In a recent interview with Wall Street Herald, Yongyi Min, lead author of the annual UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Report, emphasized the urgent need for partnerships and increased data investment to achieve the global goals by 2030.
In light of the sobering state of progress towards the SDGs, Min, who is the Chief of the Sustainable Development Goal Monitoring Section at the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), provided her insights into the critical role of partnerships and data investment in driving progress.
“Building partnership is critical for achieving better and more inclusive data for development. Partnerships play a crucial role in enhancing data collection, analysis, and reporting processes, ensuring that data reflects the diverse needs and experiences of different populations,” said Min, who is responsible for the UN program of the global monitoring of the progress towards the SDGs.
“Recognizing the diverse national capacities in data and statistics, it is crucial to adopt a ‘whole-of-society’ approach. This involves engaging a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector, to collectively work towards the SDGs,” she added.
Min, who manages SDGs monitoring outputs at the global level, said that “each stakeholder brings unique strengths and expertise that can contribute to monitoring progress, generating inclusive data, and implementing effective solutions. Inclusivity is vital for effective SDG implementation.”
“Engaging a broad range of stakeholders, as demonstrated by many countries’ Voluntary National Review process, ensures diverse perspectives are considered,” she said. “Inclusive partnerships help generate more accurate and representative data, increase ownership of the SDGs, and enable better decision-making.”
Given the gloomy picture in the progress of SDGs, Min, who is also responsible for the program of the global monitoring of the progress towards the SDGs, highlighted some successful examples, such as regular stakeholder meetings on SDG data in Cameroon, Mozambique, and Uganda, and the establishment of a National Commission for the SDGs in Brazil involving various stakeholders.
Min, responsible for overseeing SDGs monitoring outputs at the global level, expressed her concerns regarding the sluggish progress highlighted by the unsatisfactory figures.
She referred to the progress assessment conducted by the UN DESA Statistics Division. “According to the most recent data as of June 2022,” she stated, “Half have shown deviations from the desired trajectory, and more than one-third have experienced no progress or regression below the 2015 baseline.”
Expressing her concern, she added, “This is a very sobering reality, as the world is falling short of meeting most of the goals by 2030.”
Turning to data investment, Min stressed the importance of investing in data. “Data and statistics are the engine that can drive the acceleration of the SDGs,” she stated.
“Every dollar invested in strengthening data systems generates 32 dollars in economic benefits. But too many countries still lack the capacity to take advantage of the data dividend and risk being left behind because they do not have fully funded and effective foundational systems on which the new data solutions can build and can be integrated,” she said.
“The vision is that by 2030, countries will have the investment, skilled people, strong institutions and political leadership to deliver and use data, data technologies and statistics in ways that create opportunities and drive decision making that is based on facts and evidence,” she stressed.
By creating opportunities and driving evidence-based decision-making, she believes this vision will lead to greater progress in achieving the SDGs, said the statistics expert.
During the conversation, Min expressed a concern regarding the impact of human activities on climate change and emphasized the importance of raising awareness and giving special attention to this issue within the entire international community.
“Over a century of burning fossil fuels, unsustainable energy and land use, and untenable consumption and production patterns have caused global warming of 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels,” she said.
She warned that the world is on track to surpass the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius tipping point of global warming by around 2035, with the potential for an unsustainable warming of around 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Despite global climate finance flows reaching an annual average of 803 billion U.S. dollars in 2019-2020, there remains a significant shortfall in meeting the needs of developing countries.
Min estimated that nearly 6 trillion dollars in additional funding will be required by 2030 to support countries in achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions related to climate action.
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