P R E FA C E | 3
Preface by
the UNDP Administrator
Four years ago, the international community agreed
on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the
Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the Paris Agreement on
Climate Change as a set of key blueprints to chart a better
future for all. The G20 made a valued contribution to these
global efforts in 2016 by adopting the G20’s Action Plan
on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – a
policy framework to align the G20 Agenda with the 2030
Agenda – and ultimately aimed at contributing to global
efforts to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) by 2030. Acting upon this plan, G20 members took
swift action to advance concrete sustainable development
outcomes in a number of key areas, in particular by
supporting developing countries to implement the 2030
Agenda according to their national priorities and to assist
them in the provision of global public goods.
Reflecting on this valued support, this report examines
how the G20 has collectively contributed to the Action
Plan’s defined Sustainable Development Sectors (SDS)
and the G20’s current priorities across three dimensions
of sustainable development – economic, social and
environmental. It also analyses how the G20’s work on
cross-cutting issues such as gender equality is helping to
deliver results for people living in developing countries.
In doing so, the report supports the commitment from
G20 Leaders in 2018 to review progress made on the
implementation of the Action Plan. As a long-standing
G20 knowledge partner on the 2030 Agenda, the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) jointly
developed this report with the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the request of
the Japanese Presidency of the G20.
Crucially, the report provides a number of key findings
on overall progress made and makes a number of
recommendations on the way forward for further
implementation of the G20 Action Plan. This report
ultimately aims to support the G20’s efforts to further
contribute to the 2030 Agenda, especially in view of the
SDG Summit being convened by the United Nations (UN)
Secretary-General in September 2019. The summit will take
stock of the global efforts that are already being made and
it will identify future actions to accelerate progress towards
the SDGs.
In this respect, much remains to be done if we are to
realize all 17 SDGs fully and the G20 Osaka Summit is being
convened at a critical juncture and a time of uncertainty.
We cannot afford to delay urgent actions needed to
address the extensive and intertwined challenges such as
poverty and rising inequality; climate change; migration
and forced displacement. The international community will
also need to pivot to respond to the major transformations
that are currently taking place such as the “4th Industrial
Revolution” and the digital economy as well as co-
ordinating efforts to ensure that the global economy
remains open and stable. These complex challenges will
impact upon each and every one of us in some way and
it is clearly evident that no one country can tackle these
challenges alone.
In this respect, the report seizes upon a timely opportunity
to raise awareness of the need for a revigorated multilateral
system to accelerate sustainable development across the
globe. The continued strong partnership between the
G20, the UN System and the OECD – exemplified by this
very report and many other initiatives – is a clear example
of the kind of productive collaboration that is needed
more than ever. Perhaps more importantly, this spirit of a
co-operation is a cause for great confidence and hope that
the international community can work even more closely
together to meet the many challenges and, indeed, to seize
upon the many opportunities that will present themselves
on the road to 2030.
Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator