Behind “Time to Lead – science to accelerate the Global Goals”

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) provides the scientific foundation and methodology for the "Time to Lead – science to accelerate the Global Goals" campaign. It synthesizes recommendations from five key scientific reports published between 2022 and 2023 to guide decision-makers in accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of the September 2023 SDG Summit.

• Progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is largely stagnating, with only approximately 10% of environment and development goals set globally over the last 50 years showing significant progress.
• The current global governance approach of setting broad goals has had limited impact; there is no evidence that the SDGs have improved the political or economic standing of the world's poorest countries in global governance, nor that the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development has effectively steered governments toward sustainable development.
• To accelerate the SDGs, decision-makers must adopt systemic and integrated policymaking that recognizes the interconnections between goals, moves beyond GDP as the primary measure of prosperity, and utilizes consumption-based and life-cycle accounting.
• Effective acceleration requires a shift in the global financial system to close the SDG funding gap, harmonize financial regulation, and create mechanisms that target international finance toward low- and middle-income countries for fossil-free economies.
• Science-policy engagement must be strengthened by ensuring research is relevant to society, increasing funding for missions jointly defined by academia and civil society, and providing free access to data and publications.
• Urgent, bold action is required to avoid intergenerational discrimination and lock-in, specifically through rapid climate mitigation to minimize losses for ecosystems and humans.

APA

Weitz, N., Carlsen, H., & Bennich, T. (2023). Behind “Time to Lead – science to accelerate the Global Goals”. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/behind-time-to-lead-sei2023.044.pdf

Chicago

Weitz, Nina, Henrik Carlsen, and Therese Bennich. Behind “Time to Lead – science to accelerate the Global Goals”. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2023. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/behind-time-to-lead-sei2023.044.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weitz |first1=Nina |last2=Carlsen |first2=Henrik |last3=Bennich |first3=Therese |title=Behind “Time to Lead – science to accelerate the Global Goals” |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=September 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/behind-time-to-lead-sei2023.044.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weitz2023behind, author = {Weitz, Nina and Carlsen, Henrik and Bennich, Therese}, title = {{Behind “Time to Lead – science to accelerate the Global Goals”}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/behind-time-to-lead-sei2023.044.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }