The SDGs as integrating force in global governance? Challenges and opportunities

In 2015, the United Nations agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an “integrated and indivisible” set of policy objectives with the aim, among others, to unite the diverse and vast system of international organizations under one shared normative agenda. And yet, have these SDGs really...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International environmental agreements : politics, law and economics law and economics, 2023-06, Vol.23 (2), p.157-164
Main Authors: Bogers, Maya, Biermann, Frank, Kalfagianni, Agni, Kim, Rakhyun E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Environmental Economics
Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice
Environmental Management
Governance
International organizations
issues and policy
Nations
Nature Conservation
Objectives
Organizations
Original Paper
Political Science
Regional organizations
Sustainable development
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In 2015, the United Nations agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an “integrated and indivisible” set of policy objectives with the aim, among others, to unite the diverse and vast system of international organizations under one shared normative agenda. And yet, have these SDGs really become such an integrative force in global governance? Our conclusion here is negative, and our research suggests that the SDGs have not lived up to these high expectations. We find instead that the 17 global goals have not been taken up by a substantial group of international organizations, and some organizations rather cherry-pick those goals that best fit their own agenda and interests. To overcome these challenges and to fulfill the promise of integrated global sustainability governance enshrined in the SDGs, we propose three urgent actions: first, to further push the use of the SDGs across all international organizations, in particular regional organizations outside the United Nations system; second, to facilitate better collaboration across policy domains; and third, to focus attention on those SDGs that are so far “left behind.”
ISSN:1567-9764
1573-1553
DOI:10.1007/s10784-023-09607-9