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Felix Dodds vey dra paper
Paper 1: Suggestions for how to approach SDG targets that fall between 2020
and 2025
Introduction
To many people the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets are focused on
2030 as the completion date. For 23 targets that is not the date of completion. For
twenty it is 2020 and for the remaining three it is 2025.
The agreement to the SDGs and their targets was a long. It also aimed to recognize
and honor other processes that were either happening:
parallel to the SDG negotiations such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015-2030;
or had already happen such as the setting of the Biodiversity targets by the
CBD or the SAICM target set at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD).
This brings into question should something be done to updatethe targets for these 23
to bring them in line with the 2030 timeline or not?
One of the important developments that will frame this conversation is that the
indicators that have been developed for these targets will give Member States real
information on progress towards the targets and baseline data for any discussion on
developing new targets. This wasn’t the case when the SDGs were agreed to.
This paper looks at a number of suggestions which Member States might be interested
in considering.
In the production of this paper I consulted the relevant UN Agencies and Programmes
and a number of Member States on their thinking on what to do with the targets.
Many of the targets that will fall in 2020 and 2025 are tier 2 or tier 3 indicators. The
review of indicators will happen in 2020. The next World Data Forum is in 2018 in
Abu Dhabi.
So, what to do?
Member States could request an update on the 2020 and 2025 targets and if they
are likely to be reached.
On the broad overview there are five suggestions that Member States may want to
consider.
1.
That no new targets will be added to the SDGs to update those that have fallen.
2.
That no new targets will be added to the SDGs to update those that have fallen
but there will be continued reporting on the target and indicators.
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3.
That any updated targets that are agreed through whatever process has to be
endorsed by the UN General Assembly through tis Committee Structure.
4.
That any updated targets agreed by the relevant UN body substitutes the old
target without going through renegotiation in the UNGA. Where there is no
UN body that can address that target then it is done through the UN General
Assembly.
5.
The SDG Open Working Group is reconvened.
The discussion at the Friends of Governance meeting on 3
rd
of November 2017
focused on options 2,3,4 or combinations of them as the most interesting.
This paper will look at each of the options the pros and cons. The paper will not make
a recommendation but hope that the discussion helps Member State and others to
think through early enough what is the best path forward.
For the benefit of this paper I am going to group targets into those where it is possible
for a UN body to set replacement targets and those that do not have that possibility.
The full list of the targets that will fall between 2020-2025 as the appear in the SDGs
is in Annex 1 under the relevant Goal
To start with this table will collect what I understand in the present thinking under
each of the targets. This I am sure will change as the paper acts as a primer for
discussion.
Goal Target Process already
planned
Suggestion
Goal 2. End hunger,
achieve food
security and
improved nutrition
and promote
sustainable
agriculture
2.1 By 2020, maintain the genetic
diversity of seeds, cultivated plants
and farmed and domesticated animals
and their related wild species,
including through soundly managed
and diversified seed and plant banks at
the national, regional and international
levels, and promote access to and fair
and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the utilization of genetic
resources and associated traditional
knowledge, as internationally agreed.
Nothing planned
2.2 By 2030, end all forms of
malnutrition, including achieving, by
2025, the internationally agreed targets
on stunting and wasting in children
under 5 years of age, and address the
nutritional needs of adolescent girls,
pregnant and lactating women and
older persons
Nothing planned
Goal 3. Ensure 3.6 By 2020, halve the number of Nothing planned
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healthy lives and
promote well- being
for all at all
global deaths and injuries from road
traffic accidents
Goal 4. Ensure
inclusive and
equitable quality
education and
promote lifelong
learning
opportunities for all
4.a By 2020, substantially expand
globally the number of scholarships
available to developing countries, in
particular least developed countries,
small island developing States and
African countries, for enrolment in
higher education, including vocational
training and information and
communications technology,
technical, engineering and scientific
programmes, in developed countries
and other developing countries.
Nothing planned
Goal 6. Ensure
availability and
sustainable
management of
water and sanitation
for all
6.6 By 2020, protect and restore
water related ecosystems, including
mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers,
aquifers and lakes
CBD COP?
Goal 8. Promote
sustained, inclusive
and sustainable
economic growth,
full and productive
employment and
decent work for all
8.1.A By 2020, substantially reduce
the proportion of youth not in
employment, education or training
Nothing planned
8.7 Take immediate and effective
measures to eradicate forced labour,
end modern slavery and human
trafficking and secure the prohibition
and elimination of the worst forms of
child labour, including recruitment and
use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end
child labour in all its forms
Nothing -planned
8.b By 2020, develop and
operationalize a global strategy for
youth employment and implement the
Global Jobs Pact of the International
Labour Organization
Nothing planned
Goal 9. Build
resilient
infrastructure,
promote inclusive
and sustainable
industrialization and
foster innovation
9.c Significantly increase access
to information and communications
technology and strive to provide
universal and affordable access to the
Internet in least developed countries
by 2020
Nothing planned
Goal 11. Make cities
and human
settlements
inclusive, safe,
resilient and
sustainable
11.a By 2020, substantially increase
the number of cities and human
settlements adopting and
implementing integrated policies and
plans towards inclusion, resource
efficiency, mitigation and adaptation
to climate change, resilience to
Nothing planned
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disasters, and develop and implement,
in line with the Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030,
holistic disaster risk management at all
levels
Goal 12. Ensure
sustainable
consumption and
production patterns
12.4 By 2020, achieve the
environmentally sound management of
chemicals and all wastes throughout
their life cycle, in accordance with
agreed international frameworks, and
significantly reduce their release to air,
water and soil in order to minimize
their adverse impacts on human health
and the environment
SAICM
Conference in
2020
SAICM Conference 2020
Goal 13.
Take urgent
action to
combat
climate
change and
its impacts
13 a. Implement the commitment
undertaken by developed country
parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly
$100 billion annually by 2020 from all
sources to address the needs of
developing countries in the context of
meaningful mitigation actions and
transparency on implementation and
fully operationalize the Green Climate
Fund through its capitalization as soon
as possible
UNFCCC Paris
text 53. Oceans
Conference is
2020?
UNFCCC have a target
Goal 14. Conserve
and sustainably use
the oceans, seas and
marine resources for
sustainable
development
14.1 By 2025, prevent and
significantly reduce marine pollution
of all kinds, in particular from land-
based activities, including marine
debris and nutrient pollution
CDB 8 CBD COP?
14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage
and protect marine and coastal
ecosystems to avoid significant
adverse impacts, including by
strengthening their resilience, and take
action for their restoration in order to
achieve healthy and productive oceans
Combined
elements from
CBD 6,11,15
CBD COP?
14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate
harvesting and end overfishing, illegal,
unreported and unregulated fishing
and destructive fishing practices and
implement science-based management
plans, in order to restore fish stocks in
the shortest time feasible, at least to
levels that can produce maximum
sustainable yield as determined by
their biological characteristics
Elements from
CBD
2,3,4,6,7,12,19
CBD COP?
14.5 By 2020, conserve at least 10
per cent of coastal and marine areas,
consistent with national and
international law and based on the best
available scientific information
Elements from
CBD 5,11
CBD COP?
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14.6 By 2020, prohibit certain
forms of fisheries subsidies which
contribute to overcapacity and
overfishing, eliminate subsidies that
contribute to illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing and refrain from
introducing new such subsidies,
recognizing that appropriate and
effective special and differential
treatment for developing and least
developed countries should be an
integral part of the World Trade
Organization fisheries subsidies
negotiation
Elements from
CBD 3,4
CBD COP?
Goal 15. Protect,
restore and promote
sustainable use of
terrestrial
ecosystems,
sustainably manage
forests, combat
desertification, and
halt and reverse land
degradation and halt
biodiversity loss
15.1 By 2020, ensure the
conservation, restoration and
sustainable use of terrestrial and inland
freshwater ecosystems and their
services, in particular forests,
wetlands, mountains and drylands, in
line with obligations under
international agreements
Elements from
CBD
4,5,7,11,14,15
CBD COP?
15.2 By 2020, promote the
implementation of sustainable
management of all types of forests,
halt deforestation, restore degraded
forests and substantially increase
afforestation and reforestation globally
Elements from
CBT 4,5,7,14,15
CBD COP?
15.3 Take urgent and significant
action to reduce the degradation of
natural habitats, halt the loss of
biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and
prevent the extinction of threatened
species
Elements CBD
Target 4,5,15
CBD COP?
15.4 By 2020, introduce measures
to prevent the introduction and
significantly reduce the impact of
invasive alien species on land and
water ecosystems and control or
eradicate the priority species
Elements from
CBD 11,14,15
CBD COP?
15.5 By 2020, integrate ecosystem
and biodiversity values into national
and local planning, development
processes, poverty reduction strategies
and accounts
Elements CBD
5,12
CBD COP?
Goal 17. Strengthen
the means of
implementation and
revitalize the Global
Partnership for
Sustainable
Development
17.18 By 2020, enhance capacity
building support to developing
countries, including for least
developed countries and small island
developing States, to increase
significantly the availability of high-
quality, timely and reliable data
Nothing planned
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developed countries
and small island
developing States, to
increase
significantly the
availability of high-
quality, timely and
reliable data
disaggregated by
income, gender, age,
race, ethnicity,
migratory status,
disability,
geographic location
and other
characteristics
relevant in national
contexts
disaggregated by income, gender, age,
race, ethnicity, migratory status,
disability, geographic location and
other characteristics relevant in
national contexts
Overall what are the Options that Member States might consider?
Option 1: That no updates targets will be added to the SDGs to replace those that have fallen.
Pros Cons
The agreement on the SDGs and their targets
was one that had balanced the interests of all
member states and reopening this could cause
that balance to be fractured
Some of the targets will be updates by other
forums and so then there will be refection of
progress reported to the HLPF in line with the
new target. This will be particularly relevant
to the CBD and SAICM targets
Option 2: That no updated targets will be added to the SDGs to replace those that have fallen but
there will be continued reporting on the target and indicators.
Pros Cons
The agreement on the SDGs and their targets
was one that had balanced the interests of all
member states and reopening this could cause
that balance to be fractured. It also allows
reporting on the targets even if other forums
have changed them
These updated targets will not have been
absorbed into the SDG targets and so it
creates two classes of targets. In particular
this is true for the CBD and SAICM targets. It
may impact on the level of commitment to the
new targets if they are not absorbed into the
SDGs
Option 3: That any updated target that are agreed through whatever process has to be endorsed
by the UN General Assembly through its Committee Structure.
Pros Cons
This option recognizes that the UNGA had
agreed the SDGs and their targets so is the
This could see the whole agreement reopen
unless member states agree to recognize the
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only ‘official body’ that can update them. agreements made in other forums. This still
doesn’t address the targets that do not have
other forums to set new targets. In these
cases, option 2 could continue
Option 4: That any updated target agreed by the relevant UN body substitutes the old target
without going through renegotiation in the UNGA. Where there is no UN body that can address
that target then it is done through the UN General Assembly.
Pros Cons
This would address all of the targets that are
going to finish in 2020 and 2025
This would open up the SDG targets
negotiations to Committee 2 of the UNGA to
address those that have no plans to be
replaced and this could be a very difficult
negotiation
Option 5: The SDG Open Working Group is reconvened.
Pros Cons
As the UNGA process to set the SDGs and
their targets was the SDG OWG then perhaps
this is the body that should be reconvened. It
would still have to report to the UNGA for
overall approval but would be a smaller group
negotiating. It would also like the original
OWG be a group that wasn’t the usual
negotiating groups of the UNGA
Nearly all the original negotiators have
moved on as has one of the co-chairs.
Whatever positive relationships that were
built and achieved the SDGs and their targets
would need to be rebuilt. This might not be
possible or desirable.
Some thoughts for consideration
If Member States are considering options 3 or 4 then I have some suggestions how that might be
undertaken. In all cases these would be by an intergovernmental process.
Goal 2: Updating could be done by FAO Conference 2019 or 2021
Goal 3: Updating could be done by WHO World Health Assembly
Goal 4: Updating could be done by UNESCO Governing Conference 2019 or 2021
Goal 6: Updating this could be undertaken by the CBD COP.
Goal 8: Updating targets could be addressed through the ILO Executive Body
Goal 9: This is on communication and internet the process under the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) is generally on a ten-year cycle so would not be meeting again until
2025 or 2026. This target could be addressed by the Inter Agency Expert Group on the SDGs and
agreed through the Statistical Commission. The present target is for 2020.
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Goal 11: This target is a Sendai target the next World Conference on Disaster Relief is probably
not happening until 2025. The present targets is in 2020
Goal 12: The easiest target that can be updated is the SAICEM target as there is a process that is
already underway to address that in 2020. The original target is one from WSSD in 2002 and
which was absorbed into the SDGs.
Goal 13: UNFCCC already has a more update target for 2025 and will in xxxx update that target.
Goals 14 and 15: For the CBD related targets it isn’t as easy as each of the targets in Goals 14
and 15 except for target 14.1 are amalgams of different CBD targets. One approach that the CBD
COP could take is to start with the SDG targets and to update them within the CBD COP . This
ensures that irrespectively of the options above the CBD COP as a sovereign body which is made
up of biodiversity experts would have set updated targets.
Goal 17: This could be addressed by the Inter Agency Expert Group on the SDGs and agreed
through the Statistical Commission which could come forward with an updated target.
Concluding remarks
There are no perfect ways to address the reality that the SDG targets are not all 2030 targets. All
the 5 options have merits. As mentioned earlier in the paper those attending the Friends of
Governance meeting on the 3rd of November 2017 favored options 2,3,4 or a combination of
them.
My main worry if the targets are not updated within the SDGs is that it will create two levels of
targets those in the SDGs and those outside and that will by their nature focus resources and
implementation more to those in the SDGs than those not.
Member States could request in the GA resolution Implementation of Agenda 21, the
Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development and of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
for the Secretary General to produce a report for Member States to consider the state of the 2020
and 2025 targets and their indicators for consideration for the HLPF Ministerial Declaration
2018.
This paper is meant to be food for thought please do send any comments to me so it might
improve.
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Annex 1
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
2.1
By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated
animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed
and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair
and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated
traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.
2.2 By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on
stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls,
pregnant and lactating women and older persons
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well- being for all at all
3.6 By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all
4.a
By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing
countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African
countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information
and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in
developed countries and other developing countries.
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands,
rivers, aquifers and lakes
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all
8.1.A
By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human
trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including
recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms
8.b By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the
Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
9.c Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide
universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
11.a By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and
implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and
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adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015J2030, holistic disaster risk management at all
levels
Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
12.4 By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes
throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce
their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the
environment
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
13 a.
Implement the commitment undertaken by developed country parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by
2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful
mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate
Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
14.1 By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-
based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant
adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to
achieve healthy and productive oceans
14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement scienceJbased management plans, in
order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum
sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics
14.5 By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and
international law and based on the best available scientific information
14.6 By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and
overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain
from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential
treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade
Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation
Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage
forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
15.1
By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland
freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in
line with obligations under international agreements
15.2
By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt
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deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation
globally
15.3
Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of
biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
15.4
By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of
invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species
15.5
By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning,
development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for
Sustainable Development
17.18 By 2020, enhance capacity building support to developing countries, including for least developed
countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely
and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability,
geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts
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