Abstract
The “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, is a future programme to stimulate sustainable economic, social and environmental development all over the world. It contains 17 goals and 169 targets that aim to fundamentally improve the living conditions of present and future generations and to protect the planet.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) do not only create new challenges for policy-makers but also give international official statistics an unprecedented role. This article identifies the “tasks” assigned to national and global official statistics. It also illustrates the degree of commitment to evidence-based policy-making that the community of states has made in the Agenda.
Introduction
“We want to change our world. And we can. We want to give the world a more humane face. And we can. […] To this end, we are adopting new goals which cover the entire spectrum of global development and which apply to all, industrial and developing countries alike” [5]. With these words, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined the landmark importance of the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (2030 Agenda) for the international community of states in her speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.
After many years of intense political dialogue involving governments, civil society and non-govern-mental organisations around the world, the UN Member States adopted a global plan of action of unprecedented scope in 2015 with the 2030 Agenda. The goal of UN Resolution 70/1, as the 2030 Agenda is officially called, is nothing less than the attempt to transform our world for the better (UN Resolution 70/1, here: page 2). The 2030 Agenda defines 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 targets (see also Kaumanns et al. [3]). All 169 targets constitute sustainability goals1 that represent economic, social and environmental aims. The spectrum of the Agenda is broad, addressing topics ranging from the eradication of poverty and gender equality to environmental issues such as climate change and sustainable consumption. As reiterated throughout the Agenda, every individual national government has primary responsibility for the implementation of the plan of action. Each country is therefore free to decide on how to implement the 2030 Agenda over the next 15 years. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared: “The new agenda is a promise by leaders to all people everywhere. It is an agenda for people, to end poverty in all its forms – an agenda for the planet, our common home” [1].
The 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda.
The Agenda not only presents new challenges for policy-makers but also assigns international statistics an unprecedented role in terms of a broad-based, global political future programme. The Agenda sets out various “asks” for the official statistics of the 193 signatories, which ultimately all serve a single goal: the ability to provide data that can demonstrate economic, social and environmental progress in the implementation of the 17 goals and 169 targets in the next 15 years. Statistics are therefore key component of the regular review mechanism of the Agenda, a systematic and comprehensive global monitoring process that repeatedly seeks to provide transparency on the progress of the community of states towards the achievement of the SDGs.
What does the resolution specifically require of national and international statistics? The perception so far is primarily limited to the creation of the set of indicators for global monitoring: to be able to track global progress towards the goals through to 2030, at least one indicator is provided for each of the 169 targets. While the creation of the indicators is certainly the most important task for global official statistics set out in the resolution, other important areas of activity for statistics are also enshrined in the 2030 Agenda.
This article identifies and explains the challenges for official statistics deriving from the 2030 Agenda. It demonstrates how committed the SDGs are to evidence-based refinement and data-driven monitoring. This also requires us to examine and consider the structure of the SDGs and the 169 targets, looking at what they have in common and how they differ, how they interact and overlap, and their content and associated trade-offs. Only by examining these circumstances does it become increasingly clear where statistics can be applied to map the SDGs into quantifiable data.
There are five parts to the 2030 Agenda: a preamble containing the vision and the five core messages, a (political) declaration, the sustainable development goals themselves, a section on the means of implementation of the Agenda and a section on reviewing said implementation.
The parts of the 2030 Agenda.
The political declaration specifically addresses the objective and the political and social significance of the UN Agenda. As political scientist Dr. Marianne Beisheim2 puts it “the 17 goals of the Agenda reflect political compromises and existing trade-offs, but also a minimum international consensus on how the Member States wish to shape their future. The focus here is no longer solely on development policy but on transformational policy in all countries.” [2, p. 1].
The five core messages of the Agenda are delivered in the preamble and essentially constitute the vision behind the SDGs. The five core messages of the 2030 Agenda (People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership):
People We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment. Planet We are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations. Prosperity We are determined to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature. Peace We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. Partnership We are determined to mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda through a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.
