Interview: Ambitious sustainable development goals reflect substantially changing world: expert

The "supremely ambitious and transformational vision" on the United Nations' sustainable development agenda reflects the substantial changes the world has undergone in the last 15 years, a former UN official said.

"The excitement around the sustainable development goals (SDGs) is the excitement around trying to recognize and adapt to a rapidly changing world," said Bruce Jenks, former assistant secretary-general for UN Development Program (UNDP) and now an adjunct professor at the Columbia University.

Negotiators from 193 UN member states agreed in August on a draft blueprint for sustainable development over the next 15 years. The document will be adopted at an upcoming UN summit at UN headquarters in New York.

The agreement, called "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," basically redefines how the world should work together to end poverty, promote prosperity, and combat climate change, outlining 17 goals with 169 specific targets.

"Sometimes there is confusion that it's a UN agenda," he noted. "It's not a UN agenda in that sense; it's an agenda for the world."

On its implementation, Jenks noted that states are incredibly important; the public sector can act as a main driver; the private sector has a huge role to play; and the UN needs to contribute.

WORLD POWERS NEED TO INVEST IN UN

The cooperation between world powers on UN development issues is essential, said Jenks, adding those great powers also need to be prepared to invest in UN as an organization.

"When I say invest, I don't just mean money," he said. "I mean ... to give space to the Secretary-General and to the institution of the United Nations to be able to do things which the world needs...which those powers also need."

Jenks said one of the things that has changed in the world is the emergence of the development issues which require a collective response.

The world can only solve those problems by all countries working together, he noted.

Though some of the agreements are indeed voluntary, he said, "that's got to be better than nothing."

STRATEGIC FOCUS IN UN DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

After his retirement from the UN, Jenks has been mostly involved in analyzing the UN development system. One of the observations he has made is that the UN development system needs more strategic focus.

"The strategic vision cannot be everything. It's got to be choosing to do certain things, which means not to do others," he said.

Jenks said the UN development system has entirely reinvented itself over the last 60 to 70 years on what it was doing, how it operated, how it was financed, whom it partnered with.

"All of these things completely changed because the world has changed," he said.

Therefore, Jenks said it is possible for the UN development system to do things in a substantially different way in the future.

He said the evolution of the UN's system "requires the UN to seek control less and to be more engaged in leveraging solutions by working with others." Endi