25 September 2019: The UN Secretary-General announced that the first “annual platform” to drive SDG progress will take place in September 2020, as part of the UN’s commemoration of its 75th anniversary. Annual platforms will be continue to be convened each year as part of the recently launched decade of action for the SDGs.

Addressing the SDG Summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is issuing a global call for a decade of action to deliver the SDGs by 2030. As part of this, he said he will convene an annual platform to drive the decade of action.

An “annual temperature check” on SDG progress will take place each September in the context of the UNGA debate.

The call for a decade of action stems from a request made to the Secretary-General in the political declaration of the SDG Summit, which was adopted on 24 September 2019 by the heads of state and government in attendance. The text asks the Secretary-General to “engage Governments, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders in generating solutions and accelerating action to address systemic gaps in implementation, as we embark on a decisive decade for the 2030 Agenda. We also call upon the Secretary-General to organize an annual moment to highlight inspiring action on the Goals, in the context of the general debate of the General Assembly” (paragraph 26).

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed elaborated on these plans in remarks to a civil society event on 25 September. She said the UN will provide space each September within the UN General Assembly for “an annual temperature check” on SDG progress. This will provide “a snapshot of what’s working and what’s not, of where we need more action and who we need more action from.”

During the intergovernmental consultations on the political declaration in June 2019, Norway proposed including a call to convene an annual “SDG Moment” during the opening of each UNGA session until 2030, except in those years when the HLPF is meeting under the UNGA’s auspices in September. [SDG Knowledge Hub sources] [IISD coverage of SDG Summit]