The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs could be considered a milestone in the collaboration of humanity. Only the Charta of the UN or the Universal Declaration on Human Rights come to mind as documents of similar scale and depth. All UN member states came together to write this impressive manifest of international cooperation in an effort to make the world a better, more equal place for both humans and nature.
While there are aspects in the agenda we as civil society see as problematic or not far-reaching enough – such as the weak language on “access to” instead of “right to” – there has been a wide consensus by civil society worldwide that the 2030 Agenda is the best document we could get at that point in time. Today, with only 7 years passed, it seems unfathomable that the international community could once again agree on such as comprehensive and, in parts, even radical political agenda.
The continuous decline of international cooperation between states as well as the careless way the SDG implementation has been presented at the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) by most, if not all, states with empty touristic videos or promises of policies that will never get implemented – this is truly disappointing for all of us who are calling for governments to step up and give us what they have promised: A peaceful and sustainable world for all.
It is also in sharp contrast to the activities of many civil society organisations and activists worldwide who have used the SDGs to link their calls for justice, battling the climate crisis, global equality and economic reforms. The SDGs have brought civil society together, with new alliances coming up, networks and cooperation thriving and a community that shares and learns from each other.
With this publication, we want to strengthen those civil society actors that have continuously fought to make governments pay up. We want to help them and you with a new tool in your call and in your work to implement the SDGs. All of us know all too well: We cannot count on voluntary commitments. We need binding legislation! This must be the case for the SDGs as well. With over 100 suggestions for laws to be implemented by the current German parliament, we have tried to build a bridge, between the political recommendations of the SDGs, civil society’s call for action and the legal structures of our democracy. The suggestions focus on German law and the German parliament, as this English version is a translation of the publication we designed for the German Bundestag around the 2021 elections. Yet, we hope that it may serve you as a source of inspiration and courage to ask for a binding implementation of the SDGs in your country as well. Let’s keep reminding governments of their promise for a world that leaves no one behind. The way to an SDG-world is still so very long, yet there is so little time left.