The five core messages are translated into the political future programme in the SDGs – the actual heart of the 2030 Agenda. A closer look at the 169 targets reveals how they differ from one another in terms of structure, detail, complexity and level of abstraction. While they basically follow the typical structure of a target – something specific should be achieved (by a certain time) – they do so in very different ways.
Some targets are very precise, such as target 3.1 “By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births”. Here, a numerical target is specified, the timeline is clear and any misunderstandings in terms of definitions are largely ruled out. However, not all the goals are so clear and unambiguous. Target 5.1, for example, is far more vague: “End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.” While a numerical target is implied here – the goal is achieved when there is no – i.e. zero – discrimination. However, there are no specifics on how discrimination is defined and by when the goal should be achieved. In addition, some targets are multi-faceted and therefore very complex with regard to the data required. One such target is 11.2 “By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.”
Indicators for global monitoring
“The Goals and targets will be followed up and reviewed using a set of global indicators” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 75). For international official statistics, this mandate means having to assign at least one indicator to each of the 169 targets. The indicators will then be used through to 2030 to regularly check whether the individual targets have been met or how much ground still needs to be covered. The global set of indicators is therefore the quantitative framework of the review process – a complex reporting system at the national and international level to track progress in the implementation of the SDGs. This process is led at the UN level by the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
The UN Statistical Commission plays a central role in the indicator development process. A group of experts (Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators, or IAEG-SDGs) was commissioned to develop the first global set of indicators which will be presented to the UN General Assembly in the final stage of the process. Germany, represented by the Federal Statistical Office, is one of the 28 Member States of the IAEG-SDGs.
Focus 1The United Nations Statistical Commission is the highest body of the global statistical system. It brings together the chief statisticians from the statistical offices of the Member States to decide on the setting of statistical standards, the development of concepts and methods and their implementation at the national and international level. The Statistical Commission is one of nine functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council and is the only commission to bring together high-level experts on the subject instead of representatives of permanent missions.
The particular importance that the Member States attach to the global set of indicators is also reflected in the fact that the indicator development procedures outlined above are already specifically included in the Resolution. “…The global indicator framework, to be developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators, will be agreed by the Statistical Commission by March 2016 and adopted thereafter by the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly, in line with existing mandates.” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 75).
The work of the IAEG-SDGs will not stop there, however. The Expert Group will concentrate on the methodological refinement of the indicators through to 2030 and, in various review rounds, will continuously put forward suitable indicators that may even better map the goals of the 2030 Agenda.
“Leave no one behind”.3 This key message of the 2030 Agenda gives rise to another job for statistics: the disaggregation of national and global indicators. As the Resolution states: “Follow-up and review processes at all levels will be guided by the following principles: … g) They will be rigorous and based on evidence, informed by country-led evaluations and data which is high-quality, accessible, timely, reliable and disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migration status, disability and geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts.” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 74).
Trade-off: Indivisibility and prioritisation
A central challenge in implementing the 2030 Agenda is the inherent trade-off between indivisibility and prioritisation. Both the indivisibility of the 169 targets and the prioritisation of individual goals by national governments are principal elements of the 2030 Agenda: “The Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 55).
Indivisibility means that one SDG does not exist without the other, which means that the goals are inter-related and mutually dependent, and must be considered and implemented as a whole. This not only puts the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the Agenda on an equal par but also implies that all goals have equal weighting. The 2030 Agenda does not structure the goals in terms of importance. The term “integrated” further underlines this concept as it implies that the 169 SDGs are interconnected and united to form a single whole. In addition, in many cases the individual targets are contingent upon one another, influence each other and in the best case scenario also complement one another in terms of their desired impact. To consistently give due consideration to the principle of indivisibility and integrity would require each country to pursue each goal equally and simultaneously from the very outset – an approach that is neither politically nor financially viable for any country in the world and – as already mentioned – is neither envisaged nor desired by the 2030 Agenda.
