Authors: A R Sangeetha, Tanuj Samaddar, Mohd. Rizwan, Ankush Kumar

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, adopted in 2015, aim at fostering peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future. The member countries strive to come together on this ambitious agenda built on principles of inclusivity and universality, seeking to address complex issues like poverty, hunger, healthcare, trade, economic development, climate change and environmental degradation. With the grappling effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising geopolitical tensions and growing concerns of environmental degradation and climate change, the SDG 2030 agenda becomes a critical point of hope to move forward collectively. 

Current literature underscores partnerships as a factor for promoting sustainability. (Sachs et al.) (2019) stress that mechanisms such as finance, in the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and private capital, are fundamental to SDG realization. Collaborative frameworks encompassing governments, NGOs, and private actors help in policy coherence and mobilizing resources, states UNDP (2021). In addition, IPBES (2019) research sees loss of biodiversity as one of the most serious threats to economic stability, in support of strengthened international cooperation towards preventing ecosystem deterioration (SDG 15.5). Institutional efficacy is also essential. UNODC (2022) states that corruption and poor governance institutions hamper sustainable development, coinciding with the emphasis of SDG 16 on building transparent and accountable institutions. Cross-border alliances, according to the OECD (2020), are also key to peacebuilding and economic stability and thus illustrate the interdependent character of SDGs 16 and 17.

International partnerships promote sustainable development progress through economic collaboration, knowledge transfer, and policy coordination. North- South and South- South cooperation machinery under SDG 17 powers innovation and infrastructural progress in low-income countries. Disparities in the allocation of financial assistance and political instability usually hinder effectiveness.

SDG 16 prioritizes justice and inclusive governance, which are critical for sustainable development. International arrangements are undermined by corruption and political instability, weakening global frameworks and diminishing faith in them. It is vital that legal institutions are enhanced and accountability mechanisms are ensured to protect development partnerships.

Strong policy coherence, creative financing strategies, and better public-private partnerships will be necessary in the future to meet these goals. Further support of the international legal structure and encouragement of popular engagement in decision-making will help drive inclusive and sustainable growth. Sustainable growth is possible only through a multi-stakeholder approach. SDGs 17, 16, and 15 underline the value of cooperation, governance, and environmental conservation. Although basic improvements have been made, establishing a sustainable and resilient planet rests mostly on strengthening institutional systems and promoting level playing field partnerships.

SDGs in Triangular Corporation: A Sustainable Paradigm

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the importance of global partnerships in tackling various challenges. SDG 17 specifically underscores the significance of North-South, South-South, and triangular cooperation as essential drivers of sustainable development—targets 17.6 and 17.9 centre on technology transfer, knowledge sharing, and capacity building. Triangular cooperation, which involves a donor, an emerging economy, and a beneficiary, facilitates the exchange of expertise, funding, and technology. According to UNDP (2021), these partnerships bolster policy coherence and foster financial innovation to advance the implementation of the SDGs.

Target 17.6 emphasizes the importance of global cooperation in science, technology, and innovation. Initiatives such as the Global Partnership on AI are prime examples of collaborative efforts to achieve sustainable progress. This form of cooperation enables developing countries to gain access to advanced technologies, thereby helping to bridge digital divides and enhance infrastructure. Nonetheless, the OECD (2020) highlights ongoing infrastructure and regulatory framework gaps that hinder the effectiveness of technology-sharing agreements. To ensure successful implementation, there is a pressing need for stronger public-private partnerships and improved governance structures.

Target 17.9 highlights the importance of strengthened international support for institutional and human capital development. South-South Cooperation initiatives effectively promote skill-sharing and policy alignment, enabling countries to leverage one another’s experiences. Capacity-building programs have bolstered local expertise in critical areas such as climate resilience, education, and governance. Sachs et al. (2019) stress that sustainable financing and ongoing technical assistance are crucial for sustaining progress in these domains.

