Conference Primer - Sustainable Development Goals: 2025

The General Assembly on Wednesday elected a new slate of members to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the principal body responsible for coordinating the Organization’s work on sustainable development and economic issues.

- The report stresses the need to defend multilateral institutions and the international legal order amid divisive politics and mistrust among major powers.
- It demonstrates how efforts to deliver on the Pact and the “promise” of UNFCCC COP 30, such as the UN Secretary-General’s UN80 Initiative to modernize the UN’s structure, priorities, and operations, “provide both a positive narrative and a practical focus on near-term potential global governance breakthroughs”.
- The report outlines a multistakeholder governance approach to implementing the Pact for the Future by facilitating coordination and responsibility, maintaining the Pact’s integrity, and overcoming financing and other implementation barriers.

- Guterres drew attention to the UN80 ongoing review of: efficiencies and improvements to current arrangements in the UN; the implementation of mandates from Member States; and structural changes and programme realignment.
- Reporting on efforts undertaken and the work ahead in implementing the Pact for the Future, the Secretary-General noted the establishment of a principal-level steering committee overseeing six working groups that focus on action and reforms in: SDG acceleration; peace and security; international financial architecture; digital technologies; UN governance; and youth.
- He also highlighted the creation of task teams on future generations and on the need to go beyond GDP as a measure of progress, and efforts towards establishing an internal tracking system to monitor progress on the Pact’s implementation.

- Among the key elements highlighted during the dialogue, the letter identifies the need to strengthen national leadership and ownership of the Pact, to help advance the development of national implementation roadmaps with clear objectives, timelines, institutional responsibilities, and indicators.
- The perspectives shared during the dialogue will help ensure that the Pact serves as “a catalyst for long-term systemic change rather than… a short-term commitment”.

- The 64-page outcome document of the 2024 Summit of the Future pledges “a new beginning to multilateralism” and recognizes sustainable development as its central objective.
- The Pact for the Future formulates 56 commitments in the areas of: sustainable development and financing for development; international peace and security; science, technology, and innovation and digital cooperation; youth and future generations; and transforming global governance.
- This Policy Brief traces the Pact’s origins, reflects on the global commitments it articulates, and discusses efforts to advance their implementation.

UN Member States met on Wednesday for the first of three key meetings to advance a global agreement that pledges concrete actions to achieve a safer, more peaceful, sustainable and inclusive world for generations to come.

“If we want to end irregular migration, development solutions are at the heart of it,” she told UN News on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, underway in Sevilla, Spain.

While almost 92% of the world’s population now has basic access to electricity – an improvement since 2022 – over 666 million people remain without access, and the world is off track to reach universal access by 2030, according to the Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2025 released on Wednesday.

- 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.

- The ten-page document outlines a vision for the future and an assessment of progress and gaps in the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action and the social dimension of sustainable development.
- It recommits to core principles of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the outcomes of the 2023 SDG Summit and the 2024 Summit of the Future.

- Reducing inequalities and achieving just transitions for all in progressing towards SCP, including a circular economy, is central to leaving no one behind.
- The co-benefits of sustainable consumption and production and a circular economy must be further explained, shared, and integrated into decision making and global, regional, and national policy processes.
- Member States are encouraged to seize the momentum in closing the gap on SDG target 12.1, reporting ahead of the conclusion of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

- In its messages to the Forum, the NGOs Major Group calls for “bold and inclusive action… now… to protect nature and ensure that no one is left behind, even with funding constrained”.
- The Civil Society FfD Mechanism recommends expanding the fiscal and policy space of countries in the global South to enable their right to development through systemic reforms of the global financial architecture.
-Several submissions draw on the Pact for the Future and highlight the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit for Social Development as opportunities to advance action.

- Since 2016, the Secretariat has prepared a synthesis of voluntary submissions by functional commissions of the ECOSOC and other intergovernmental bodies and forums for thematic reviews of progress on the SDGs conducted by the HLPF.
- “In the light of the liquidity situation affecting the regular budget of the United Nations and the related management measures implemented by the Secretary-General, the synthesis of submissions is being discontinued”.
- Instead, the 75 submissions received in advance of HLPF 2025 can be accessed through the HLPF website.

- The third informal consultation will be held on 5 May to hear views from delegations on the zero draft Ministerial Declaration.
- The draft outcome document is expected to be made available 13 May.
- Closed consultations will continue in May and June with a view to placing the draft ministerial declaration under the silence procedure before the end of the month.

- In preparation for the review, DESA, with UN partners, organized EGMs on SDGs 3, 5, and 8, convening stakeholders from academia, civil society, international organizations, youth, and the private sector.
- The meetings assessed progress to date, highlighted challenges and opportunities for accelerating achievements, and presented innovative solutions for advancing interlinked progress across these and other SDGs.

- The co-facilitators looked forward to engaging with delegations and major groups and other stakeholders “to achieve a concise, focused, action-oriented, and forward-looking Declaration, outlining priority areas for accelerated actions”.
- Their vision for the Declaration is to build on collective accomplishments, particularly “the consensus on the 2030 Agenda reaffirmed at the Summit of the Future”.
- The Declaration would also reiterate the HLPF’s central role in overseeing the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and its contribution to sharing knowledge and creating synergies to achieve the SDGs.

Nations taking part in a flagship UN conference have pledged to address the debt crisis in the Global South and boost sustainable development. However, the real test will be whether or not these commitments will be translated into action.

Visitors to Expo 2025, a world fair currently being held in Osaka, Japan, appreciate the “positive vison” of a shared global future promoted by the United Nations; that’s according to Naomi Ichikawa, Director of the UN Pavilion.

Le Conseil fédéral veut renforcer la Genève internationale. Il souhaite lui allouer 269 millions de francs pour la période 2026-2029. Le Parlement devra donner son aval.

An ideological battle is afoot to purge the United Nations of its progressive language and policies on gender, diversity and climate change. The United States is leading it, though with limited success.

The United Nations Office in Geneva has been instructed to consider relocating jobs to lower-cost countries as part of a major cost-cutting drive from UN headquarters in New York. The revelation comes as UN staff unions, dismayed by a flurry of layoff announcements, prepare to demonstrate on 1 May.

The United Nations Office in Geneva has been instructed to consider relocating jobs to lower-cost countries as part of a major cost-cutting drive from UN headquarters in New York. The revelation comes as UN staff unions, dismayed by a flurry of layoff announcements, prepare to demonstrate on 1 May.

As the United States reviews its support to all international organisations, its assessed contributions to the world body could also soon become a target.
Donald Trump’s foreign aid cuts have decimated the United Nations’ coffers. Voluntary contributions for specific programmes – from the International Organization for Migration, to UNAids, to the World Health Organization – have been drastically scaled back or wiped out altogether. But still looming is an ongoing review of all United States-funded international organisations, with UN officials on tenterhooks over what other financial support – including its as-yet untouched assessed contributions – could be heading to the chopping block. Geneva Solutions spoke to UN insiders and experts to look into some possible scenarios.

- Multilateralism needs to remain front and center, responding to structural shifts and global shocks with pragmatism, innovation, and ambition.
- The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit on Social Development are opportunities to advance on multilateral solutions to enable sustainable development in a complex global context.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has proposed gutting the State Department’s budget by almost 50%, closing a number of overseas diplomatic missions, and eliminating funding for nearly all international organizations, including the United Nations, many of its agencies and for NATO headquarters, officials said.

« Je suis ici aujourd’hui pour délivrer un message simple et direct : Le multilatéralisme est important. Mais il est attaqué comme jamais auparavant. Nous pouvons et devons surmonter cette menace ensemble. Le moment est venu », a déclaré António Guterres à Louvain, en Belgique.
L'ONU a reçu le 21 mars un doctorat honoris causa décerné par l'Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) et KU Leuven.

