Giving his keynote address to the UN summit on sustainable development goals in September, David Cameron called on governments to “follow Britain’s lead”. His point – and it was a point well made – was about meeting the 0.7% aid commitment.
Leadership on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), however, is about much more than aid. Ensuring that the UK’s development assistance is used effectively to meet the goals and “leave no one behind” is one important aspect of implementation.
But the SDGs also require other government departments to be pulling in the same direction and delivering positive global impact, including through their trade, tax, energy and consumption policies, as well as sustainable development within the UK.
As President Obama put it in his speech to the goals summit: “This next chapter of development cannot fall victim to the old divides between developed nations and developing ones. Poverty, growing inequality exists in all of our nations, and all of our nations have work to do.”
The risk is that after more than three years’ hard negotiation of the SDGs, governments lose momentum and fail on delivery. As we write this, we know that many of the UK officials who have dedicated so much of their time to securing this historic agreement are moving into new roles. Their expertise is being lost and the government has not yet made any commitment to produce an SDG implementation plan to guide the UK.
This is why the NGO umbrella organisation Bond alongside Beyond 2015 UK have produced our report Bringing the Goals Home: Implementing the SDGs in the UK. We want to keep the conversation alive and the ambition high – and hope this will encourage people to start putting proposals on the table.
The UK government should produce a national SDG strategy, setting out the contributions of Whitehall, devolved administrations, cities and local authorities. This would require an updating of the sustainable development indicators and, perhaps most important, should also include a plan for resourcing the agenda.
It would include international financial commitments made through overseas development assistance and additional climate finance, but also relevant domestic spending commitments – for example, on renewable energy. Regular reviews of progress against the strategy would be in keeping with the spirit of the international agreement on SDGs, which is designed to keep governments accountable and ensure countries are on track.
The best strategy in the world can still end up just sitting on a shelf. That is why we need SDG champions at the highest level and the right mechanisms to translate the strategy into departmental plans and budgets. While DfID has led on the SDG negotiations and will have a central role in delivering some of the UK’s commitments, we have suggested that the Cabinet Office and the minister for government policy should take the lead. An implementation taskforce, similar to those established by Downing Street on housing and immigration, could also help drive forward the goals agenda.
Finally, we have also explored different options for accountability and scrutiny. Ideally, an independent body or multi-stakeholder network should be established, with the expertise, resources and clout to ensure the UK is on track. This would provide a mechanism for civil society organisations to help shape priorities.
The role of MPs will also be key. As well as supporting the new all-party parliamentary group on the SDGs, we are interested in how parliament’s select committee system can best support this cross-Whitehall agenda. Over the last year, both the environmental audit committee and the international development committee have held inquiries into the SDGs. We have welcomed these but have suggested that a joint inquiry or committee might be preferable. The liaison committee, which holds the prime minister to account, should also factor the SDGs into its questions.
If the goals are to be delivered, fundamental changes are needed – tinkering around the edges will not do. Yet there is a tendency to switch off from this conversation as it moves from ambitious words and statements on to the nitty gritty of implementation.
Coordination, councils and committees do not have the same glamour as negotiations, rock concerts and speeches from heads of state and the pope. However, this is when the real work begins and the UK’s true level of commitment to the SDGs is tested.
- Helen Dennis and Ruth Fuller are co-chairs of Beyond 2015 UK and Kate Munro is policy and public affairs adviser at Bond
