GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2023
TIMES OF CRISIS, TIMES OF CHANGE SCIENCE FOR ACCELERATING TRANSFORMATIONS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
INTRODUCTION
Transformations are possible, and inevitable. This report is an invitation to embrace transformations with
the urgency needed to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Four years have passed
since the 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report was published and even then, the world was not on track
to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2019, challenges have multiplied and intensified.
The world has moved forward on some fronts, such as the deployment of zero-carbon technologies as one of many
climate mitigation strategies. Progress has been halted in many areas, partly as a consequence of a confluence
of crises – the ongoing pandemic, rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, and planetary, environmental
and economic distress, along with regional and national unrest, conflicts, and natural disasters. As a result,
overall progress towards the 2030 Agenda and the Goals has been severely disrupted in the last three years, yet
every inch of progress matters and counts. Strive not for one, but for all securities.
The resilience and well-being of planet, people, environment and ecosystems are degraded. A better future does not rest on one source of security, but on all necessary securities, including geopolitical, energy, climate, water, food and social security. Strategies to embrace transformations, therefore, should be based on the principles of solidarity, equity and well-being, in harmony with nature. Working as a human collective, time and resources must be used as judiciously and effectively as possible.
The world is changing at an accelerated rate. Halfway to 2030, there is an ever-greater urgency to build momentum,
embrace solidarity, and speed up progress on the SDGs. To do that, decision-makers need to use time and resources
—human, knowledge, financial, and institutional, among others— as judiciously and effectively as possible, and
take a systematic and strategic approach to drive and accelerate transformations.
