The UN has released the Secretary-General’s analysis of barriers to advancing progress on the five Goals under review at the 2025 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) – SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals).
The report titled, ‘Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind,’ focuses on the theme of the 2025 HLPF. It outlines practical measures for coordinated policy implementation and targeted actions and offers recommendations on how countries can advance science- and evidence-based solutions more effectively, including through multistakeholder cooperation.
The report notes that “an unprecedented series of rapid and unpredictable shifts,” driven by geopolitical tensions, trade wars, deepening inequalities, and accelerating climate change, among other challenges, are “undermining sustainable development prospects” and “weakening the will to seek multilateral solutions based on the rule of law.” At the same time, it acknowledges the opportunities for breakthroughs presented by the expansion of scientific discoveries and technological innovation, highlighting effective science-policy interface as key to driving transformational change.
Recommendations include:
- On SDG 3: strengthening healthcare systems, aligning holistic health approaches to leave no one behind, and leveraging technology and digital health solutions;
- On SDG 5: strengthening legal frameworks and addressing harmful cultural and social norms, promoting equal access to education and leveraging technology for women’s economic empowerment, and promoting inclusive governance;
- On SDG 8: ensuring inclusive and sustainable economic growth and eliminating child labor;
- On SDG 14: monitoring and protecting the ocean-climate-biodiversity nexus, transitioning to a blue economy, and promoting scientific collaboration; and
- On SDG 17: leveraging science, technology, and innovation (STI) and engaging stakeholders and building capacity.
In addition, the report calls for countries to, inter alia: identify specific measures to break down barriers to coordinated policy implementation; develop strategic foresight capacities and integrate such foresight into decision making to adapt to future scenarios; and engage with parliaments, scientific institutions, civil society, supreme audit institutions, and peer review mechanisms to strengthen accountability mechanisms. It recommends leveraging networked multilateralism and digital solutions through the Global Digital Compact and facilitating anticipatory planning, foresight, and futures literacy in line with the Declaration on Future Generations. Annexed to the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations were adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future (SoF).
The Secretary-General’s report was issued in May 2025 as an advance unedited version. [Publication: Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive, Science- and Evidence-based Solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for Leaving No One Behind]