While triangular cooperation holds significant potential, it encounters various challenges, including bureaucratic inefficiencies, inconsistent funding, and political instability. To overcome these obstacles, it is essential to strengthen governance mechanisms, ensure reliable financial commitments, and adopt adaptive strategies. Balancing national interests with global development goals remains complex, necessitating transparent policies and more robust international agreements. The future of triangular cooperation relies on fostering long-term collaborations, engaging diverse stakeholders, and harnessing technological advancements to develop equitable and sustainable development models. Enhanced partnerships under SDG 17 can be crucial in driving inclusive economic growth, promoting resilience, and improving the overall execution of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Pathway to Pax sustainability: A review on WTO

The relationship between the sustainable development goal 17 and the World Trade Organization is pivotal for fostering global partnership in today’s scenario where the world is switching its importance to sustainable living. While SDG 17 specifically focuses on revitalising global partnerships to enhance the means of implementation of the SDG initiatives, specifically addressing the need and call for action to increase capacity for implementation of SDGs at all levels and the need for wealthy regions to raise financial support to poorer regions (Maltais, Weitz, Persson, 2018), WTO plays a crucial role in facilitating trade that supports the achievement of various SDGs, most importantly, partnerships for goals. 

After several changes to the initial idea of GATT, WTO was born in 1991, marking a shift from ‘shallow integration’ to ‘deep integration’ as described by Harvard professor Robert Lawrence. The shift was marked by a profound transformation in the trading system, which became much more formalised and technical, motivated by economic and ideological concerns rather than political ones. (Cima & Etsy, 2024) The WTO’s aid for trade approach started in 2005, strives to allocate an increasing proportion of money and resources to least developed countries. SDG 8 which calls to ‘increase aid for trade support for developing countries, in particular, least developed countries’, and the ‘aid-for-trade’ approach’s objectives are dependent on integrated policy approaches and trade-offs. (Lammersen & Hynes, 2019) Since the start of aid-for-trade, almost US$ 648 billion of funding has been donated since 2006 to integrate developing economies into global trade. (WTO) Several other initiatives by WTO mainly include submission of annual reports to the UN’s high-level Political Forum since 2016, which details its progress towards several SDGs. Collaboration with the UN’s department for Economic and social affairs has also played a pivotal step in monitoring the progress towards SDGs. (WTO)

Despite the efforts taken by the WTO, there still remains a very huge gap in addressing key issues like financial gaps, inequality gaps, etc. The WTO has worked towards MSPs (Multi-Stake Holder partnerships) is something to take note of, but there remains a knowledge gap, especially where there is a need for more work developing assessment methods.(Maltais, Weitz, Persson, 2018). While the WTO’s deep integration sees all government intervention as a threat to free trade, w.r.t, multilateral subsidies discipline, what WTO also needs to realise is that, that approach towards subsidies also coincides with the initial vision of WTO of free and liberalized market. Whenever the market fails, the government must intervene, like providing subsidies. With the SDG coming in, the WTO’s vision to greening the economy persists, and the subsidy approach aligns with today’s urgent need to take sustainable development as the ultimate trade objective. (Cima & Etsy, 2024) As the WTO promotes international trade, it also comes with challenges to the environment with the massive structural change in the global market such as pollution, exhausting of natural resources, dangerous working conditions and growing inequality. As a reliable member of the SDGs, it is WTO’s very duty to re-align their trade policy accordingly. The WTO sees itself as a regulatory body and strengthens those regulatory policies to protect the market. Unless this is changed, the final outcome of a fully driven sustainable economy is undesirable. For this to change, it requires a number of policy changes, new trade rules and new standards. However, it is not to be forgotten that introducing this model comes with a lot of legal uncertainty. By joining the WTO, members definitely strive to reduce their non-sustainable impact on the environment, which adheres to the WTO’s policies and rules, but there are no significant national policies that include sustainable development within the WTO treaties besides just vaguely mentioning it in their preamble. (Sieber-Gasser, Kalra,Sheth, 2021).

