The Local2030 Coalition for the Decade of Action

The Local2030 Coalition is a UN-anchored platform aimed at bridging the gap between global SDG targets and local implementation. Based on a global baseline study, the coalition identifies critical gaps in advocacy, action, and monitoring. Its strategy focuses on empowering local actors, fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships, and leveraging UN expertise to ensure a green and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The coalition is co-chaired by UN-Habitat and other rotating UN entities, with a focus on providing a convening space for knowledge sharing, policy alignment, and improved access to SDG financing.

• A global baseline study identified three primary categories of gaps hindering SDG localization: advocacy, action, and monitoring. Advocacy gaps include limited local government participation in voluntary national reviews and a lack of direction on how to achieve the SDGs. Action gaps involve weak capacity, lack of political will, and a need for integrated systems approaches to manage SDG interdependencies. Monitoring gaps center on the lack of reliable, disaggregated local data and the need for better benchmarking of implementation.
• The Local2030 Coalition identifies several global drivers that influence the localization agenda, including the need for a green and inclusive pandemic recovery, addressing the digital divide, and confronting the development needs of urban and peri-urban areas. It specifically highlights the role of 'foodscapes' in linking urban and rural communities to avoid the risks of rapid urbanization.
• The coalition's core work is organized into three focus areas: Advocacy, Action, and Monitoring. Advocacy focuses on bottom-up processes to use the 2030 Agenda as a roadmap for pandemic recovery. Action involves building a support platform for policy alignment and creating an enabling environment for obtaining SDG funding. Monitoring focuses on supporting local actors, including civil society, to report on implementation and exchange knowledge.
• The coalition operates under several guiding principles, including a rights-based approach, the principle of 'leaving no one behind', and the promotion of co-creation and innovation. It emphasizes an integrated approach to the SDGs to identify targets with 'catalytic power' to advance the entire agenda.
• The governance structure consists of a Steering Committee co-chaired by UN-Habitat and a rotating UN entity (with UNDP serving as the first rotational co-chair from 2022-2024, followed by FAO and UNICEF). The coalition is anchored within UN-Habitat, which also hosts the Secretariat.
• UN Resident Coordinators are assigned a strategic role as a 'bridge' between local and national levels. Their tasks include organizing exchange meetings between UN Country Teams and local government associations, and ensuring local perspectives are incorporated into UN Common Country Analysis and UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks.
• The coalition's fundraising strategy relies on three pillars: secondments from Steering Committee institutions to staff the Secretariat, direct donor funding for Secretariat and partner activities, and the mobilization of third-party funding and in-kind contributions.

APA

Alva, I. L., Hernández, E., & Cárdenas, M. (2021). The Local2030 Coalition for the Decade of Action. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/local2030-coalition-for-the-decade-of-action.pdf

Chicago

Alva, Ivonne Lobos, Efraim Hernández, and Mario Cárdenas. The Local2030 Coalition for the Decade of Action. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/local2030-coalition-for-the-decade-of-action.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Alva |first1=Ivonne Lobos |last2=Hernández |first2=Efraim |last3=Cárdenas |first3=Mario |title=The Local2030 Coalition for the Decade of Action |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=December 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/local2030-coalition-for-the-decade-of-action.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{alva2021local2030, author = {Alva, Ivonne Lobos and Hernández, Efraim and Cárdenas, Mario}, title = {{The Local2030 Coalition for the Decade of Action}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/local2030-coalition-for-the-decade-of-action.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }