New York, 15 July 2026 –The High-level
Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF –
https://hlpf.un.org/2026) concluded this
week with the adoption of a ministerial declaration,
signaling a renewed commitment by countries to deliver on
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs –
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/).
“With
less than five years remaining until 2030, the challenge
before us is not simply to move faster. It is to work
differently. It is to work collectively. It is to work with
resolve,” said H.E. Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa, President of
the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC –
https://ecosoc.un.org/en). “Implementation can no longer
be approached with one Goal, one sector, or one institution
at a time. It requires policies that are integrated. It
requires partnerships that are stronger. And it requires
international cooperation that is more
effective.”
Held from 7 to 15 July under the
auspices of ECOSOC, the Forum brought together more than
4,000 daily participants, including governments, business
leaders, civil society organizations, youth, scientists,
United Nations entities and other stakeholders, to showcase
innovative solutions, exchange experiences and strengthen
partnerships to accelerate SDG progress.
The Forum
conducted in-depth reviews of SDG 6 (Clean Water and
Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 9
(Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 11
(Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 17
(Partnerships for the Goals), highlighting integrated
approaches to advancing these Goals while accelerating
progress across the entire 2030 Agenda.
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“Even in
these times of division, multilateralism continues to
deliver results,” said United Nations Secretary-General
António Guterres. “From the Pact for the Future to the
Sevilla Commitment, the Doha Political Declaration, the High
Seas Treaty, and the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small
Island Developing States, countries have demonstrated that
cooperation is possible.”
“Moreover, the steady
progress we are making in data and measurement is providing
a much stronger evidence base to help countries better
target their development efforts,” Mr. Guterres said.
“The Sustainable Development Goals Summit, to be held next
year, will provide a critical opportunity to build on this
momentum and mobilize the leadership, financing and
solidarity needed to achieve the Sustainable Development
Goals,” he stressed.
The SDGs deliver: Now the
world must urgently scale up what works
Currently,
only 36 per cent of assessable SDG targets are on track or
making moderate progress, according to The Sustainable
Development Goals Report 2026
(https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2026/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2026.pdf),
launched on 7 July 2026. While progress toward the Goals
continues to face significant headwinds, including
escalating conflict, economic uncertainty and the
intensifying climate crisis, the report also highlights
encouraging gains.
Key achievements since 2015 include
the following:
Nearly 1 billion people gained access
to safely managed drinking water.
The global
unemployment rate declined to a record low of 4.9 per cent
in 2025.
92 per cent of the world’s population gained
access to electricity, with one-third supplied by renewable
energy sources.
Global internet access increased from
40 per cent to 74 per cent of the population.
A
significant decline in AIDS-related deaths, with fatalities
falling by 35 per cent.
The report emphasizes that the
SDGs remain the world’s shared blueprint for peace,
prosperity, and sustainability and must be urgently returned
to the centre of global decision-making. It identifies the
priority actions needed to accelerate progress, including
increased investment, stronger international cooperation,
expanded access to technology and data, a faster energy
transition, greater gender equality, and renewed commitments
to peace.
Voluntary National
Reviews
Thirty-six countries presented their
Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs –
https://hlpf.un.org/2026/vnrs) at the Forum, highlighting
actions they have taken to achieve the SDGs. This brings to
437 the number of reviews conducted since 2016 by 190
countries and the European.
A snapshot of countries’
reporting on progress this
year:
Algeria: Developed a
comprehensive “education-to-employment ecosystem” to
align vocational training and higher education directly with
modern labour market needs.
Burundi:
Established dedicated banks for young people and women
specifically to finance their own economic empowerment and
entrepreneurial projects.
Cameroon:
Strengthened the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem by
expanding Internet access and supporting local start-ups as
part of its structural economic
transformation.
Egypt: Launched the
first voluntary carbon market in Africa in 2024 to advance
climate finance and green
investment.
Gabon: Professionalized
local maintenance and expanded solar-powered wells to ensure
universal water access despite paradoxical shortages in some
regions.
Guinea-Bissau: Integrated
climate resilience and multi-year spending targets into a
programme-based budget for the first time in the country’s
history.
Italy: Conducted the
first-ever “youth voluntary review,” directly
incorporating the views and assessments of children and
young people into the national reporting
process.
Jordan: Initiated a massive
national water conveyance project designed to desalinate and
transport 300 million cubic metres of water annually to
combat extreme scarcity.
Liberia:
Conducted a rigorous audit of domestic debt that freed up
development resources by rejecting over $704 million in
unsupported financial claims.
Malawi:
Institutionalized a government-wide monitoring and
evaluation management information system to ensure
evidence-based policymaking.
Marshall
Islands: Made history by launching “Enra,” a
nationwide universal basic income programme providing
quarterly cash transfers to all resident
citizens.
Mozambique: Leveraged its
decentralization process to carry out voluntary local
reviews (VLRs) in six different territories to ensure the
SDGs are rooted in local communities.
Norway:
Established a national citizens’ panel to
directly engage the public and strengthen participation in
mainstream policy development.
Republic of
Moldova: Implemented an energy vulnerability
reduction fund and used a multidimensional poverty index to
protect citizens during overlapping global
crises.
Saint Kitts and Nevis:
Implemented the LIFT (Livelihood Improvement for Family
Transformation) Programme, which shifted social support from
a welfare-based model to an empowerment model combining
financial aid with skills training.
Saudi
Arabia: Achieved a historic 50 per cent reduction
in non-renewable groundwater use for agriculture while
simultaneously increasing agricultural production by 88 per
cent.
Senegal: Directed its 2050
Vision toward utilizing the start of domestic oil and gas
production as a catalyst for a projected 6.7% economic
growth rate.
Switzerland: Developed
the SDGital2030 platform, allowing hundreds of experts and
external organizations to collaboratively assess the state
of SDG implementation.
Tonga:
Expanded its renewable energy portfolio beyond solar to
include innovative wind, biogas, and mineral-based energy
sources.
United Republic of Tanzania:
Adopted a “whole-of-nation PLUS” approach that
integrates the voices of parliament, civil society, and
international partners into its long-term development
pathway.
Uruguay: Consolidated a
structural energy transformation where renewable sources now
account for nearly 99 per cent of the total electricity
mix
Events Held in Connection with
HLPF
Thirteen high-level special events, 9 VNR labs,
206 side events and 6 exhibitions took place at the
Forum.
Key outcomes include, among
others:
Launch of UN Water’s SDG
6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2026 and the
fifth iteration of the
SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Studies (Uzbekistan,
China, and São Tomé and Príncipe);
Launch of Tracking
SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2026 by SDG 7
Indicator Custodian Agencies (IEA, IRENA, UN DESA, World
Bank and WHO); the SDG
7 Policy Briefs 2026 by the SDG 7 Technical Advisory
Group, and the
UN Energy’s Work Programme for 2026-2030 outlining six
priority areas for collective;
Launch of the “Accelerating
Impact: Business and the United Nations Delivering on the
Pact for the Future”, a thought leadership brief on
practical opportunities for stronger business-UN
collaboration prepared by the Action 55(c) Task Team
coordinated by the UN Global Compact;
Launch of the
Progress Report 2026 of the High Impact Initiative on SDG
Localization: Pushing Key Transitions and Achieving the
SDGs by 2030 by the Local2030 Coalition as well as
Policy Brief on “Localizing
the SDGs by Advancing the Six Transitions at the Local
Level”.
For more information,
please visit: https://hlpf.un.org/2026;
