Halftime to the 2030 Agenda

Published on: September 21, 2023

What has been achieved and what needs to happen?

In 2023, the world is at halftime in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the 2015 UN Summit. The latest status reports released by UN in September 2023 show that under current trends, the SDGs are halftime but nowhere near halfway to fulfilment. There are seven years left to address the compounding challenges of today and turn the tide.

In the face of multiple crises and geopolitical conflicts, the sustainable transformation progresses at variable scale and speed across the world.

Andreas Gyllenhammar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sweco has been following the progress on the 2030 Agenda since the launch of the 17 SDGs. We met with Andreas to discuss what has been achieved so far, and what needs to happen to ensure that the SDGs can be kept.

Andreas, what is the purpose of 2030 Agenda?

In 2012, the UN arranged a global summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Rio+20 with the goal to renew global commitment to a sustainable development. The outcome of the meeting, where I had the honour to represent Sweco in the Swedish delegation, was the document “The Future We Want” containing the vision draft of the 17 sustainable development goals, the SDGs. The main purpose of the goals was to get a clearer picture of sustainable development, a common language and a tool or blueprint as a basis for working sustainability on a global scale.

To mark the halftime to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda, the UN convened heads of state and government to the SDG Summit which took place on 18-19 September 2023 in New York.

What are the main takeaways from the summit?

What is the state of sustainable development in the world halftime to 2030? Many reports released in conjunction with to the summit show that, as a whole, we are not making enough progress. The pandemic also made us backslide on many of the goals regarding poverty and health. Nevertheless, the general consensus is that the 2030 Agenda not only is even more relevant today, but it is also the way out from what we see is happening in our world of polycrisis. During the summit, world leaders have agreed to renew and reinforce their commitment to the SDGs and to accelerate the implementation. However, a document like that does not go into details on how this is going to be done so that remains to be discussed.

What actions have been successful in bringing about transitions for sustainable development?

We see a lot of technological progress. The solutions are there to solve the energy transition and many are already cost competitive. Renewables are deployed at a rapidly increasing rate and the electrification of transport and mobility is gaining traction. I can also see that carbon markets are evolving, getting connected and that the financial sector matures at a rapid pace, leading to increased sustainability transparency and assessments of impacts, risks and opportunities.

What are the main challenges moving towards 2030? How can these challenges be overcome?

Speed up and scale up existing solutions! Remove barriers to change and to transfer knowledge, capital and resources to developing countries. There are different challenges for each SDG but, in a nutshell, we could boil it down to climate, nature and inequality.

How can digitalisation, technological change and innovation enhance resilience and ensure a more rapid pace for sustainable development?

Digitalisation is a great hope for sustainability – if it is used in the right way. It provides speed and scalability of solutions and is a potential shortcut for otherwise slow processes. To focus on the SDGs, nations and systems need to be more resilient in order to cope with short-term crises and still keep focus on the 2030 Agenda. Technology is a general enabler of sustainability. The best example I see is that over time, a technology becomes cheaper and cheaper due to the economy of scale, while the opposite applies for a resource, like fossil fuels.

What is Sweco’s role and contribution to 2030 Agenda?

At Sweco, we have the knowledge and experience to guide our clients towards more sustainable solutions for whatever challenge they might have. Sweco’s primary role in sustainability is to maximise our impact on sustainable development of societies as consultants – architects, engineers and experts.

We accomplish that from three perspectives:

1. doing more business on sustainability,
2. becoming more sustainable in all client projects
3. acting sustainably in our own operations.

Our materiality analysis shows that we can have the biggest impact within the SDGs 6,7,9,11 and 13 (energy, water, industry, infrastructure, climate and urban development).

What measures can be taken within Sweco’s organisation to strengthen the capacity of developing transformative action?

I think the answer lies within three factors.

Firstly, our sustainability strategy that outlines how we approach and work with sustainability. Secondly, in our business plans and our operations, where we materialize action and set the focus on where we best make a difference. Currently, we realize that we have a huge impact and business opportunities within the green transition in society. Energy, industry, transportation and the built environment are all transforming due to the decarbonisation of the world economy.

Finally, we stand and fall with the knowledge and experience of our people. It is the daily work of our 21,000 employees at Sweco that enables us to help our clients to achieve the SDGs. So, by implementing our strategy, act on our business plans and get the best people on board, we will strengthen our action on sustainability.