Instead, the idea of prioritisation comes into play. Each UN Member State has economic, political, social and environmental circumstances and needs to which it will align the political implementation of the 2030 Agenda and set out appropriate policy priorities. This is to be accomplished in the form of national strategies according to the will of the community of states: “Targets are defined as aspirational and global, with each Government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances.” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 55). The SDGs are therefore essentially the benchmark for national sustainability strategies.
A national sustainability strategy has been in place in Germany for around 15 years. The Federal Government adopted the first national sustainability strategy entitled “Perspectives for Germany” on 17 April 2002. Sustainable development has been a central goal of Germany’s system of governance ever since, with progress reports published at regular intervals. The biennial indicator reports produced by the Federal Statistical Office since 2006 constitute an independent component of these progress reports, and use selected indicators4 to measure achievements and short-comings in the implementation of the political strategy.
The national sustainability strategy is currently being revised, with the Federal Government adapting it to the 2030 Agenda, inter alia. In keeping with the SDGs, the updated sustainability strategy will include new thematic areas, such as inequality, water quality or sustainable patterns of consumption and production. The Federal Government aims to adopt the new strategy in autumn or winter 2016. Compared with other countries, therefore, Germany is already very advanced in terms of national prioritisation of the SDGs.
As the example of the German national sustainability strategy demonstrates, the prioritisation of the goals from the 2030 Agenda at national level also means there is significant additional need for statistical data. Generally speaking, rather than applying the global goals of the Agenda directly on a one-to-one basis to each country, the policy-makers of the individual countries will adapt the goals to their own specific circumstances. In turn, this also means that global indicators for measuring the SDGs are not necessarily able to map the national circumstances of individual countries. In such cases, new indicators which specially address the particular circumstances of the country, and are therefore more accurate, must be developed at national level. As a result, while the German sustainability strategy currently under review contains indicators that measure what is envisaged in the 2030 Agenda goal applied to Germany, these indicators deviate from the specified global indicators. SDG 11.1 is one such example: “By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums”. The global indicator seeks to measure the percentage of the urban population living in slums, unofficial settlements and inadequate housing. Germany, on the other hand, plans to measure the excess burden deriving from housing costs,5 which reflects the goal for Germany much better than if the global indicator were applied.
Not all SDGs are the same
The SDGs are the result of a political programme negotiated by 193 states and the outcome of a prolonged discussion process in which essentially every area of economic, social and environmental action has been taken into consideration for 169 SDGs. As already mentioned above, the result is a diversity of goals, with some having no numerical target whatsoever. Despite this, the 2030 Agenda explicitly calls for a good data basis to track progress also against these SDGs: “We commit to addressing this gap in data collection so as to better inform the measurement of progress, in particular for those targets below which do not have clear numerical targets.” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 57).
Many of the means of implementation are among the targets which do not have clear numerical targets. These means of implementation are not targets in the actual sense, but rather policy actions and measures to implement other SDGs. In effect, they precede the other SDGs and constitute concrete actions that should help the other goals succeed. As such, their special structure often makes it particularly difficult to statistically measure progress towards goal achievement, and in some cases this has been next to impossible so far. As the 2030 Agenda implies, there is a need for new concepts and developments in this area.
Means of implementation comprise, for example, the mobilisation of resources, the implementation of existing agreements, technological developments and transfers, and much more. For example, SDG 8.b demands, inter alia, the development and operationalisation of a global strategy for youth employment by 2020, and SDG 16.b calls for the promotion and enforcement of non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development. The provision of access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets is the focus of SDG 14.b.
While statistically important, the means of implementation are first and foremost of particular political importance within the SDGs. They were the focus of very controversial debate in the many rounds of negotiation concerning the 2030 Agenda and demanded as an integral part of the 2030 Agenda particularly by developing and emerging countries.
Capacity building
Building and strengthening statistical capacities6 (capacity building7) is a key factor to the success of the 2030 Agenda. At various points, the 2030 Agenda calls for the creation of strong, well organised and efficient statistical capacities for the SDGs.
There is a long tradition of capacity building in statistics and the Federal Statistical Office has decades of experience in this field. However, the requirements for international support services have changed repeatedly since the early 1990s. Changes in the political landscape meant that official statistics had to adapt to new developments, starting with the German reunification and continuing through to the transformation of former communist economic systems and the EU accession of mainly eastern European countries.
The establishment of institutional partnerships, like those based on long-term bilateral agreements for cooperation or twinning projects,8 has proven to be an important pillar of international collaboration. In each case, the projects are always based on the European Statistics Code of Practice or the ten Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The Fundamental Principles also form the basis for statistical work within the context of the SDGs.
Focus 2 The European Commission announced the Code of Practice in a recommendation in May 2005. The Code defines quality assurance guidelines in a total of 15 principles covering the institutional environment for the production of statistics, the statistical production processes and the output of statistics. This seeks to ensure that official statistics are produced in all Member States according to recognised scientific methods and independently of any outside influence. See also Klumpen/Schäfer, 2012. Indivisibility of the 2030 Agenda.
One particular aspect of the data requirements for the SDGs is that some of these requirements are uncharted waters for most national statistical offices. In effect, this means that essentially all countries are “developing countries” when it comes to the SDGs. Well aware that even developed countries with sophisticated statistical systems will face major challenges given the data needs of the SDGs, in terms of statistical capacity building the 2030 Agenda is explicitly directed at all Member States.9
German policy-makers are also cognisant of the importance of statistical capacity building within the context of the 2030 Agenda. For example, in a panel discussion10 Dr. Ingolf Dietrich, Commissioner for sustainable development goals at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, underlined the central importance of the promotion of national statistical capacities for SDG reporting in order to support the bottom-up monitoring mechanism of the 2030 Agenda while enabling evidence-based policy-making that involves the population in the delivery of the goals of the Agenda.
The need for statistical capacity building is infinitely greater in developing countries than in Germany. Such countries urgently need the support of nations with a well-developed statistical infrastructure: “We agree to intensify our efforts to strengthen statistical capacities in developing countries, particularly African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and middle-income countries.” (UN Resolution 70/1, here: paragraph 48).11
Despite every effort it is safe to assume that the resources for global statistical capacity building will be limited, which makes the need for the optimum allocation of existing resources all the more pressing. One advantage of the global direction of the SDGs is that many countries – including those with a well-developed official statistics base – are facing new data needs. By locking into resulting synergies, many countries – and not only developing nations – can benefit from statistical capacity building in individual states. Indicator developments, national statistical expertise, best practices and methodological improvements can be shared worldwide. Even where an individual country requires capacity building (poor countries often still lack a basic statistical infrastructure), there will be other countries or groups of countries in need of similar assistance. In addition, partnerships with the business sector, the scientific community and enterprises, for example, are appropriate tools particularly with regard to methodological issues.
The High Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for post 2015 monitoring (HLG) has been set up as a subgroup of the UN Statistical Commission to coordinate and advance the statistical capacity building processes. In addition to supporting projects for statistical capacity building, the HLG is mandated to promote cooperation with other non-official data producers and the scientific community. This is one of the reasons why the HLG launched the UN World Forum on Sustainable Development Data (World Data Forum), which will be held for the first time in Cape Town, South Africa, in January 2017. The World Data Forum will serve as a platform to promote the exchange of views and collaboration among all institutions and groups interested and involved in the development of statistical data for the 2030 Agenda. Issues surrounding the funding of statistical capacity building within the context of the SDGs is another key field of activity of the HLG.
