach.
Overall, even as “[n]ational priorities continue to clash with multilateral ambitions and financial constraints risk derailing progress even further,” delegates agreed that “inaction is not an option.” “We must be willing to think less in terms of our own political interest and more in terms of the common good,” said Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) President Tulia Ackson.
The Parliamentary Hearing was held at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 13-14 February 2025. [2025 Parliamentary Hearing]