Geneva-based international organisations and NGOs were startled by an odd questionnaire sent out by the United States, revealing a troubling misunderstanding of how the multilateral system works.

The world must reinforce multilateral action to tackle global threats, such as climate change and inequality.

Of the 700 million people worldwide living in extreme poverty, 40 per cent live in conflict-affected or fragile settings and this is on track to worsen, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.

The power of football to inspire fans to take positive action for a healthier planet and a fairer society is taking centre stage at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan – a world fair focused on building a sustainable global future.

- Convening under the theme, ‘Unleashing Synergies Towards an Equitable, Climate-resilient, and Sustainable Future,’ the two-day Conference sought to feed into the upcoming third round of NDCs under the Paris Agreement on climate change.
- Participants also emphasized the need to link with work at the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, which is expected to address the financing gaps for the SDGs, climate change, and biodiversity.

- At the Forum, ESCAP, the Asian Development Bank, and the UN Development Programme launched the 2025 Asia-Pacific SDG Partnership Report, which highlights the need for a just transition by advancing decent work, gender equality, and social protection.
- The report describes more than 50 examples of scalable and adaptable solutions and good practices implemented across the region.
- Asia-Pacific youth communicated to the APFSD a call to action, offering situational analysis and recommendations on each of the five SDGs under review in 2025.

Helping those with less isn’t charity – it’s a shared investment in a better future. Yet global development financing is under strain. An upcoming UN conference in Sevilla, Spain, aims to change that by mobilizing large-scale investment for a more just and sustainable world.

- It is time to rethink the role of greening education in our approach to the global climate crisis.
- To overcome humanity’s greatest challenge, we must begin in the most critical place where knowledge is cultivated: the classroom.
- Greening education must go from a “nice to have” in school curricula to a “must have,” to ensure our very survival.

- According to the Beijing+30 Political Declaration, efforts to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- At a high-level event, held in the margins of CSW69, the UN launched an action agenda to accelerate progress on women’s rights.
- The ‘Beijing+30 Action Agenda’ aims to ensure that all women and girls benefit from a digital revolution, are free from poverty and violence, enjoy full and equal decision-making power, live in peace and security, and have access to climate justice.

- The Trump administration’s decision to abandon DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion— which was aimed at promoting fair treatment in the work place, is having its repercussions at the United Nations.
- The US has been exerting pressure on UN agencies to drop DEI largely protecting minority groups, and women in particular, who have been historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination.

“The poison of patriarchy is back and is back with a vengeance,” United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres told the opening of the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN in New York on Monday.

- This issue of the ‘Beyond GDP’ update series focuses on recent publications that question the relevance of GDP as a measure of progress, highlighting its limitations in addressing well-being, gender issues, unpaid work, inequality, extreme poverty, human rights, and aspects of environmental sustainability, such as ecological footprint and material flows.
- Some papers discussed emphasize the importance of capturing institutional capacity, quality, and governance approaches in beyond GDP efforts.
- We also note a call to integrate beyond GDP approaches and new development measurements into global agreements and processes, such as the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and HLPF 2025, as well as to feature such approaches as key issues for discussion during South Africa’s G20 presidency.

- The Kampala Declaration outlines regional priorities with respect to: poverty eradication; leaving no one behind; good health and well-being; gender equality; decent work for all and inclusive economic growth; transitions to inclusive and just blue and green economies; and sustainable funding and partnerships.
- Among other measures, the Declaration calls for innovative financing mechanisms, such as carbon finance, green and blue bonds, debt swaps for sustainable development, risk insurance, and climate-resilient debt clauses.

Young people from across the globe are meeting at UN Headquarters this week to share their recommendations to transform the world into a fairer, greener and more sustainable place.

