Harnessing science to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals

This statement, co-authored by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), UN Development Programme, International Science Council, and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), summarizes insights from the first Science Day. It advocates for a stronger science-policy interface and the creation of a "global transformation road map" to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid stalled global progress.

• The authors call for the adoption of a "global transformation road map" to address the lack of progress across major global frameworks, including the Paris Agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, the New Urban Agenda, and the 2030 Agenda. This road map should be based on transformative pathways from the 2019 and 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) and identify "key synergies, trade-offs, interventions, and funding and monitoring requirements".
• To accelerate SDG implementation, the statement recommends that governments shift from setting targets to driving "outcomes on the ground" by addressing root causes. This requires changes in "policies; regulations; standard setting; funding allocation and conditionalities; and monitoring, reviewing, and reporting of outcomes".
• The document argues for a new scientific model that moves away from "business-as-usual (BAU) approaches to funding science". It urges governments and funders to prioritize "transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and mission-oriented research for sustainability" and to incentivize collaboration between scientists, civil society, and other stakeholders.
• The statement emphasizes the need to use scientific tools to manage multiple crises and navigate trade-offs. It suggests using "Scenario-analysis tools" to assess long-term impacts and developing frameworks to assess how interventions impact other SDGs, citing "Nature-based Solutions (NbS)" as a prime example of addressing multiple crises simultaneously.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). Harnessing science to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/harnessing-science-for-the-sdgs/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Harnessing science to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. 2023. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/harnessing-science-for-the-sdgs/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Harnessing science to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals |date=14 September 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/perspectives/harnessing-science-for-the-sdgs/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023harnessing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Harnessing science to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals}}, publisher = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/perspectives/harnessing-science-for-the-sdgs/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }