SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and a group of influential thinkers set out steps to a sustainable development transition

A statement co-authored by SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and other thinkers outlining a roadmap for transitioning to sustainable development following the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

• The authors identify three primary challenges for the sustainable development transition: reorienting economies through investment reallocation and consumption changes, making the reduction of inequalities a central goal, and converting international commitments into national political action and strategies.
• Transforming energy systems requires approximately 5% of global investment capital. To facilitate this, the authors call for redirecting financial flows toward sustainable services, innovation, urban development, and infrastructure, supported by policy signals such as carbon price coordination, the operationalization of the Green Climate Fund, and enhanced financial risk disclosure.
• To prevent the transition from failing, policy-makers must address economic and gender inequality and ensure the fair distribution of costs and benefits. This includes managing negative impacts on workers and regions specialized in sectors like energy and food through Low Emissions Development Strategies that guarantee an equitable transition.
• The authors emphasize that national governments must lead the translation of 2015 commitments into coherent policies involving heads of state and finance ministers, rather than just environment or development ministers. Accountability should be maintained through monitoring by the United Nations, intergovernmental processes, think tanks, and civil society.

APA

Amin, A., Bapna, M., Barcena, A., Charveriat, C., Hedegaard, C., Navarro, Y. K., Kuylenstierna, J., Lamy, P., Marton-Lefèvre, J., Moosa, V., Revi, A., Ribera, T., Somavia, J., Stern, N., Tubiana, L., Töpfer, K., Vandeweerd, V., & Cutajar, M. Z. (2016). SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and a group of influential thinkers set out steps to a sustainable development transition. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/sustainable-development/

Chicago

Amin, Adnan, Manish Bapna, Alicia Barcena, Céline Charveriat, Connie Hedegaard, Yolanda Kakabadse Navarro, Johan Kuylenstierna, et al. SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and a group of influential thinkers set out steps to a sustainable development transition. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2016. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/sustainable-development/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Amin |first1=Adnan |last2=Bapna |first2=Manish |last3=Barcena |first3=Alicia |last4=Charveriat |first4=Céline |last5=Hedegaard |first5=Connie |last6=Navarro |first6=Yolanda Kakabadse |last7=Kuylenstierna |first7=Johan |last8=Lamy |first8=Pascal |last9=Marton-Lefèvre |first9=Julia |display-authors=etal |title=SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and a group of influential thinkers set out steps to a sustainable development transition |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=13 May 2016 |url=https://www.sei.org/perspectives/sustainable-development/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{amin2016sei, author = {Amin, Adnan and Bapna, Manish and Barcena, Alicia and Charveriat, Céline and Hedegaard, Connie and Navarro, Yolanda Kakabadse and Kuylenstierna, Johan and Lamy, Pascal and Marton-Lefèvre, Julia and Moosa, Valli and Revi, Aromar and Ribera, Teresa and Somavia, Juan and Stern, Nicholas and Tubiana, Laurence and Töpfer, Klaus and Vandeweerd, Veerle and Cutajar, Michael Zammit}, title = {{SEI Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna and a group of influential thinkers set out steps to a sustainable development transition}}, publisher = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2016}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/perspectives/sustainable-development/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }