By Angus Whyte – Contributor

The 2023 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Summit is set to be held Sept. 18-19 in New York, where we can expect these global development targets to be revisited and revised. 

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly, consisting of 193 heads of state and numerous world leaders, gathered in New York to plot a chart for the future. With global warming becoming an ever-more pressing issue, the United Nations envisioned an equitable and sustainable path to economic growth for all participating nations. The result of this conference was the adoption of 17 goals centred around sustainable economic development, to be achieved by 2030.

These 17 goals were designed to serve both developed and developing nations. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describes the SDGs as “our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world’s leaders and the people.” As a result, the General Assembly’s mandate was broad, covering social issues like gender inequality as well as climate challenges like conservation efforts and access to clean energy. The adoption of the SDGs represented a blueprint for a harmonious and prosperous future. The goals intend to usher in a decade of growth and progress.

Experts expect that goals will be reevaluated at this summit, resulting in an accelerated plan to achieve the SDGs by the 2030 deadline. Members of the UN Foundation describe this summit as a metaphorical halftime, an opportunity for the UN to reflect on progress made but also to refocus their ambition to deliver the SDGs. 

The 2023 summit marks a momentous occasion for global politics. The summit will be the first of its kind post COVID-19, having to confront the reversal of development progress during the pandemic. In a time of tense global relations, the SDG Summit provides nations with a chance to promote a level of unity that transcends national borders. It offers an opportunity for collaboration towards common goals for the betterment of the entire globe. The 2023 SDG Summit will set the tone of the global political arena for how the world tackles climate change, gender inequality and other pressing issues.