The SDGs at the Crossroads: A Reflexive Examination of Progress, Pitfalls, and Future Directions for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda:

Adopted in 2015, the SDGs caused a worldwide response across various sectors. There are significant accomplishments in poverty reduction (SDG 1), availability of quality education (SDG 4) and renewable energy (SDG 7). In the context of poverty levels, the global poverty reduction rate was significantly reduced, with the number of people living in extreme poverty declining by 1.9 billion between 1990 and 2018 (World Bank, 2022). Similarly, since 2010, renewable energy capacity has been quadrupled around the world as a result of technological development and support policies (IRENA, 2022).

Progress, however, has been very uneven across regions and goals. For the most part, higher income countries have tended to have a better track record or more focus in terms of innovation (SDG 9) and Sustainable cities (SDG 11); however, on the other hand lower-income or medium income countries are still confronted with substantial problems such as inadequacies in infrastructure, unmet healthcare access (SDG 3) and gender inequality (SDG 5). The inference that can most certainly be seen directly from observation is an example of such wide spread disparity, for instance by looking at the stark differences in terms of electricity access which can be found in sub-Saharan Africa. As regards electricity availability, over 60% of the world’s population can be found without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa (IEA, 2021). 

Despite the advancement so far, there are few pitfalls that stand as threats to implementing, as stated, the 2030 Agenda. The first one is the absence of serious financing, a major impediment. In developing countries, it is estimated that there is a yearly funding gap of $2.5 trillion that is to be encountered in building towards the SDGs (UNCTAD, 2020). This has truly compounded by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, where development funds were shifted from initiatives into COVID-19 relief works, putting millions deeper into poverty (UNDP, 2021).

Second, the silo approach has impeded the agenda of SDG. Many countries have given the treatment of goals as standalone targets rather than interlinked. For example, in the case of improvement of SDG 3 health where improvements have been rendered a low priority the efforts do not reflect any action on climate change SDG 13. Although there are well – recognised links between climate change and environmental degradation this has direct public health implications [WHO, 2020] . Such fragmented approaches fundamentally undermine the unity which had been envisaged in the 2030 Agenda.

Third, weak governance and deficient accountability systems have become barriers to effective SDG implementation. Although many countries have set up national frameworks for the SDGs, in essence, the monitoring and evaluation systems are too weak to follow progress and hold stakeholders accountable (OECD, 2022).

Future Directions of the 2030 Agenda

In this purpose, the renewed commitment towards the SDGs becomes primordial. Firstly, it is more about making financial resources available than increasing the amounts for development. Innovative financing mechanisms could provide those sources, such as green bonds, public-private partnerships, and ODA from high-income countries (World Bank, 2022) – but also addressing illicit financial flows and tax evasion can unlock resources with a lot for development.

Second, SDG implementation must adopt a more integrated approach. The policymakers have to realize how the goals can play synergies with each other and then develop interventions that allow multiple targets to be addressed simultaneously. A typical example is investing in renewable energy, which will benefit SDG 7 while achieving action under SDG 13 and, at the same time, contributing to economic growth in SDG 8. Promoting gender equality (SDG 5) would also trigger a domino effect towards poverty reduction (SDG 1) and health (SDG 3).

Third, it is necessary to reinforce mechanisms of governance and accountability. Governments need to develop sound monitoring systems in addition to engaging civil society in the implementation process. In addition, the advances in technology based on blockchain and big data analytics can be useful in enhancing internal transparency and ensuring the effective use of resources to maximize results (UNDP, 2022). Also, international collaboration requires strengthening in multilevel efforts to tackle global challenges such as climate change and inequality, which have alternative dimensions.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda is a highly ambitious Agenda in the direction of a better and a greener world. The trip is not yet over though significant milestones have been achieved. The uneven advancement as well as the ongoing difficulties (e.g., financing gaps, fragmentation, weak governance) demand quick responses. The international community can recommit to the SDGs, and make sure nobody is left behind, by adopting a more integrated and inclusionary perspective, by using novel financing instruments, and by improving accountability. The next decade will be decisive and to date’s decisions will determine whether the 2030 Agenda is a transformative vision for sustainable development or a missed opportunity.

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Zhang, D. X. (n.d.). WTO Blog | US$ 648 billion of funding helps to integrate developing economies into global trade. WTO Blog. WTO Blog | US$ 648 billion of funding helps to integrate developing economies into global trade