On 18-19 September 2023, world leaders will gather at the SDG Summit in New York for the mid-point review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the implementation of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Summit is expected to adopt a political declaration that will provide a road map for putting the world back on track to achieve the SDGs by their 2030 deadline. The Summit will be informed by the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report prepared by an independent group of scientists and the 2023 Special Edition of the SDG Progress Report by the Secretary-General. More information about the 2023 SDG Summit is available on the website at: hlpf.un.org/sdg-summit.
SDG Summit programme
In his letter of 17 July, the President of the General Assembly shared with Member States the programme of the SDG Summit.
The opening of the Summit will feature statements by the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The political declaration will be adopted during the opening.
Immediately following the opening, a setting-the-stage segment will take place with the participation of stakeholders, including the SDG Advocates, Independent Group of Scientists for the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), international financial institutions, as well as youth, civil society and private sector representatives. This segment will highlight what has been achieved, where we are lagging behind and what needs to be done to restore credibility to the promise of a sustainable transformation.
The opening will be followed by a short plenary segment for group statements to hear the actions and commitments delivered on behalf of groups of States.
Following the plenary, six Leaders' Dialogues will be held to allow Heads of State and Government to set out concrete national commitments to SDG transformation. Each Leaders' Dialogue will be co-moderated by two States at the level of Head of State and Government. Participating States will intervene on the specific theme of the Leaders' Dialogue to share their concrete new commitments in the field of sustainability.
The dialogues will also feature interventions from selected representatives of the UN system, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia. Commitments and recommendations will be summarized and reported back during the closing segment.
Information about how to participate in the SDG Summit will be made available on the website shortly. Please note that participation will be limited due to heightened security arrangements that will be in place during the high-level week of the General Assembly.
Negotiations on the SDG Summit political declaration
The process for the SDG Summit political declaration continues. The negotiations entered a near-final phase when the Co-Facilitators (the Permanent Representatives of Ireland and Qatar) circulated the draft declaration to delegations on 21 July, and the President of the General Assembly, in his cover letter, requested Member States to consider this final draft document with a focus on reaching compromise and consensus.
The text stresses that the achievement of the SDGs is in peril and commits to bold, ambitious, accelerated, just and transformative actions. The text is substantially longer than the 2019 declaration, with a comprehensive Call to Action section of six pages. It expresses deep concern by the marked increase of the estimated SDG financing gap and breaks new ground in the prominence given to financing issues. Also new is a reference to realizing the benefits and addressing the challenges of artificial intelligence. In addition, the document commits to fully support the UN development system and looks forward to the Summit of the Future in 2024 and to the proposed world social summit in 2025.
The informal consultations, which began with an opening meeting in February, concluded with closed meetings on 5 and 7 July. The consultations took place over eight meetings, with the participation of civil society during the open meetings, thus building on the precedent from the process for the 2019 political declaration. Member States and the Co-Facilitators had before them the special edition of the SDG Progress Report, the GSDR, a compilation of inputs from the ECOSOC subsidiary bodies and UN entities, and views compiled from the major groups and other stakeholders.
The Co-Facilitators intend to consult further with Member States towards the end of August on the few sensitive area remaining, with a view to resolving all outstanding issues.