UNDESA Survey on the Sustainable Development Goals Synthesis of responses from UN Member State Missions January 2013

This report was prepared by Jeannet Lingán, Amy Cutter, Jack Cornforth and Farooq Ullah from Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future in association with Eela Dubey, and Felix Dodds, Associated Fellow of Tellus Institute and independent consultant.

Introduction In June 2012, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) resulted in an agreement by Member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that can be used to pursue focused and coherent action on sustainable development. The Rio+20 Outcome Document resolved to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process on SDGs that is open to all stakeholders with a view to developing global SDGs to be agreed by the UN General Assembly. The Outcome Document mandated the creation of an inter-governmental Open Working Group (OWG), which will submit a report to the 68th session of the General Assembly containing a proposal for SDGs for consideration and appropriate action. As part of the on-going consultations on the SDGs and to feed into the work of the OWG, in October 2012, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the secretariat of the Rio+20 Conference, distributed a questionnaire to national governments to elicit their views and suggestions on some key principles and criteria for developing a proposal for the SDGs. This report is a synthesis of the information provided in the submissions and intends to present the findings of the questionnaire in a way that is accessible to all governments and stakeholders. The information has been collated by country type and region with an aim to help identify key priorities.

Methodology As of the 12th December 2012, 63 countries had completed the questionnaire, including 27 European Union (EU) Members who submitted a joint response as the European Union (EU). 1 We have analysed the submissions of 61 countries (this number includes the 27 members of the EU) and excluded the individual submissions of Poland and Slovakia, who are counted as part of the EU submission. The 61 country delegations that submitted the survey represent 32% of the total (193) of UN member states. This is a limitation to the utility of the analysis. However, it is still useful for gauging some current trends in perspectives on the SDGs. For the analysis of the answers we have divided the country submissions broadly into developed and developing country categories and into regions. Developing countries have been divided into: MENA: Middle East and North Africa Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa LAC: Latin America and the Caribbean Asia: includes Asia-Pacific, South Asia, South East Asia, Western Asia, East Asia 1

The full country submissions can be found on the new Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/

Table 1. Member state missions’ individual submissions Developed

Developing MENA

Africa

LAC

Asia

Australia

Algeria

Botswana

Colombia

Bhutan

Japan

Iraq

Central African Republic

Costa Rica

Brunei- Darussalam

Israel

Jordan

Chad

Haiti

Fiji

Norway

Lebanon

Comoros

Nicaragua

Mongolia

Switzerland

Syrian Arab Republic

Ghana

Panama

Nepal

EU (27 members)

United Arab Emirates (EUA)

Peru

Pakistan

Croatia

Republic of Korea

Montenegro*

Thailand

Republic of Moldova*

Turkey

*Considered in this grouping as per their connection with the EU.

Break down of Survey respondents

Summary of Findings 1. Sustainable Development Goals Priority Areas The following table presents information of the thematic areas that country missions listed as their priorities for SDGs (question 1 of survey). 36 country missions provided a list of priority areas. We have ranked the thematic areas according to how often they were mentioned by country delegations on their answer to this question. The European Union responded to the survey but has not answered this question. In order to provide data for the EU we have used their official position at the Rio+20 Conference as a way to illustrate some of the thematic areas that are currently being explored. 

The first and second columns break down question respondents into developing and developed (survey respondents plus EU Rio+20 submission) countries.



The top ten priorities for these two groups share 7 areas: -

Sustainable energy; Food security; Water and sanitation; Gender equality; Climate change; Green economy; and Biodiversity protection.

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Additionally, developing countries ranked within their top ten: poverty alleviation (the highest priority), education and employment; whereas developed countries included in their top ten: desertification/land degradation, sustainable consumption and production, and oceans and marine systems.

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Overall, for developed and developing country missions the ten most commonly mentioned thematic priorities are: sustainable energy, food security, water and sanitation, biodiversity protection, desertification/land degradation, sustainable consumption and production, oceans and marine systems, poverty eradication, gender equality and education. As we can see, there is a diversity of priorities associated to the agenda of environment and development as well as the main concerns for developed and developing countries.

