Turning the world toward 2030
Ireland spearheads the adoption of the SDG Summit Political Declaration
In 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations agreed on the urgent need to transform our world for “people, planet and prosperity”.
The tyranny of poverty was not inevitable, world leaders declared, and it was within humanity’s power to heal and secure the planet.
Thus, the entire membership of the United Nations adopted a bold, ambitious, comprehensive and far-reaching resolution: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [read the full 2030 Agenda].
Comprised of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), the 2030 Agenda bound countries to a fifteen-year promise to end poverty everywhere (SDG1), achieve gender equality (SDG5) and promote peaceful and inclusive societies (SDG16), among other formidable yet measurable goals [UN SDGs].
Evaluating progress on the SDGs
The SDG Summit in September 2023 gave Member States a chance to hold up a mirror and honestly evaluate their progress at the halfway point of this 15-year promise, only to find that the shared goals of 2015 were significantly off track; indeed, progress in many areas had regressed below the 2015 baseline.
The world needed to push back on track toward the SDGs, and the President of the UN General Assembly at the time, H.E. Mr. Csaba Korosi, decided that Ireland was up to the task of turning the world toward 2030.
Ireland as co-facilitator
Ireland, alongside Qatar, was named as co-facilitator for negotiating the political declaration, a concise text designed to reaffirm the shared commitments made by Member States to implement the 2030 Agenda, in time for the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development [HLPF].
Consensus-building to recommit to an already-agreed upon agenda was a taller task for Ireland than it may seem, for the world and its politics had changed drastically in eight years, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, after eight months of tough negotiations, the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, Ambassador Fergal Mythen (ably assisted by John Gilroy and James Mulligan), and Qatari Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, led the declaration over the finish line.
Adopted by consensus
On 29 September 2023, the SDG political declaration was adopted by consensus at the UN General Assembly [read the full 2023 Political Declaration].
At the opening of the SDG Summit, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar T.D. stressed that the Declaration must become “more than a piece of paper”.
€300 million commitment
For its part, Ireland committed to providing almost €300 million in 2023 to address “the scandalous food security and nutrition crisis globally.” While Ireland is a small country, the Taoiseach said, it has “always dared to think big” [read the Taoiseach’s full statement].
Just like the 2030 Agenda itself, the 2023 SDG Political Declaration is far-ranging. It commits member states to action across many vital areas:
- scaling up actions on key transitions to accelerate SDG progress;
- building resilience and leaving no one behind;
- applying science, technology, innovation, and data for transformative action;
- strengthening integrated policies and public institutions for achieving the SDGs;
- strengthening the multilateral system for enhanced support, cooperation, follow-up, and review; and
- mobilizing finance and investments and the means of implementation for SDG achievement.
2030 Agenda
The 2023 SDG Summit was not the first time Ireland assumed a leadership role in negotiating commitment to the sustainable development goals.
Eight years earlier, in 2015, Ireland (alongside Kenya) played a pivotal role in co-facilitating the adoption of what would ultimately become the 2030 Agenda. Ambassador David Donoghue was in the driving seat for Ireland on that occasion, supported once again by John Gilroy.
Constancy of leadership
In September, Ambassador Mythen highlighted the constancy of Ireland’s leadership in both 2015 and 2023.
"Ireland has consistently demonstrated its commitment to being a global leader in sustainable development. Our role in co-facilitating the adoption of the 2030 Agenda laid the foundation, and in 2023, we once again stepped up to guide nations toward a reaffirmation of their shared commitments.”
“Ireland is honored to have played a part in fostering this dialogue and consensus among nations, reinforcing our own national commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030."