Lecciones de América Latina en la implementación de la Agenda 2030

This policy brief summarizes the findings and recommendations from a regional meeting held in Colombia in September 2017, focused on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America. The document identifies key challenges such as institutional vulnerability to government changes, sectoral silos, and limited local ownership, while highlighting best practices in harmonization, multi-stakeholder cooperation, and budgetary monitoring across several Latin American countries.

• Integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into national plans is often hindered by political instability, as plans tied to specific government terms (four to six years) are more vulnerable to changes in administration than long-term national development plans. To mitigate this, some countries have created permanent institutional structures involving the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
• A strong 'sectoral culture' within governments leads to distrust and poor information exchange between departments, which obstructs the inter-sectoral implementation required for the SDGs. This often results in ministries pursuing their own goals independently, potentially undermining progress in other areas.
• Knowledge of the 2030 Agenda is heavily concentrated at central government levels, with limited awareness among local governments, the private sector, and civil society. Decentralizing implementation is considered essential to address regional inequalities, particularly in rural areas, and to ensure local ownership of the goals.
• National audit institutions often lack an understanding of the complexity of SDG implementation, focusing on the mere existence of implementation plans rather than the quality or ambition of the goals. This encourages countries to set low, easily achievable targets to ensure compliance.
• Monitoring the SDGs is challenged by a lack of standardized methodologies for data collection between national and local levels, a shortage of disaggregated data to reflect territorial differences, and difficulties in measuring environmental indicators and those related to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).
• Financing the 2030 Agenda is difficult in Latin America due to prolonged recession and the fact that most countries are classified as middle-income, limiting access to bilateral development cooperation. Some countries have responded by aligning existing budgets with SDG indicators or attracting private sector investment for sustainable infrastructure.

APA

Barquet, K., Leyton, C., Cortínez, V., & Penagos, Á. (2017). Lecciones de América Latina en la implementación de la Agenda 2030. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-pb-2017-la-sdgs-retreat-es.pdf

Chicago

Barquet, Karina, Cristian Leyton, Valentina Cortínez, and Ángela Penagos. Lecciones de América Latina en la implementación de la Agenda 2030. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-pb-2017-la-sdgs-retreat-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Barquet |first1=Karina |last2=Leyton |first2=Cristian |last3=Cortínez |first3=Valentina |last4=Penagos |first4=Ángela |title=Lecciones de América Latina en la implementación de la Agenda 2030 |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-pb-2017-la-sdgs-retreat-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{barquet2017lecciones, author = {Barquet, Karina and Leyton, Cristian and Cortínez, Valentina and Penagos, Ángela}, title = {{Lecciones de América Latina en la implementación de la Agenda 2030}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sei-pb-2017-la-sdgs-retreat-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }