SD in action - Newsletter Junio 2015

5 JUN 2015 - From 26 June to 8 July 2015, the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development will meet for the third time since its creation. The Forum will have an essential role in steering and reviewing progress towards the sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda once Member States adopt them in September. In line with this task, its theme will be "Strengthening integration, implementation and review - the HLPF after 2015". This year the Forum will meet under the auspices of ECOSOC.

“We will need a strong review mechanism to track our progress towards this new ambitious agenda, and the HLPF will be the core platform for this mechanism. At this year’s meeting, the Forum will reflect on how it can best organize itself to perform this role,” said Nikhil Seth, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development. This year’s HLPF session will also help to advance reflection and pave the ground for an agreement on the new development agenda ahead of the summit that will adopt the agenda, which will be held from 25 to 27 September 2015 at UN Headquarters in New York.

The High-level Political Forum is a young institution that was created at the Rio+20 Conference on sustainable development in 2012. It provides political leadership, guidance and recommendations. It follows up and reviews the implementation of sustainable development commitments and it addresses new and emerging challenges. It also enhances the integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

“The Forum helps us focus on the long-term challenges of sustainable development, looking beyond the short-term. It will help keep the compass on commitments and identify new issues that come up”, said Mr Seth.

Strengthening the science-policy interface

The HLPF is also mandated to strengthen the science-policy interface. One instrument employed to this end is the Global Sustainable Development Report, which is presented at the forum to bring the insights and voices of scientists into its work. The Report seeks to bring together the range of existing assessments of sustainable development and review global progress and future pathways in an integrated way, taking into account the perspectives of scientific communities across the globe.

The HLPF brings together Governments, UN system and other organizations, as well as the major groups and other stakeholders of civil society. It meets every four years at the level of Heads of State and Government under the auspices of the General Assembly, and annually under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council.