A wide range of initiatives and plans for capacity building in developing countries are already in place around the world. In Germany, for example, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH launched “Partners for Review”, a transnational network to strengthen the global monitoring and review mechanism, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Another special statistics project for developing countries, which seeks to close data gaps by using big data and open data, is currently in the planning stage.
Country-specific data for the global set of indicators, data bases for non-numerical targets, closing of information gaps for goals for which no data basis has been available so far, capacity building for all countries, but particularly for developing countries, indicators to measure progress towards the goals of the national sustainability strategy, disaggregated and geo-referenced data at the national and global level, information complementing gross domestic product – these are all demands which the 2030 Agenda specifically puts on global official statistics in 193 countries.
Comprehensive explanations on statistical data needs, with some even describing the procedure in detail, make one thing very clear: data-backed SDGs and the quantitative measurement of progress made truly matter in the 2030 Agenda. It constitutes the attempt to implement evidence-based policy around the world in every important, future-related economic, social and environmental issue of the 2030 Agenda. However, given the complexity and the different nature of the goals and targets, as well as existing data gaps or methodological issues concerning the provision of suitable indicators, it is also clear that the SDGs pose a major challenge for statistics. This is true both with regard to national implementation and implementation in developing and partner countries.
This article only looked at the requirements for official statistics that specifically derive from the 2030 Agenda. However, if one reads just a little between the lines, it becomes clear that significantly greater data requirements and a whole range of methodological issues need to be addressed. This applies, for example, to the methodology for capturing the “interlinkages” between the goals.12 The principle of indivisibility implies that action taken to deliver on one specific goal should not negatively impact other goals. For example, combating hunger may not be coupled with child labour or increased emissions of harmful substances. On the other hand, the Agenda certainly contains goals which, if given priority, can have a major positive impact on progress towards other goals. The means of implementation which are essential for the SDGs also call for a closer look at statistical methodologies. These are just some examples of how important it is for statistics to examine the 2030 Agenda further in order to produce high-quality statistical data for the UN future project whose goal is nothing less than to transform the world for the better.
Footnotes
The UN World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, defined the term “sustainability” in 1987 as “the kind of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Dr. Marianne Beisheim is a scientist in the “Global Issues” research group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. A specific focus of her work is global governance in the field of sustainable development. At present, she is mainly involved in the follow-up and review of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
Resolution 70/1, paragraph 4: “As we embark on this great collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. Recognizing that the dignity of the human person is fundamental, we wish to see the Goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society. And we will endeavour to reach the furthest behind first.”
The strategy content, the indicators and the targets are defined by the Federal Government, while the Federal Statistical Office is individually responsible for indicator reporting with the provision of data and statistical analyses, determines progress towards goal achievement and advises the Federal Government on methodology. In this context, official statistics work on the principle of neutral, transparent and independent reporting.
According to current information, August 2016. See the draft of the new edition of the sustainability strategy dated 30 May 2016, page 53 (
As an important international donor institution for statistical capacity building, the World Bank defines the term “statistical capacity” as follows: “a nation’s ability to collect, analyze, and disseminate high-quality data about its population and economy”.
Capacity building refers to efforts to strengthen the problem-solving capabilities of organisations, institutions and people in developing and transition countries: donor organisations should not solve the problems in the countries themselves but should instead be active in a training, support and advisory capacity.
See paragraph 57 of UN Resolution 70/1.
Expert discussion on “2030 Agenda Monitoring & Statistical Capacities,” organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on 27 June 2016 in Bonn.
In addition to general calls for greater support of official statistics in poor and the poorest countries, the 2030 Agenda is also very specific: For example target 17.18 and paragraph 76 call for support in the development of timely and reliable disaggregated national data, and target 17.19 calls for statistical information that complements gross domestic product.
The work of the IAEG-SDGs working group on “Interlinkages of SDG statistics to allow for integrated analyses in the monitoring” serves as an initial starting point for an examination of the “interlinkages” between the goals. Terms of Reference, see unstats.un.org.