Proposal of the OWG for Sustainable Development Goals

1. Proposal of the OWG for Sustainable Development Goals 2 September 2014

2. Outline Where are we now? What has led to the OWG SDGs Proposal? What are the main strengths of the OWG’s SDGs? What are the gaps? What will happen next? Where to get information?

3. Where are we now? • After a year of intense work, an ‘Open Working Group’ of 70 governments, drawing on technical inputs from the UN system, has produced a proposal for a set of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the MDGs at the end of 2015. • The vision is for the goals to promote sustainable development and poverty eradication. • The proposal has 17 goals and 169 targets. The goals are listed in Annex 1 of the concept note • The first 16 goals address priority areas that: • Increase the ambition on existing MDG goals (poverty, health education, gender) with added dimensions on • Economic sustainability (inclusive growth, jobs, infrastructure, industrialization) • environmental sustainability (climate change, oceans and land based ecosystems, sustainable consumption and production) • All held together by the glue of ‘peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development’ (governance agenda, rule of law, violence). • The 17th goal covers means of implementation (finance, trade, technology, capacity building, partnerships, and data).

4. What led to the OWG Proposal? • The OWG has been deliberating for over a year. The UN System Task Team on Post-2015 has supported them by providing 29 issues briefs, as well as statistical advice, on each area under consideration. • At the conclusion of the final meeting the need to have some sort of consensus overwhelmed the remaining disagreements, although these may resurface in the formal negotiations expected to start in January 2015. • The work of the OWG stood on the shoulders of reports that came before: • The UN Secretary-General’s HLP report – 12 integrated goals covering economy, society, environment and governance • The report of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) – 10 integrated goals covering same dimensions • The report of the UN Global Compact – very resonant to the HLP and SDSN reports • The reports on the UN-facilitated ‘global conversation’, which has reached out globally to nearly 3.5 million people. This was partly a strategy to encourage external advocacy for a progressive and ambitious agenda, recognizing that governments had already said they firmly wanted to be in the lead in defining the new agenda. • The original report of the UN Task Team on Post-2015 (June 2012) that proposed a goal framework in four areas (economic, social, environmental and governance / security)

5. What are the Strengths of the SDGs? • The major strengths are: • The notion of ‘leaving no one behind’ is embedded across the framework, with many of the targets aspiring to zero (or full coverage). As such, the level of ambition on even the traditional MDG areas has been raised. • There is a standalone goal on inequality within and between countries – including commitments to raise the incomes of the bottom 40% faster than the average, social protection systems, and to make the migration process more orderly and safe. • There is a standalone goal on gender inequality, including ending all forms of violence, discrimination, child marriages and female genital mutilation. • Environmental issues are strongly represented, representing a long sought marriage between the ‘development’ and ‘environment’ camps: climate change, marine and land-based ecosystems, and sustainable consumption and production. • And, even more remarkably, governments are – for the first time – incorporating a goal and targets on governance and peaceful societies, including potentially transformative areas such as legal identity and birth registration, and tackling corruption and bribery.

6. What are the gaps? • Three main gaps are apparent: • There is a minimal reflection of the agenda on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and one that crucially is less ambitious than agreements that have come before (ICPD) • The gender equality goal could be tightened and improved • There had been a long discussion on tackling fossil fuel subsidies, but this progressive proposal fell out at the final hurdle.

7. What will happen next? • The OWG proposal will be translated and presented to Member States as a background document for the opening of the 69th session of the UNGA. • The Secretary General has been requested to produce a ‘synthesis’ report before the end of 2014, reflecting on all contributions to date. • Formal negotiations will commence after the release of the SG’s synthesis report, but because of seasonal holidays may only start in January 2015. The formal negotiations can be expected to re-visit the SDG proposal, but will also deliver the political declaration that will sit above the goals and targets – in other words, the Post-2015 development agenda. • The third financing for development conference will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from July 13-16 2015. • A Heads of State Summit to agree the new development agenda will be held in September 2015.

8. Where to go to get information? • http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ • http://www.worldwewant2015.org/

9. Thank you for your attention