Principles underpinning the 2030 Agenda — indivisibility, integration and universality — can safeguard against inaction or unsustainable practices but have not yet come into effect. We propose measures to strengthen alignment with them as the world gears up to accelerate implementation at the 2023 SDG Summit.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2015); https://go.nature.com/3CsPxqn
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet. Report of the Secretary-General (United Nations, 2023); https://go.nature.com/3YqQXec
Measuring Progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs (UNEP, 2023); https://go.nature.com/3KAGebv
SEI and CEEW. Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future (Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022); https://doi.org/10.51414/sei2022.011
Breuer, A., Malerba, D., Srigiri, S. & Balasubramanian, P. (eds) Governing the Interlinkages between the SDGs: Approaches, Opportunities and Challenges (Routledge, 2022).
Biermann, F. et al. Nat. Sustain. 5, 795–800 (2022).
Shawoo, Z., Maltais, A., Dzebo, A. & Pickering, J. Environ. Policy Govern. 33, 339–350 (2022).
Nilsson, M. & Persson, Å. Environ. Sci. Policy 78, 36–39 (2017).
Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2022 (United Nations, 2022); https://go.nature.com/3s5J0PJ
Building blocks out of the crisis: The UN’s SDG Stimulus Plan (UNDP, 2023); https://go.nature.com/3YqQOaC
High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB). A Breakthrough for People and Planet: Effective and Inclusive Global Governance for Today and the Future (United Nations University, 2023); https://go.nature.com/3KACKWy
2021 Voluntary National Reviews Synthesis Report (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2021); https://go.nature.com/3DN7tM3
2022 Voluntary National Reviews Synthesis Report (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2022); https://go.nature.com/3s1yIjw
Bennich, T., Weitz, N. & Carlsen, H. Sci. Total Environ. 728, 138405 (2020).
Di Lucia, L., Slade, R. & Khan, J. Nat. Sustain. 5, 131–138 (2022).
Allen, C., Metternicht, G. & Wiedmann, T. Sustain. Dev. 29, 635–652 (2021).
Sachs, J. D., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G. & Woelm, F. Sustainable Development Report 2022 (Cambridge University Press, 2022); https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009210058
Fanning, A. L., O’Neill, D. W., Hickel, J. & Roux, N. Nat. Sustain. 5, 26–36 (2022).
Dawes, J. H. P. Sustain. Dev. 28, 101–117 (2020).
Pham-Truffert, M., Metz, F., Fischer, M., Rueff, H. & Messerli, P. Sustain. Dev. 28, 1236–1250 (2020).
Liu, J. Natl Sci. Rev. 10, nwad090 (2023).
Weitz, N., Carlsen, H., Nilsson, M. & Skånberg, K. Sustain. Sci. 13, 531–548 (2018).
Acknowledgements
We thank L. Järnberg for comments on earlier versions of this paper. This work was partially funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS) grant number 2022-02643, and Swedish foundation for strategic environmental research (MISTRA) grant number 2016/11.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Sustainability thanks Luis Roman Carrasco and Sander Chan for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Weitz, N., Carlsen, H., Bennich, T. et al. Returning to core principles to advance the 2030 Agenda. Nat Sustain 6, 1145–1148 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01212-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01212-7
This article is cited by
-
Transformative localization to accelerate the 2030 Agenda
Nature Sustainability (2024)
-
The world’s goals to save humanity are hugely ambitious — but they are still the best option
Nature (2023)