The United Nations (UN) “SDG-Summit“ in September 2023 marks the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The outlook of reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the coming seven years is bleak. The repercussions of the corona pandemic and the Ukraine war as well as the effects of climate change and ongoing violent conflicts are severely impeding sustainable development. These crises have caused social and economic inequalities, especially poverty and hunger, to grow significantly worldwide. Rising food and energy prices gravely impact poor and vulnerable groups, women and children. Progress made so far with the 2030 Agenda has been curbed to near a stop.
At this year’s UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) and the “SDG-Summit”, heads of states and governments need to take ambitions and transformative action to insure the success of the global agenda. They specifically need to address structural injustices and, in this regard, pay particular attention to negative spillovers of existing and new policies. Future finance, economic and climate change policies need to work for the well-being for current and future generations.
In the event, we listen to voices from the Global South on their expectations of the HLPF and the “SDG-Summit”. We identify main negative spillovers from policies regarding to social security, development financing and energy safety. We discuss how we together can move global policies forward for global social justice.