Table 2. SDG Priority Areas for country missions (inc. EU Rio+20 submission) SDG Priority Areas for Ranking

Survey respondents from Developing Countries (26 countries)

SDG Priority Areas for survey respondents from Developed Countries inc. EU Rio+20 submission (35 countries)

SDG Priority Areas All survey respondents Inc. EU Rio+20 submission (61 countries)

1

Poverty eradication/alleviation (58%)

Sustainable Energy/access to energy (94%)

Sustainable Energy/access to energy (77%)

2

Sustainable Energy/access to energy (54%)

Food security/nutrition/agriculture (91%)

Food security/nutrition/agriculture (74%)

3

Food security/nutrition/agriculture (50%)

Water and sanitation (91%)

Water and sanitation (70%)

4

Education (46%)

Protection of biodiversity/ ecosystems (83%)

Protection of biodiversity/ ecosystems (62%)

5

Gender equality/Women empowerment (42%)

Desertification/soil or land degradation (80%)

Desertification/soil or land degradation (56%)

6

Water and sanitation (42%)

Sustainable Consumption and Production (80%)

Sustainable Consumption and Production (54%)

7

Climate change/carbon emissions (35%)

Oceans/marine resources (77%)

Oceans/marine resources (49%)

8

Green economy/macroeconomic stability/debt (35%)

Gender equality/Women empowerment (11%)

Gender equality/ Women empowerment (41%)

9

Protection of biodiversity/ ecosystems (35%)

Climate change/carbon emissions (9%)

Poverty eradication/alleviation (30%)

10

Employment (35%)

Green economy/macroeconomic stability/debt (9%)

Education (23%)

11

Health (31%)

Poverty eradication/alleviation (9%)

Green economy/ macroeconomic stability/debt (20%)

12

Desertification/soil or land degradation (23%)

Urbanization/cities/slums (9%)

Climate change/carbon emissions (20%)

13

Risk/disaster reduction (19%)

Health (6%)

Employment* (16%)

14

Sustainable Consumption and Production (19%)

Education (6%)

Health (16%)

15

Peace and security (12%)

Risk/disaster reduction (6%)

Risk/disaster reduction (11%)

16

Children and youth (12%)

Population (6%)

Urbanization/cities/slums (8%)

17

Oceans/marine resources (12%)

Employment (3%)

Population (7%)

18

Urbanization/cities/slums (8%)

Children and youth (3%)

Peace and security (7%)

19

Transportation (8%)

Peace and security (3%)

Children and youth (7%)

20

Governance (8%)

Transportation (3%)

Transportation (5%)

21

Social protection (8%)

Governance (3%)

Governance (5%)

22

Population (8%)

Social protection (0%)

Social protection (3%)

2. Balancing the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development One of the main expectations around the SDGs is that they can adequately address the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development. This multiple choice question asked missions how they think SDGs might balance the economic, social and environmental pillars, suggesting three alternatives and inviting to provide additional options if relevant. 

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

84% of the 61 UN country missions who responded this question (including the 27 EU countries) agree that the goals should ‘reflect the social, economic and environmental dimensions within each SDG’. This is closely followed by the expectation that this framework should ‘integrate the Millennium Development Goals framework post-2015’ (74% overall). This could express an agreement that SDGs should be a comprehensive framework that holistically approaches poverty eradication as well as environmental degradation/concerns (sustainable development). There is less consensus in the ‘expansion of MDG7 (environmental sustainability)’ (13% overall); which could suggest that SDGs are not seen as only related to environmental issues.

3. Expected key uses of SDGs for member states This question asked delegations about the expected use of an SDG framework for their country. Six proposed uses were suggested as well as the alternative to express other options. 





