The SDGs as integrating force in global governance? Challenges and opportunities

Maya Bogers (), Frank Biermann, Agni Kalfagianni and Rakhyun E. Kim
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Maya Bogers: Utrecht University
Frank Biermann: Utrecht University
Agni Kalfagianni: Utrecht University
Rakhyun E. Kim: Utrecht University

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 2023, vol. 23, issue 2, No 7, 157-164

Abstract: Abstract In 2015, the United Nations agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an “integrated and indivisible” set of policy objectives with the aim, among others, to unite the diverse and vast system of international organizations under one shared normative agenda. And yet, have these SDGs really become such an integrative force in global governance? Our conclusion here is negative, and our research suggests that the SDGs have not lived up to these high expectations. We find instead that the 17 global goals have not been taken up by a substantial group of international organizations, and some organizations rather cherry-pick those goals that best fit their own agenda and interests. To overcome these challenges and to fulfill the promise of integrated global sustainability governance enshrined in the SDGs, we propose three urgent actions: first, to further push the use of the SDGs across all international organizations, in particular regional organizations outside the United Nations system; second, to facilitate better collaboration across policy domains; and third, to focus attention on those SDGs that are so far “left behind.”

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals; Global governance; Institutional integration; Policy integration; International organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s10784-023-09607-9

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