Transforming our World: Transitioning from the Millennium Development Goals to the

Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030)

by
Mr. Ola Almgren
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Philippines

during the
Ateneo de Naga University International Research Conference 2015

1 December 2015
Villa Caceres Hotel, Naga City

 Thank Ateneo de Naga University, the organizers of the International Research Conference, for the
invitation and opportunity to present theTransition from the Millennium Development Goals to
the Sustainable Development Goals- the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

 The Agenda 2030 follows the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 2000 and the MDGs that
come to an end this year. Much progress has been made. But much more work remains. (Video: 1st
half of global progress on the MDGs and then 8 slides on Philippine progress and then second
half of video)

How did we arrive at the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs?

 In 2010, the Post-2015 Development Agenda initiative was established, aimed not only at
accelerating progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but also at
advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015, the end-year of the MDGs.

 (slide) This Post 2015 Development Agenda entailed national and local consultations which
identified thematic concerns for each of the Member States, including with the Philippines.

 And in June 2012, during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20),
held in Rio de Janeiro, UN Member States unanimously called for a process to develop a set of
sustainable development goals.
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 Also during this time, the United Nations and partners ran MY World, a global survey which
captured people’s voices, priorities and views, for global leaders to listen to when they began the
process of defining the new development agenda for the world.

 (slide) Almost 8.5 million people across the globe – including more than 100,000 Filipinos – have
voted for the issues which are the most important to them and their families (slide) – from good
education to better healthcare, better job opportunities to an honest and responsive government and
affordable and nutritious food (slide).

 (slide)And finally, in September 2015, UN Member States unanimously agreed and adopted a new
agenda and set of goal posts for the post-2015 global development agenda – Agenda 2030 and its
seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They are an agreed vision to put people and
planet on a sustainable path by 2030. In the words of United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-
moon, the Global Goals represent a ―universal, transformative and integrated agenda that heralds a
historic turning point for our world‖.

 Slide on UN Charter

 (slide: all 17 SDG icons)The SDGs are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and
ensure that all human being enjoy peace and prosperity.

 (slide: first six SDGs)They build on the MDGs – the first six goals are six of the 8 MDGs (slide).
Butthe SDGs broaden the scope and raise the ambition for targeting. As an example, rather than
looking at further reducing poverty over the coming 15 years, the SDGs speak of ending extreme
poverty altogether.

 (slide: SDGs 7-12) fight inequality and injustice, The SDGs are both means and ends, it the SDGs
also include issues such as sustainable consumption, innovation,

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 (slide: SDGs 13-17) It aims to take action against climate change, safeguarding land and water
resources for future generations, and ensure peace and justice by strengthening institutions, and
bringing together the strengths and resources of government, the private sector, civil society, the
youth.

 It is bold and ambitious - 17 goals with 169 targets can be seen as an immense agenda and it is of
course, if we are to focus on the essential component to shift the world to a path of sustainable
development - to deliver on economic development, social inclusion and environmental
sustainability. It is the People’s Agenda. (OPTION: run video on “We the Peoples”)

 We can also choose to simplify the message and think of the SDGs as five Ps(slide):
o People - We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions,
and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a
healthy environment.

o Planet - We are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through
sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and
taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and
future generations.

o Prosperity - We are determined to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and
fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with
nature.

o Peace - We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from
fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace
without sustainable development.

o Partnership - We are determined to mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda
through a revitalised Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of
strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most
vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.

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 It is universal, there is no more a North and South, as all countries would have to deliver on the
goals, recognizing that our world is, we are all, interconnected and that achieving and safeguarding
prosperity and sustainability requires all of us.

 The SDGs are a set of integrated and indivisible goals. We should not view the boxes as
independent but rather as interrelated ones. Actions for one goal will also have something to do with
the other goals. For example,

o (slide of Daniel Cabrera) this photo has gone viral and has led to the setting-up of a
scholarship fund, not just for Daniel, but also for other children in Cebu. But this is not a
problem of access to education alone. It has a lot to do with the income of his family, the
work that his parents have, the kind of shelter that Daniel lives in, or simply whether or not
they have electricity at home.

o (new slide on water, sanitation and hygiene) The linkages between WASH, health, education
and nutrition are stark. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, more than
half the cases of measles in the country are caused by lack of clean water, and poor WASH
conditions are a leading cause of malnutrition. Illness and death in childbirth, and in
maternal and child health, are not only the result of the lack of access to quality medical
care, nursing or pharmaceuticals. They also happen because nearly 40 per cent of health
facilities worldwide have no source of water. In low-income countries – where preventable
mortality is at its highest – an estimated 50 per cent of health care facilities lack access to
the electricity they need to boil water and sterilize instruments. WASH also helps promote
gender equality. If water, sanitation and hygiene are designed so that the practical burdens
women carry daily are reduced, they will be able to play broader and more creative roles in
their community’s development, paving the way towards equitable development in countries
and globally.

o (new slide on climate action) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
reported in 2014 that scientists were more than 95% certain that global warming is being

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 caused mostly by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases and other human
(anthropogenic) activities. The inefficient use of fossil fuels for energy is the largest
contributor, with effects on, among others, rising sea levels, expansion of deserts in
the subtropics, ocean acidification; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature
regimes. Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat
waves, droughts, heavy rainfall, and heavy snowfall – which have effects on health; there is
also the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of
populated areas due to flooding. Possible societal responses to
include mitigation (increasing carbon sinks and reducing emissions), and adaptation - such
as building resilient infrastructure.

