Local leaders showcase climate, poverty reduction and partnerships at UN SDGs Forum 2024

Each year in July, the United Nations hosts its forum for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The “High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development”, or HLPF, gives a chance for countries to self-assess their progress on a subset of the 17 Global Goals, from promoting gender equality to preserving biodiversity and much more.

ICLEI USA was at UN headquarters in New York City to contribute to the role of local and regional governments in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among our delegation to NYC were the Mayors of Niteroi, Brazil; Hoboken, USA; and Bonn, Germany, as well as the Governor of Yucatan, Mexico. Two events in particular provided a platform for our local leaders to advocate for the localization of SDGs. Here we share highlights and key takeaways.

What is HLPF?

As the leading UN platform for sustainable development, HLPF plays a central role in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. HLPF is held annually in New York, with each years’ conference focusing on select SDGs. The 2024 HLPF summit reviews progress on five of the 17 goals:

• SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms
• SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security, and promote sustainable agriculture
• SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice, and build effective institutions
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

Localizing the SDGs

Though SDGs are reviewed at the national level, achieving any of these goals will require a “whole of society” approach and initiative from all actors. As Michal Mlynár, Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat explained, “Localization involves tailoring SDGs to local contexts and ensuring all stakeholders – national, regional, local governments, those in all sectors, as well as the community – are involved with the implementation of SDGs.”

On July 10, the Global Taskforce on Local and Regional Governments, which ICLEI is a founding member of, released its annual report titled “Towards the localization of the SDGs.” The report, divided in three chapters for various SDG themes, provides an analysis of over 190 local sustainable development efforts and recommendations to integrate local governments in national SDG processes.

Mayor Ravinder Bhalla of Hoboken, USA introduced Paper 2: Localizing climate action and SDG 13 through bold initiatives and advocacy: A planet perspective. The paper was authored by ICLEI Global Advocacy Director, Yunus Arikan, and gives a worldwide snapshot for the state of climate action. Mayor Bhalla related SDG localization to his own community: Hoboken, New Jersey increased resilience to extreme precipitation through resiliency parks and green infrastructure. The City of Hoboken is drawing on their own experiences to support their partner city Montego Bay, Jamaica with a post-storm assessment in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Beryl. “Local and regional governments are innovating urban planning, promoting sustainable practices, and implementing low-emission energy solutions.”

Meeting SDG 13 through multilevel partnerships

The Local and Regional Governments Forum on the 2030 Agenda, held on July 11, demonstrated the potential of local and national governments working in tandem to mitigate the effects of climate change and achieve SDG 13: Climate Action.

Mayor Axel Grael of Niteroi, Brazil, highlighted multilevel climate efforts in his country, pointing to the recently published National Climate Emergency Plan, which focused on local implementation. The City of Niteroi alone has invested $200 million USD to prevent landslides and floods. “Brazil is a large country and there will be no chance to achieve the NDC goals without a multilevel implementation,” he says.

Deputy Mayor of Bonn, Germany, Nicole Unterseh, in her capacity as VP of German Association of Cities, shared how her association passed the first resolution in support of the COP28 CHAMP by a local and regional government association. “Change can only succeed if we join in a multilevel effort to leave no one — and no place — behind,” Unterseh said.

From the United States, Mayor Bhalla spoke to the potential of local-national government partnerships to achieve Paris Agreement goals, referencing Hoboken’s participation in the national Rebuild by Design program. He stated, “Hoboken is an example of multilevel cooperation at its best – national governments providing the technical and human resources necessary to scale up local projects and innovate new climate solutions.” 

The United States has also seen success in mobilizing climate funds through state governments: the Inflation Reduction Act deploys over $350 billion in funds to support clean infrastructure adoption— much of it flowing directly to state and local government climate plans, decarbonization projects and resilience efforts. Additionally, both the United States and Brazil have established a permanent voice for cities in their national governments through the Brazilian Minister of Cities and U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy. 

More Work to Be Done

Through the Local and Regional Governments Forum on the 2030 Agenda and Towards the localization of the SDGs report, we see the presence and promise of multilevel coordination. 

There is still much work to be done —  only 20% of Paris Agreement national commitments strongly reference cities, despite cities being responsible for 70% of emissions. But with 75+ countries pledging to enhance cooperation with subnational governments in their climate efforts in 2023 through CHAMP, the opportunity for multilevel partnerships has never been more promising.

Looking forward, ICLEI and the remainder of the Global Taskforce on Local and Regional Governments will take these findings to help countries fulfill their CHAMP promises and institutionalize local governments into climate processes.