Our Common Agenda: The Path for Sustainable Development

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What is “Our Common Agenda?”

The world leaders urged the Secretary-General Guterres to outline a vision, for future international cooperation and suggest ways to revitalize multilateralism in order to address the interlinked challenges of the ongoing century. Following a recommendation in the September 2020 declaration on the celebration of the UN’s 75th anniversary, the Secretary-General released Our Common Agenda in September 2021. About 90 recommendations and solutions are included in the report and are said to be “a beginning point for collaborative efforts to build global governance together on foundations of trust, solidarity, and human rights”. The Secretary General’s vision for the future of international cooperation and the revitalization of inclusive and successful multilateralism is reflected in the “Our Common Agenda” report, which looks ahead 25 years for sustainable development. It was launched in a time when humanity needed it the most during COVID-19 pandemic, the report outlines a course for the future built around a renewal of social contract and increased solidarity with youth and future generations. An inclusive approach has been adopted among the network of partners from all regions. Moreover, 12 areas of action have been decided by the member states to accelerate the functioning of SDGs in order to attain sustainable development for future generations and leaving no one behind.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In recent years, alarms have been raised that if rapid and worldwide progress is not achieved on a variety of sustainability fronts, future generations could confront a future with inequalities and environmental catastrophes. Therefore, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also referred as Global Goals, were enacted by the United Nations in 2015 as a global call to for all by the year 2030, it also known as the Agenda 2030. The framework for achieving a better, more sustainable future for everybody is the main objective of the Sustainable Development Goals.. It is believed by many that sustainable development is a worldwide concern that should be on agenda, however it can be challenging to incorporate this global agenda into governmental policies. It is because of the challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice, that humanity is experiencing which have created hurdles for achieving Agenda 2030 and particularly in developing countries.

UN General Assembly Consultation

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) held a consultation on “Our Common Agenda” in the first week of August 2022. During his briefing, the Secretary-General stated that summits on future, sustainable development goals are the ‘last best chance’ to manage and address global challenges. Additionally, he gave Member States an update on how far the report’s recommendations had been put into practice. According to the Secretary-General, the second SDG Summit in 2023 and the proposed Summit of the Future are “twin summits” with the shared goal of creating conditions for a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive future. He also outlined the connections between the Summit of the Future and the SDG Summit. The latter, he said, will take place in 2023, “at the midway of implementation of the 2030 Agenda,” to review progress on the SDGs, recommend policies, and undertake measures to save the Global Goals.

Sustainable Development: Need of the Hour

Sustainable development aims to achieve equilibrium and harmony between environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and socio-political sustainability. It is defined as development that fulfills present demands without affecting the capacity of future generations to satisfy their needs. To achieve these objectives, “Our Common Agenda” is a good initiative, because of this member states will make serious efforts to speed up the processes necessary for achieving sustainability at all levels. The SDG Summit will help to track the progress of the countries regarding SDGs to achieve sustainable development and growth. In today’s world, the sustainable development is important than ever before, to maintain a balance between social, economic and environmental demands so that both current and future generations can prosper in healthy way. By embracing sustainable practices, sustainable development promotes resource conservation. Countries should take into account measures and regulations that help to address the basic necessities of the citizens including jobs, food, energy, water, and sanitation. A sustainable population level is undoubtedly necessary. In order to ensure that developing and under developing economies expand at a level with those of industrialized countries. Therefore, sustainability should be encouraged for development and growth. It will support social advancement, equality, environmental preservation, resource conservation, and steady economic growth that will fulfill the existing and future demands as well as needs in sustainable manner.

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Author

Ezba Walayat

Research Associate, Pakistan House

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