 This is the challenge and opportunity in development. Development is not linear and its component
parts don’t fit neatly into simple boxes. But in all cases, countries would rely on effective
institutions and partnerships.

ACADEMIA and THE SDGS

 TheSDGs are far more than inspirations or words of good intent. They provide a guide for action in
the key areas where countries, including the Philippines, will have to invest in order to move
forward.

 Achieving these goals will not be simple or cheap. Unmet investment needs in the SDGs are
estimated in the range of USD 3-7 trillion a year in developing countries alone with an annual gap
estimated at about USD 2.5 trillion . Not everyone agrees on costing the SDGs, but these numbers
clearly point to the scale of the challenge. All sources of finance, public and private, domestic and
international, will have a central role to play.

 It is not just about finances but also the promotion of new technologies, business models,
institutional mechanisms, legislation, regulation and policies that can dramatically accelerate
progress towards sustainable development.

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 These SDGs need to be backed up by national policies, and will play a major role in shaping where
and how resources are used. Translating the global goals into effective national action will be
challenging. It will require a partnership comprised of all stakeholders – governments, the private
sector, development partners, multilateral banks, research institutions and advocacy organizations.

 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, ―We must engage all actors, as we did in shaping the
Agenda. We must include parliaments and local governments, and work with cities and rural areas.
We must rally businesses and entrepreneurs. We must involve civil society in defining and
implementing policies – and give it the space to hold us to account. We must listen to scientists
and academia. We will need to embrace a data revolution. Most important, we must set to work –
now.‖

 The contributions of the academic and research community will be critical for the following:

o as a partner at the policy-making table, crossing disciplines and sectors and synthesizing
knowledge to create efficient, sustainable solutions, establishment and testing of
appropriate frameworks, long-term pathways and tools to support the implementation of the
2030 agenda

o Systems thinking — the complexity of the 17 SDGs should be looked into in an integrated
manner – and understand the interconnections and impact, not only across the different
goals and the sectors they represent, but also in a global and regional and local context. Co-
benefits, possible synergies, and negative impacts should also be looked into.

o fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among expert communities.

o Providing evidence for monitoring and reporting, and policy decisions. We can not manage
what we can not measure.Global indicators for the SDGs are being developed now and the
Philippine Statistics Authority is playing a leading role in that process. These indicators
expected to be finalized in March 2016 will need to be applied nationally.

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 Their effective national application will depend however on: availability of data; solid
baselines (noting that many of these goals are new); institutional capacity to measure and
monitor; and perhaps most challengingly, metrics that integrate current knowledge in the
Philippines of how ecology, economics, governance and social aspects collectively contribute
to sustainable well-being.

In fact the PSA itself has called for a data revolution. That is transformative actions to
respond to the demands of a complex development agenda, including, improvements in how
data is produced and used; closing data gaps to prevent discrimination; building capacity and
data literacy in ―small data‖ and big data analytics; modernizing systems of data collection;
liberating data to promote transparency and accountability; and developing new targets and
indicators.(slide)

 The UN has been working in the Philippines for 70 years now. As we now move to another
transformative period, the UN will continue to accompany the Philippines in very practical and
tangible ways:

o We can help with research and analysis that can inform future legislation, policies and
actions.

o We can help to translate the Global Goals into national and local strategies, plans, and
budgets, and strengthen data and monitoring systems.

o We can help identify the obstacles and bottlenecks to making progress on goals and targets,
and to identify actions which could speed up progress.

o We can draw on development acceleration tools that have been used in more than fifty
countries in recent years.

o We can provide demand-driven advice and technical assistance drawing on the great depth
and breadth of knowledge and programme experience gained over many decades and in
many parts of the world.

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 CLOSING

 I congratulate Ateneo de Naga University’s 75th foundation anniversary this year. It is very fitting
how Ateneo’s mission of contributing to and benefiting from global society for the transformation of
the Filipino nation very much resonates the transformation Agenda 2030 calls for. I hope that the
outcome of your conference, with the theme: The World Beyond 2015: Forging New Frontiers
through Research, Development, and Extension, will indeed create provide the cutting edge and push
new boundaries as we move towards a new and transformed world in 2030.

 In its statement at the UN General Assembly and World Summit on Sustainable Development, the
Philippine government underscored its commitment to the SDGs – ―to make the 2030 Agenda a
reality and to leave no one behind. It is our sacred responsibility to our children and to future
generations, and our solemn duty as members of the United Nations.‖

 The MDGs drove progress in several important areas: income poverty; access to improved sources
of water; primary school enrollment; and improved health services.

 Yet the job is unfinished for millions of people—we need to go the last mile on ending hunger,
achieving full gender equality, reducing maternal and child mortality, reducing HIV infection,getting
and keeping every child into school, and protecting the environment.

 We must shift the world onto a sustainable path. (video: No point going halfway)

 Thank you and mabuhay!

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