The Formulation of Sustainable Development Goals
Original, , 01-28-2016
Since 2000, UN agencies began to consider the formulation of post-2015 development agenda, aiming at going beyond MDGs and constructing a comprehensive and inclusive future global development framework. In 2011, the United Nations Secretariat issued its annual report "Accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals: options for sustained and inclusive growth and issues for advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015", which summed up the progress towards Millennium Development Goals and provided recommendations for the consultation process of the development agenda after 2015. In particular, the report pointed out that the consultation process of post-2015 agenda needed the participation of multiple actors, including government departments, civil society, private sector, and academia and so on. In July 2012, the United Nations Secretariat appointed a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons. After nearly a year of research and discussion, this panel submitted a report[1] to the Secretariat in May 2013, which elaborated on the panel members' views on post-2015 agenda and the main principles to reshape the global partnership for development and the like. In September, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Financing for Development (Rio +20, namely the Rio Summit) proposed to formulate a set of sustainable development goals with the concept of sustainable development as its core. The goals try to incorporate the three pillars of economy, society and environment into a unified framework of sustainable development, and pointed out that the SDGs will be based on MDGs and be consistent with the post-2015 UN development agenda.[2] The Rio Summit set up an Opening Working Group (OWG) to formulate sustainable development goals. On September 17, 2013, OWG submitted an outcome document to the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, which contains 17 goals and more than 160 targets for the discussions and consultations among UN member states. This outcome document was the early form of SDGs. On May 2, 2014, OWG published a list of countries that made proposals for this goal system,[3] which clearly showed the positions and views of different regions and different countries with different development levels on the sustainable development goals. After several rounds of inter-governmental negotiations, so far the goal system of sustainable development has been finalized, which was examined and passed by the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 25 and formally come into effect on January 1, 2016. This goal system will be a programmatic document guiding the global and national sustainable development in the next 15 years.
[1] UN，The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda-A New Global Participation：Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economics through Sustainable Development，2013.
[2] United Nations General Assembly（Sixty-sixth session Agenda item 19），The Future We Want，2012.9.11，pp.46-48，http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/66/288&Lang=E.
[3] OWG，Working Document for 5-9 May Session of Open Working Group，UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform，May 2，2014，http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/3686WorkingDoc_0205_additionalsupporters.pdf.
Original, , 01-28-2016
Since 2000, UN agencies began to consider the formulation of post-2015 development agenda, aiming at going beyond MDGs and constructing a comprehensive and inclusive future global development framework. In 2011, the United Nations Secretariat issued its annual report "Accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals: options for sustained and inclusive growth and issues for advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015", which summed up the progress towards Millennium Development Goals and provided recommendations for the consultation process of the development agenda after 2015. In particular, the report pointed out that the consultation process of post-2015 agenda needed the participation of multiple actors, including government departments, civil society, private sector, and academia and so on. In July 2012, the United Nations Secretariat appointed a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons. After nearly a year of research and discussion, this panel submitted a report[1] to the Secretariat in May 2013, which elaborated on the panel members' views on post-2015 agenda and the main principles to reshape the global partnership for development and the like. In September, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Financing for Development (Rio +20, namely the Rio Summit) proposed to formulate a set of sustainable development goals with the concept of sustainable development as its core. The goals try to incorporate the three pillars of economy, society and environment into a unified framework of sustainable development, and pointed out that the SDGs will be based on MDGs and be consistent with the post-2015 UN development agenda.[2] The Rio Summit set up an Opening Working Group (OWG) to formulate sustainable development goals. On September 17, 2013, OWG submitted an outcome document to the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, which contains 17 goals and more than 160 targets for the discussions and consultations among UN member states. This outcome document was the early form of SDGs. On May 2, 2014, OWG published a list of countries that made proposals for this goal system,[3] which clearly showed the positions and views of different regions and different countries with different development levels on the sustainable development goals. After several rounds of inter-governmental negotiations, so far the goal system of sustainable development has been finalized, which was examined and passed by the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 25 and formally come into effect on January 1, 2016. This goal system will be a programmatic document guiding the global and national sustainable development in the next 15 years.
[1] UN，The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda-A New Global Participation：Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economics through Sustainable Development，2013.
[2] United Nations General Assembly（Sixty-sixth session Agenda item 19），The Future We Want，2012.9.11，pp.46-48，http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/66/288&Lang=E.
[3] OWG，Working Document for 5-9 May Session of Open Working Group，UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform，May 2，2014，http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/3686WorkingDoc_0205_additionalsupporters.pdf.