The Regional Forum’s discussions drew from recent and upcoming intergovernmental summits, including the 2024 Summit of the Future, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in June 2025, and the Second World Summit for Social Development in November 2025.
Participants underscored the need for solutions and partnerships to be significantly scaled up to strengthen SDG progress, identifying entry points at many levels.

- The dialogues on global action included discussions around global commitments that are expected to arise from the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, the Second World Summit for Social Development, and the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference.
- The dialogues on regional action reviewed LAC’s implementation of the Goals undergoing in-depth review at HLPF 2025.
- The dialogues on national action shared successful national experiences with accelerating the attainment of the SDGs and good practices and challenges in preparing VNRs.

Policymakers, researchers, the private sector and other stakeholders are meeting in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, over the next three days to chart a path toward sustainable development and resilience for the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

- On the sidelines of the Forum, ministers from Africa, Asia, LAC, and the Pacific released a global communiqué, aiming to accelerate a just and inclusive energy transition while leveraging multilateral and bilateral development finance to advance actions that are aligned with national developmental goals and shared global commitments.
- SIDS ministers launched a call to action to, inter alia, strengthen energy transition and climate commitments and mobilize transformative climate finance at scale.

Ministers from 40 countries met on Wednesday at the first major climate forum of 2025 to discuss progress in renewable energy generation and the rising toll of inaction over rising temperatures.

Under the theme of “Sustainable Energy for Equity, Security and Prosperity”, this year’s Forum will focus on catalysing the actions and investment needed for countries to achieve their energy access, climate and development goals.

Nations taking part in a flagship UN conference have pledged to address the debt crisis in the Global South and boost sustainable development. However, the real test will be whether or not these commitments will be translated into action.

A senior UN official has told UN News that the global development challenge is not lack of money, but how to align public and private capital flows. The Sevilla Agreement adopted this week, sets out a roadmap for all UN Member States — except the US which pulled out earlier this month — with the aim of mobilizing that capital.

A new mechanism offering debt-distressed countries a way to coordinate action and amplify their voice in the global financial system, has been launched at the UN’s pivotal sustainable development conference in Sevilla.

Spain and Brazil have launched a joint initiative to promote higher tax contributions from the super-rich worldwide, aimed at tackling soaring inequality by ensuring those with the most pay their fair share.

Many of the world’s nations, but not the United States, gathered on Monday in Spain to tackle the growing gap between rich and poor nations.

Now the big promises have been formally adopted in the Spanish city of Sevilla to turbocharge financing for sustainable development, how are the ambitious goals going to be met – and how quickly?

From rising debt and shrinking investment, to the aid funding crisis and struggles to meet ambitious development goals, the global financial system is failing the people it's supposed to serve: fixing that is the challenge facing world leaders gathered in Spain's sweltering southern jewel of Sevilla this week, as the UN's 4th International Conference on Financing for Development gets underway.

“We’re here in Sevilla to change course,” the UN chief told world leaders on Monday, calling on them to grasp a once-in-a-decade opportunity to close a $4 trillion financing gap facing developing countries to meet sustainable development goals – and build a better world for all.

Funding cuts to international development have cast a pall over a major UN-led international conference set to address the huge challenges faced by countries in the Global South. Despite this sobering backdrop, Eva Granados, Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, insists that global solidarity is still alive, despite indications to the contrary.

It’s been 10 years since the Addis Ababa Action Agenda was established to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world’s roadmap for ending poverty, protecting the planet and tackling inequalities.

According to the United Nations, the world needs an extra $4 trillion every year to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges – ending poverty and hunger, fighting climate change, and reducing inequality.

UN Member States have reached agreement on the outcome document for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to be formally adopted at an upcoming summit in Sevilla, Spain – though without the participation of the United States, which withdrew from the negotiations and announced it will not attend the conference.

The Trump administration's withdrawal sets the stage for the broader U.N. membership to approve a declaration for formal adoption in Spain.