70% overall of the 61 country missions agreed that ‘helping to balance economic, social and environmental pillars in policy making’ is considered an important use of the SDGs; followed by the opinion (59% overall) that the SDG framework will help them to ‘review the impact of national policies’. In the developing countries group, 83% of Latin American and Caribbean missions expect that SDGs would allow them to ‘address key pressures leading to unsustainability’; 56% of Asian missions expect that SDGs would help in ‘guiding development cooperation’; whereas 60% of African missions and 50% of MENA country missions expect SDGs to help them balance ‘to balance economic, social and environmental pillars in policy making’ together with influencing national budget allocations. Overall, the developing countries rated using the SDGs in ‘helping balance the three dimensions of sustainable development in policy making’ and ‘influencing national budget allocations highest (86%).

4. Balancing universality and national context in an SDG Framework This open-ended question asked UN missions to provide suggestions on how a universal framework can be relevant for the different national contexts. As it is known, countries agreed on the Rio+20 outcome document that SDGs would be universal. The UN post-2015 Development Agenda process has also expressed that discussions on the new framework will aspire to a global commitment of both developed and developing countries. 





Despite the strong call for universality, the main expectation of country delegations is that SDGs should ‘have flexibility/accounting for regional/national contexts in terms of capacities and priorities/targets and indicators’ (75% overall). In contrast, Member States felt less strongly that the SDG should be ‘global/universal in scope’ (11% overall). However, it is important to note that these two options are not necessarily mutually exclusive given the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) which means that while the SDGs could apply to all countries, there could be different targets based on national contexts. See Question 5 below for further details on the CBDR principle. For country missions in the Latin American and Caribbean region, SDGs should also be ‘holistic and crosscutting in content and scope’ (probably another way to emphasise the integration of the sustainable development dimensions) (50%) The ‘involvement/engagement of stakeholders’ was also another characteristic that was mentioned by Latin America and the Caribbean (33%) and Asia missions (22%). This is considered important in order to build ownership and legitimacy at global level.

5. Universality and SDG targets This question is related to the previous one and enquires specifically on how targets can address universality and acknowledging at the same time country specificity. 

There are high levels of agreement amongst all Member States that SDG targets should be ‘common but differentiated depending on country characteristics and level of development’ (77% overall). For developing countries it is also important to pay attention to national capacities and their own development priorities (31%). In this regard, it would be important to generate national dialogue and ownership by national development actors so as to ensure ownership and effective implementation.

6. Existing goals and targets that can be incorporated into a proposal for sustainable development goals There are several international agreements and current discussions where key thematic areas have been proposed. Most of the respondents to this question addressed this issue with regards to thematic areas but did not specify targets. 





For the group of developed countries, the most important idea is the need to ‘improve the effectiveness (qualitative aspects) and the environmental aspects of existing targets and goals’ (89%). Alongside focusing on goals associated with ‘MDG1: eradicate poverty’ (77%) and MDG7: ‘ensuring environmental sustainability’ (77%). For developing countries, responses are more varied and built upon progress on the MDGs. For example, ‘MDG1: eradicate poverty’ came highest (31%), followed by previous environmentally related agreements such as ‘Agenda 21 and the Rio principles’ (27%). Overall, 61% of country missions agree that it is important to ‘improve the effectiveness (qualitative aspects) and the environmental aspects of existing targets and goals’; 57% think that MDG1: eradicate poverty’ (77%) and MDG7: ‘ensuring environmental sustainability’ (77%) can be incorporated into a proposal for Sustainable Development Goals. These answers seem to suggest that an SDG framework is already associated with different dimensions of sustainable development as expressed in previous answers.

7. Coherence and integration within the Post-2015 process The SDGs process has been agreed after the Post 2015 Development Agenda discussion was already in motion. This has triggered many questions as to how or if the two processes should converge. 



Overall, 54% considers that the ‘coordination of the advisory bodies and of the UN processes’Post-2015 and SDGs- could be one of the steps to be taken to ensure convergence; this is followed by the idea that ‘identifying the common elements of the major outcomes of the processes’ (44% overall) would also help this convergence. This trend is entirely driven by developed country participants, since developing countries did not include this particular option in their more diverse (and fragmented) responses. Developing countries express that a key enabler for the coherence and integration of the post2015 development agenda is ensuring that a ‘thorough, consultative and participatory process is in place’ (35%). This view is prominent in the responses of African (60%) and MENA (50%) missions.

8. How should assessments of progress toward the achievement of the SDGs be carried out at the global level? One of the most important expectations for a future global framework is that it should provide a tool to measure global and national progress in a harmonised and transparent way.  

  

Survey respondents have expressed some ideas on how this could be carried out, although no single approach is favoured. Furthermore, 11 missions (18%) did not answer this question. Overall, 56% of country missions who responded this question consider that having a ‘sound monitoring system’, for example, working with experts and ensuring mutual accountability is important to assess progress. This is strongly supported by developed countries (83%) and at some extent by MENA missions (33%). 19% of developing country respondents think that the ‘assessment of progress should be made at global, regional and national level’ and that ‘reporting should be overseen by a commission’ Asia countries responded that progress should be assessed by ‘consulting UN agencies for reporting mechanisms’ (44%). Africa responded that ‘a commission should oversee progress reporting’ (40%).

9. Stakeholder Participation in the SDG process The achievement of SDGs will need a concerted effort from governments and stakeholders at national and international level. In order to inform the agreement of priority areas, targets and indicators, as well as build ownership towards the implementation of the goals, the participation of stakeholders is a key aspect. 

The majority of survey respondents agree that a measure to make the SDG process participatory for civil society is by ‘organising international, regional and national consultations with stakeholders’ (66% overall). Ensuring transparency and accessibility of information through web platforms was the second most recurring proposal to strengthen stakeholder participation (59% overall).

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The above measures are also prominently highlighted by developed countries overall (83% and 80% respectively); the Latin American and Caribbean missions (83% and 50% respectively), and Asian missions (67% and 44% respectively).

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The MENA countries responded that ‘cooperate with civil society and strengthen dialogue’ would aid stakeholder engagement (67%).

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Cooperation with civil society (especially in the MENA region) and the reference to major groups was explicitly proposed by some countries, although, we could infer that their participation is integrated in the call for broad stakeholder participation.

10. Principles underpinning the development of the SDGs? The identification and definition of core principles is an essential starting point for deliberation and agreement on the thematic areas and processes that will define the SDGs framework. As the foundations which will underpin the framework, these normative principles must be ambitious and aspirational. 

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Overall, there are three principles that most survey respondents have identified: equity and equality (77% overall), environmental sustainability (72% overall), and human rights (69% overall). For developing countries, these three principles are followed in importance by peace and security (23%), and ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ and ‘existing principles, goals and targets’ (15%). In addition, for developed countries, similarly important are good/democratic governance (86%) and ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ (77%). This latter has been most clearly identified in previous questions as one of the key characteristics that an SDG framework should take into account.

11. A new Global Partnership for Development The delivery and implementation of SDGs will likely need the involvement of different sectors and development actors such as governments, civil society, private sector, and intergovernmental organisations. 



Many countries did not respond to this question, especially within the developed countries group. However, those who did answer propose that partnerships are ‘built on existing commitments/coventions/frameworks’: 20% overall and 35% of developing countries. Moreover, 50% of Latin American and Caribbean and 50% of MENA respondents also agree with this proposal. Respondents from Asia thought that a global partnership should be ‘built within the SDGs’ (33%); while MENA responded that SDGs should ‘focus on mechanisms for the transfer/sharing of knowledge/technology/skills/best practice’ (33%).

