US Initiative Launches Website to Drive Local SDG Action for Global Impact

Photo by IISD/ENB |Kiara Worth

The American Leadership on the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals initiative of the UN Foundation and the Brookings Institution’s Centerfor Sustainable Development launched a virtual hub for the SDGs in the US. Thewebsite provides updates from the annual UN High-level Political Forum onSustainable Development (HLPF) and highlights new research on SDG progress andbarriers.

In an effort to foster a greater community and bettercoordination of SDG resources and narratives in the US, the hub targets “the SDG-curious as well as [those]looking to deepen their knowledge of the Goals, particularly in the Americancontext.” It explains how local action by changemakers working on economicresilience, social inclusion, and environmental protection across the US candrive national progress for global impact.

The hub describes the SDGs as “people-powered” and“aspirational but attainable.” According to the website, the Goals work foreveryone by “breaking down barriers” and leaving no one behind. It notes thatthey provide a vision for the country and the world we want and offer a sharedlanguage for shared values.

The hub unpacks the SDGs, targets, and indicators, aswell as other concepts central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,including: the five ‘Ps’ of people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership;the principle of leaving no one behind; and tracking and reporting on SDGprogress through voluntary national reviews (VNRs). It also describes thelinkages between the SDGs and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The website offers information about the AmericanLeadership on the Sustainable Development Goals initiative, which “connectsdomestic stakeholders across all sectors working to achieve the SDGs at homeand abroad, and highlights stories, best practices, and lessons learned fromthe people and places making progress on the Goals that matter to current andfuture generations.”

The hub invites its readers to take a quiz to testtheir SDG awareness before guiding them to featured stories, curated resources, a newsletter archive, and a calendar of events.

USAforSDGs.org was launched in July, alongside HLPF 2024. [American Leadership on theSustainable Development Goals]