237. Since their introduction in 2001, the Millennium Development Goals have been highly successful in galvanizing support for global poverty reduction — providing clear targets for progress and stimulating both the production of new poverty-related data and additional aid commitments.
238. However, much more needs to be done to accelerate the achievement of the Goals, with some objectives — such as providing universal primary education by 2015 — still within reach if Governments can summon the collective determination needed. Particular attention needs to be paid to the development challenges faced by low-income countries experiencing or emerging from conflict, where achievement of the Goals lags even further behind, adding to the fragility of their situations and the insecurity of their citizens.
239. With the 2015 deadline for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals fast approaching, the focus on their implementation needs to continue and intensify. At the same time, however, the world faces a wider set of important sustainable development challenges than those covered in the Goals, and coordinated action is needed in this regard.
240. We believe that agreeing on a set of key universal sustainable development goals could help to galvanize such action, drawing on the experience of the Millennium Development Goals and building on their successful aspects. These should be defined in a way that complements the Millennium Development Goals while allowing for a post-2015 successor framework.
241. Any framework for sustainable development goals should be based on the following principles:
• It should be universal in character, covering challenges to all countries rather than just developing nations
• It should express a broadly agreed global strategy for sustainable development
• It should incorporate a range of key areas that were not fully covered in the Millennium Development Goals, such as food security, water, energy, green jobs, decent work and social inclusion, sustainable consumption and production, sustainable cities, climate change, biodiversity and oceans, as well as disaster risk reduction and resilience
• It should be comprehensive, reflecting equally the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and the interconnections between them
• It should incorporate near-term benchmarks while being long-term in scope, looking ahead to a deadline of perhaps 2030
• It should engage all stakeholders in the implementation and mobilization of resources, including local communities, civil society and the private sector, along with Governments
• It should include progress metrics alongside absolute targets, in order to focus policy attention as a means of driving development outcomes and to reflect various development priorities and conditions across countries and regions
• It should provide scope for the review of these goals in view of evolving scientific evidence
242. There are already a number of proposals and initiatives that can contribute to the discussion of what should be covered in any set of sustainable development goals, such as the Secretary-General’s “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative (see sect. III above), which puts forward three goals to be reached by 2030, relating to access, efficiency and renewable energy. Energy illustrates well the cross-cutting challenge of sustainable development. There is a social dimension to universal access to energy, an economic aspect to issues of affordability and energy efficiency, and an environmental side to emissions reduction — and all three are closely interlinked.
243. The sustainable development goals will have to be agreed upon by Governments, and their elaboration, along with the formulation of the necessary targets and indicators, will require an open, transparent and inclusive process drawing on diverse expertise, experience and geographic representation, as well as on the experience of the Millennium Development Goals.
Recommendation 48 244. Governments should agree to develop a set of key universal sustainable development goals, covering all three dimensions of sustainable development as well as their interconnections. Such goals should galvanize individual and collective action and complement the Millennium Development Goals, while allowing for a post-2015 framework. An expert mechanism should be established by the Secretary-General to elaborate and refine the goals before their adoption by United Nations Member States.
Recommendation 49 245. The Panel endorses the Secretary-General’s “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative, which should be implemented without delay.