Conclusions Priorities for thematic areas SDGs should focus on for both developing and developed country respondents were: sustainable energy; food security; water and sanitation; gender equality; climate change; green economy; and biodiversity protection. It is important to note that the developing country inputs to this question were largely made up of the EU’s joint position on SDGs at Rio+20, meaning that the results for this grouping are very EU-heavy, whilst it is also difficult to ascertain where each individual EU country stands on the issue. Regarding the principles which should underpin the development of the SDGs, three in particular were of central importance to most respondents: equity and equality, environmental sustainability, and human rights. The vast majority of developed countries also saw good/democratic governance as a key principle. There was strong agreement from respondents that the SDGs should reflect the social, economic and environmental dimensions within each Goal, with the SDGs deemed very important to help countries balance these dimensions in national policy making and review the impact of these policies. There was also a strong majority for the SDGs framework being integrated with the Millennium Development Goals

framework post-2015. However there was less agreement on how this should be achieved, with over half of the respondents considering the coordination of the advisory bodies and of the UN processes on post-2015 and SDGs to be one desirable solution. Identifying the common elements of the major outcomes of the processes was another relatively popular choice, however this was only selected by developed countries. Most respondents stated that the universality issue should be addressed by the SDGs being flexible/ accounting for regional/national contexts in terms of capacities and priorities/targets and indicators, with the principle CBDR to be used to create different country targets based on national contexts. Ensuring environmental stability and eradication of poverty were the two most popular individual existing targets respondents though should be incorporated into a proposal for SDGs, further suggesting a desire for an integrated framework. Similarly, a similar number of participants believed that all existing targets and goals with improvement in their effectiveness and environmental aspects should be included post-2015. Regarding assessment of progress towards meeting SDGs, having a sound monitoring system, working with experts and ensuring mutual accountability, was strongly backed by develop countries but responses were far more mixed from the developing nations. Inclusivity and participation in the process of developing a proposal for SDGs was believed to be best achieved by ensuring access to information on the negotiations, as was holding international, regional and national consultations with stakeholders. Answers regarding how best to achieve a Global Partnership were in general mixed, however there was a trend for these efforts to build upon existing commitments, conventions and frameworks. It is important to reiterate that this questionnaire was only responded to by less than one third of UN Member States, making it difficult to gauge truly global trends in attitudes towards SDGs. In particular, the survey was not completed by any of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which collectively account for a large proportion of the global population and economy, meaning that they are likely to be important players in SDGs discussions.

COUNTRY

Algeria

Costa Rica

Lebanon x

Botswana

BruneiDarussalam Chad x

Colombia x

Comoros

Israel x

Japan x

Jordan x x

x

Ghana x x

Haiti x x

x

x

x x

x

x

Croatia

x

x x

x x

x x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Fiji

x x

x

x

x

x x x

x x x x

x x

x

x

x

x x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Iraq

x x

x

x x

x x x

x

x

x x

x

x

x x

x

Social protection

governance

Transportation

Oceans/marine resources

Children and youth

Peace and security

Population/ demography

Urbanization/cities /slums

Sustainable Consumption and Production

Desertification/soild or land degradation

Risk/disaster reduction

Employment

Health

Protection of biodiversity/

Green economy/Green growth/ macroeconomic

Climate change/carbon emissions

Education

Gender equality/Women

Water and Sanitation

Food security/nutrition/ agriculture

Poverty eradication/alleviation

Sustainable Energy/access to energy

ANNEX 1. PRIORITY AREAS FOR SURVEY RESPONDENTS

x

Australia

Bhutan

x

x

x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova

Switzerland

Syrian Arab Republic Thailand

UAE

Mongolia

Peru

Turkey

x x

x

x x

Montenegro x x

Nepal x x

Nicaragua x x

Norway x

Pakistan x x x

Panama x x x

x

x x

x x x

x x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x x

x x

x x

x

x

x

x x

x x

x x x

x x x x

x x x

x x

x

x x x

x x

x x x

x x x x x

x x x x

x x

x

x x

x x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x x

x

x x

x

x

x

x x x

x

x x

x

x

x x x

Social protection

governance

Transportation

Oceans/marine resources

Children and youth

Peace and security

Population/ demography

Urbanization/cities /slums

Sustainable Consumption and Production

Desertification/soild or land degradation

Risk/disaster reduction

x

Employment

Health

Protection of biodiversity/

Green economy/Green growth/ macroeconomic

Climate change/carbon emissions

Education

Gender equality/Women

Water and Sanitation

Food security/nutrition/ agriculture

Poverty eradication/alleviation

Sustainable Energy/access to energy

COUNTRY

ANNEX 2. EUROPEAN COMMISSION NON-PAPER RIO+20 FOR THE INFORMAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL 19 APRIL 2012 THEMATIC AREAS GOALS

TARGETS

Water

Target 1: By 2030 significantly improve access to safe drinking water and to basic sanitation, as necessary to protect human health and the environment, with the ultimate objective of achieving universal access.

Ensure universal access to drinking water and sanitation, and sustainable water use through integrated water resource management and increased resource efficiency.

Target 2: By 2030 significantly improve the implementation of integrated water resource management, with the aim to promote water resource allocation among competing uses in a resource efficient way that balances the satisfaction of basic human needs and the requirement of preserving ecosystems, their functions and the services they provide, while controlling pollution to achieve good water status. Target 3: By 2030 significantly improve water efficiency globally through the setting of targets and the development water efficiency plans, with the aim of significantly decreasing the number of river basins that are water stressed, according to the Water Exploitation Index Target 1: By 2020 marine ecosystems are healthy and resilient. Marine biodiversity is maintained, and habitats and species are protected and restored.

Oceans and Marine Environment

Goal: Ensure Healthy Oceans and Marine Environments by Target 2: By 2020 illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is eliminated. protecting and restoring the health of marine Target 3: By 2025 halve the levels of marine litter compared to 2012. ecosystems, and ensure sustainable economic activities, in particular by ensuring that all fish populations are maintained within safe biological limits, enabling their sustainable use for present and future generations.

Sustainable Land

Goal: Restore land and soil

Target 1: Arrive at zero net rate of land and soil degradation within internationally agreed timeframe.

Management and Ecosystems

Sustainable Energy

quality to good conditions and manage land and soil resources sustainably ensuring that food production can meet growing demand, and ensure that, in line with the CBD's Strategic Plan vision, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used and that ecosystem services are maintained. By 2030 to provide sustainable energy for all.

Target 2: Take effective and urgent action to halt the loss of biodiversity in order to ensure that by 2020 ecosystems are resilient and continue to provide essential services, thereby securing the planet's variety of life, and contributing to human well-being, and poverty eradication. Target 3: By 2020, increase public and private investment in sustainable agriculture and agri-food chains and ensure that sustainable agriculture and agro-forestry systems are fully integrated in national agriculture policies, in poverty-reduction strategies, in research and innovation planning, and in investment decisions. Target 4: As agriculture is a main contributor of achieving food security in the long term, by 2030 achieve an increase of global agricultural productivity, based on sustainable agriculture, with specific targets at regional level. Target 5: By 2020, achieve an increase of access of smallholder farmers, especially women in rural areas to agricultural credits, training, capacity building, knowledge transfer and innovative practices. Three interlinked Global Targets to be met by 2030: Target 1: Achieve universal access to modern energy services. Target 2: Double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

Resource Efficiency, in particular waste

Ensure the sustainable management of all resources over their lifecycle and eventually reach absolute decoupling of growth from resource use.

Target 3: Double the share of Renewable Energy sources in the global energy mix. Target 1: Significantly improve resource productivity, measured by the ratio of GDP to Domestic Material Consumption or other internationally agreed relevant indicators Target 2: Increase prevention, reuse, recycling and energy recovery from waste, elimination of landfill and a decline of the amount of waste generated per capita, so that by 2030 the majority of waste globally is managed as a resource. By 2030 the level of landfilling should be significantly reduced. Target 3: By 2030 halve the amounts of edible food waste31 Target 4: By 2020 ensure the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle, so that chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimisation of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment. (Follows from the JPOI target, chapter III, 23).