Question & Answer

Q: What will be the focus of the 2023 SDG Summit?

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals , has been embraced by governments, businesses and community groups around the world as the organizing principle for efforts to end poverty, promote prosperity, better education, health and jobs, and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic—while also protecting the environment and combating climate change.

The SDG Summit in September 2023 marks the mid-point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It will provide an opportunity for the world leaders and people to assess progress so far, respond to the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world, and provide leadership and guidance on the way forward to accelerate the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs in the remaining years towards 2030.

The Summit will be a moment for the world to come together to accelerate commitments and transformation to respond to the urgency of poverty, climate change, recovery from Covid-19, and the need to pursue the fair and just path forward articulated by the SDGs to ensure that no one is left behind.

The 2023 SDG Summit aims to demonstrate that an inclusive multilateralism, through the reaffirmation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and the revitalization of the United Nation’s role, continues to provide the best path forward for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and to provide global solutions to our common challenges and promote prosperity for all.

The SDG Summit, which is the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development meeting under the auspices of the UN General Assembly, is mandated to take place every four years at the beginning of the session of the UN General Assembly.

Q: Why is the 2023 SDG Summit important?

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has mobilized global, regional and local action, but far more is needed to achieve the Goals. The 2023 SDG Summit, which is at the mid-point of implementation before the target year of 2030, will provide an opportunity to ramp up international commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, showcase areas of global progress and challenges and accelerate implementation and transaction. The Summit will help leverage progress in key areas to accelerate implementation process.

The Summit will call on all countries and actors, including local authorities, the private sector, foundations and philanthropic organizations, to pledge commitments to transformative measures for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and to build partnerships to further achievement at all levels.

The Summit will also allow participants to share their experiences and best practices and provide access to tools that can accelerate implementation in an integrated and holistic approach to sustainable development.

A range of events that complement the Summit aim to enhance global attention and action towards the implementation of the SDGs. These include special events in the margins of the Summit as well as meetings of civil society organizations. To raise awareness, the media, including social media tools, will be mobilized, and an SDG media zone will be established. Exhibitions will be used for sharing information and advocacy for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs during the Summit.

Q: Where, when and how will the 2023 SDG Summit happen?

The SDG Summit will take place in September 2023 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Summit will be at the level of Heads of State and Heads of Government. The Chair of the Summit will be the President of the General Assembly at its 78^th session.

The SDG Summit will be one of the high-level events taking place during the high-level week of the General Assembly in September 2023, along with the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, the Ministerial meeting on the Summit of the Future, the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage and other meetings.

Q: What will be the outcome of the 2023 SDG Summit?

The SDG Summit will result in a Political Declaration of Heads of State and Government, which will provide political guidance on how to move forward and step up the pace of implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

The President of the General Assembly has appointed H.E. Mr. Fergal Mythen, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN, and H.E. Ms. Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN, as co-facilitators to lead consultations on the Political Declaration.

The Summit will also mobilize voluntary commitments for transformative measures to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, which will be announced at the Summit and online.

Q: What is sustainable development?

Simply put, sustainable development is about improving the lives of people everywhere, now and in the future, while protecting our natural environment.

Poverty eradication, ending hunger, providing access to quality education and healthcare, promoting gender equality, changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, addressing climate change and promoting economic development while protecting and managing the natural resource base are overarching objectives of sustainable development.

Sustainable development seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for people and planet.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by world leaders in September 2015, is the plan of action for people, planet and prosperity and aims to transform our world. The 2030 Agenda calls for the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development--social, economic, and environmental. A holistic and balanced approach that incorporates these three dimensions is essential for ending poverty, reducing inequalities and combatting climate change and environmental degradation in order to achieve sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs apply to all countries and aim to improve people’s lives and prosperity on a healthy planet through partnership and peace. All countries, cities and the multiple actors of the business sector and civil society are actively engaged in implementing the Agenda and pursuing the SDGs.