How are the SDGs reshaping governance? Arthur Dahl offered this keynote at ebbf's annual conference The video of the conference can be seen here https://www.facebook.com/ebbf.mindfulpeople.meaningfulwork/videos/10155596986466801/

1. Geneva - 17th to 20th May 2018
ebbf’s 28th international learning event
ethical business building the future,
rethinking the governance
of your organization
#ebbfgovernance
proceedings
Keynote
Arthur Dahl
Governance and the SDGs

2. Governance
and the SDGs
What are the new governance models that are
supporting the Sustainable Development Goals?
Arthur Lyon Dahl Ph.D.
International Environment Forum (IEF)
https://iefworld.org
ebbf - Ethical Business Building the Future
http://ebbf.org
Chavannes de Bogis
20 May 2018

3. Why is governance not working?
• Lack of trust and trustworthiness
• Hypocrisy
• Lack of political will
• Fading national sovereignty
• Lobbying and corruption
• Who do leaders represent?
• Inertia in a system with too many uncontrolled
actors (despots, multinational corporations,
criminal syndicates, terrorist groups)

4. The trap of
national sovereignty
Governance is usually seen as a power game
driven by:
• Domestic political priorities
• National self-interest
• Economic interests most powerful
• Little incentive to pursue common long-term
interests
• Only superficial commitment to international
ethical frameworks (UN Charter, Declarations)

5. The Need for
Fundamental Change
- Climate change tipping points
- Extremes of wealth and poverty
- A generation without hope
- Gap between scientific urgency and political
realism
- World heading towards catastrophe?
Fundamental systems change is needed to
transition to a sustainable society, including
strengthened international governance

6. UN 2030 Agenda
Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives
and Protecting the Planet by 2030
Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Agenda,
released 4 December 2014
Transforming Our World: The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development
Outcome document of the Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015
Development Agenda, New York, 25-27 September 2015
This redefines the purpose of governance.
What should governments be doing?

7. Synthesis Report of the
Secretary-General
• fundamental transformation is needed in society and the
economy
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) define a
paradigm shift for people and planet
• inclusive and people-centred, leaving no one behind
• integrate the economic, social and environmental
dimensions
• in a spirit of solidarity, cooperation, mutual accountability
• with the participation of governments and all stakeholders

8. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
What governments should do
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.

9. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
What governments should do
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.

10. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
What governments should do
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.

11. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
What governments should do
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.

12. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
What governments should do
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,
focussed in particular on the needs of the poorest
and most vulnerable and with the participation of all
countries, all stakeholders and all people.

13. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
These are universal goals and targets which
involve the entire world, developed and developing
countries alike. They are integrated and indivisible
and balance the three dimensions of sustainable
development.

14. Transforming Our World
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
It is “We the Peoples” who are embarking today on
the road to 2030. Our journey will involve
Governments as well as Parliaments, the UN system
and other international institutions, local authorities,
indigenous peoples, civil society, business and the
private sector, the scientific and academic
community – and all people.... It is an Agenda of the
people, by the people, and for the people.

15. What kind of governance will allow us
to implement these goals?

16. Sustainable Development Goals
17 action oriented, global in nature and universally
applicable SDGs
- goals that place humans at the centre
- goals for environmental resources, processes and boundaries defining
planetary health
- goals about transitioning to a green economy that builds rather than
undermines planetary sustainability
- goals on institutional and governance issues and the means of
implementation
169 quantified targets
241 global indicators to measure progress towards the targets
Science and knowledge to support government policy
and action

17. SDGs and governance
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable
development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions...
16.3 Promote the rule of law... and ensure equal access to justice for all
16.5 Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions...
16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-
making...
16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental
freedoms...
16.b Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for
sustainable development

18. Implementation of 2030 Agenda
Regular Summitry
• HLPF - High Level Political Forum every 4
years (first 24 September 2013 - 2 days)
heads of state/government.
• ECOSOC - annual ministerial session, 8
days, with regional preparations, voluntary
national reviews (47 in 2018)

19. UN Climate
Change
Conference
COP21
Paris, France
December 2015
International Environment Forum
https://iefworld.org/cop21

20. The Paris Agreement at COP21
- voluntary national commitments to reduce GHG
emissions
- central aim to keep global temperature rise this
century well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to
limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C
- legally binding requirement to report progress
- green climate fund to support action by
developing countries and the most vulnerable
countries
- 5-year cycle to assess progress and ratchet up
commitments, increasing ambition

21. The Talanoa Dialogue
- Fijian presidency of UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change COP23 in 2017
- Talanoa Dialogue, named for a Fijian tradition of
trust building through story telling
- preparing governments for increasing ambition
in their greenhouse gas reductions before COP24
- on line contributions posted and summarized
IEF: https://iefworld.org/Talanoa1
Justice Conference panel: The Talanoa Dialogue under
the Paris Agreement - Reflections on the illuminating
Power of the Reflection-Action-Consultation Cycle
https://iefworld.org/node/920

22. The Talanoa Dialogue
- Face-to-face dialogues at the Bonn Climate
Change Conference 6 May 2018
- seven dialogue circles with 30 state party
representatives and 5 other stakeholders
- Where are we? Where do we want to go? How
do we get there?
BIC/IEF: https://iefworld.org/Talanoa2

23. Approaches to accountability
• Indicators and reporting to the UN and FCCC
• Mutual peer review by other governments
• Legislative or judicial review of executive
branch
• Scientific assessment process (government
approved or academic)
• Independent civil society organizations (like
Amnesty, Transparency International)
• Internal accountability (requires honesty and
transparency)

24. Implementing SDGs
at multiple levels
- Nested structures with responsibility
devolved to lower levels
- Transparent access to information
- Consultative processes for setting
principles and priorities and reviewing
progress
- Stakeholder participation in monitoring
and management
- Sense of ownership and responsibility

25. Challenges for governance
● An integrated approach means breaking down
traditional silos of ministries/departments
● Purpose of governance defined by principles
and goals
● Governance for everyone, not just citizens
● The SDGs are ambitious even if everyone
supports them. What to we do with the major
part of humanity that could not care less (greedy,
corrupt, violent, selfish)?

26. Business and the SDGs
- The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable
Development Goals are the new framework for a
just and sustainable world
- Business can do many things to implement the
SDGs
- The SDGs provide a framework to identify new
opportunities in investment and innovation
- Business can partner with governments and civil
society in meeting the goals

27. Business and the SDGs
The intergovernmental committee of experts on sustainable
development financing:
- cost of a social safety net to eradicate extreme poverty $66bn
a year
- annual investments in improving infrastructure (water,
agriculture, transport, power) $7tn globally
Public finance and aid are central to support the
implementation of the SDGs, but insufficient
Money generated from the private sector, through tax reforms,
and through a crackdown on illicit financial flows and
corruption, is also vital
(Ford, The Guardian 2015)

28. Business and the SDGs
Brookings Institution, on how to change the world:
- Use market forces to drive business towards scalable
investments that simultaneously generate sustainable solutions
to development challenges;
- Create more data from more sources with more
disaggregation, and make these more easily transparent and
accessible, to drive towards evidence-based reforms and
accountability;
- Encourage innovations (technical, organizational, and
business-model) to drive the world away from business-as-
usual.
(Kharas 2016)

29. Business and the SDGs
Business & Sustainable Development Commission
(http://www.businesscommission.org/)
- Explored disruptive models that can lead to new and expanding market
opportunities while making communities more sustainable
- Conducted foundational research and engaged in dialogue with a diverse
cross-section of key stakeholders and experts
- Prepared a comprehensive report outlining market opportunities that could
flow to companies that achieve sustainable development
Better Business, Better World http://report.businesscommission.org/
uploads/BetterBiz-BetterWorld_170215_012417.pdf
Launched at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 21 January
2016, ended January 2018. Chaired by former UN Deputy Secretary-
General Mark Malloch-Brown, and included global leaders from business
and civil society

30. Organic change in society
...the transformation required to shift
towards sustainable consumption and
production will entail no less than an
organic change in the structure of society
itself so as to reflect fully the
interdependence of the entire social body
—as well as the interconnectedness with
the natural world that sustains it.
(Bahá'í International Community, Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism,
2010)

31. A learning process
the pathway to sustainability will be one of
empowerment, collaboration and continual processes
of questioning, learning and action in all regions of the
world. It will be shaped by the experiences of women,
men, children, the rich, the poor, the governors and
the governed as each one is enabled to play their
rightful role in the construction of a new society. As the
sweeping tides of consumerism, unfettered
consumption, extreme poverty and marginalization
recede, they will reveal the human capacities for
justice, reciprocity and happiness.
(Bahá'í International Community, Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism, 2010)

32. CONCLUSIONS
- The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable
Development Goals are motivated by justice “to
leave no one behind”
- Setting positive goals like the SDGs can be
very motivating
- The SDGs redefine the purpose of governance
- The governance models are inclusive,
innovating and learning, knowledge-driven,
multilevel, defending the common interest of all
- Unity of purpose can help to build unity in a
business, in a whole community and in society