American negotiators proposed hundreds of amendments aimed at reversing prior commitments to achieving U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development approaches, Seville could define the next decade of development finance — with critical debates on debt, tax, trade, and aid on the table.

Facing a staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap for development and mounting trade wars, top UN officials on Monday called for urgent action to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals and revive international cooperation.

Fossil fuel subsidies undermine domestic resource mobilization goals and holds back the transition to clean energy. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in July 2025 presents a huge opportunity to redirect this money for the benefit of people and the planet.

At a meeting of FAO’s council in Rome, the United States laid out its vision for an agency aligned with U.S. interests — meaning no diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives or climate change work.

- To enhance transparency and accountability, a dedicated digital space on the FfD4 website will host all initiatives.
- The Sevilla Platform for Action and its initiatives will become part of the follow-up process, with progress tracked through a dedicated mechanism.
- The Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development will report on implementation of major initiatives, with future editions of the FfD Forum also looking at progress.

The United States is seeking to weaken a global deal aimed at helping developing countries struggling with the impacts of climate change and other issues, an internal United Nations document seen by Reuters showed.

Countries should consider looking beyond Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, as the key measure of economic growth to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN policymakers have suggested.

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in July 2025 is an opportunity to redefine the role of trade policy frameworks in supporting sustainable and inclusive development.

- Much of the current investment comes from public financing, official development assistance, and philanthropy.
- They are important in their conventional forms, but they can also be merged creatively to generate more impact as we embrace new, innovative approaches.
- We need to focus on those who care directly for the environment, such as Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

PrepCom 3 is set to expand on discussions on a draft of the outcome document of the upcoming Fourth Financing for Development Conference.

A decade after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), development is facing serious headwinds – including what UN officials describe as a “silent crisis” of surging debt service payments in low-income countries.

The FAO report analyzed 2,570 fisheries stocks, and found SDG 14 “Life Below Water” is one of the most underfunded of the U.N.’s goals.

The 2025 Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region (Geneva, 2-3 April 2025) emphasized a wealth of solutions for sustainable development and the need for collaboration to scale them up.
The ECOSOC President, Ambassador Bob Rae, said that global solidarity and multilateralism are currently being tested, but that it is no time to be turning away from the obligations to each other and to a better and a stronger global order.

- To make international development cooperation “fit for purpose in today’s context,” the report calls for rationalizing national-level architectures by supporting developing country efforts to strengthen country-owned and country-led coordination platforms, bringing together all partners, and by enhancing the use of country systems and results frameworks.
- It also recommends supporting regional platforms and approaches by strengthening regional knowledge sharing and cooperation and improving coordination of regional development banks with other actors.

Parmi les nombreuses menaces qui entravent le développement durable, celle des armes légères et de petit calibre est souvent reléguée au second plan. Pourtant ces instruments de mort, qui circulent abondamment dans les zones de conflit et bien au-delà, façonnent le paysage de la violence au quotidien, ce frein majeur à l'essor économique et social.

- The Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs – the first global declaration focused specifically on AI in development – outlines shared principles and commitments to promote the equitable, inclusive, and sustainable development through worldwide deployment of AI, with an emphasis on empowering developing countries.
- To deliver on the Declaration’s priorities, the signatories take on a set of voluntary commitments to deliver for people, the planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships.

Launched at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, the Arab Region SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2025 offers a comprehensive evaluation of the SDG progress of the region. The report includes a unique set of indicators specially tailored to regional priorities and features a special chapter offering data-driven insights, examining resilience in the Arab region from a sustainable development lens.

- Amid “cascading crises,” the report underscores resilience building through regional and global partnerships as an imperative, emphasizing the urgent need for societies, economies, and ecosystems to adapt and maintain momentum towards achieving the SDGs.
- The resource aims to provide a data-driven practical tool for governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders to measure progress on the SDGs, highlight implementation challenges, and identify data gaps, providing a strong foundation for effective decision making and action.