Chapter 14 from this book is published open access and free to read or download from Oxford Scholarship Online, https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/ Before the UN Sustainable Development Goals enables professionals, scholars, and students engaged with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to develop a richer understanding of the legacies and historical complexities of the policy fields behind each goal. Each of the seventeen chapters tells the decades- or centuries-old backstory of one SDG and reveals the global human connections, governance tools and frameworks, and the actors involved in past efforts to address sustainable development challenges. Collectively, the seventeen chapters build a historical latticework that reveals the multiple and often interwoven sources that have shaped the challenges later encompassed in the SDGs. Engaging and insightfully written, the book's chapters are authored by international experts from multiple disciplines. The book is an indispensable resource and a vital foundation for understanding the past's indelible footprint on our contemporary sustainable development challenges.

This book provides a business-oriented analysis of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In order to assess their impact on businesses and corporations, the book addresses all 17 goals and a broad range of industries. Gathering contributions from Africa, Europe and Asia, it presents both critical reviews and case studies. In turn, the book seeks to predict likely developments during the next decade. To do so, it examines evidence from today’s business world and how companies and corporations have been adopting the SDGs since their release. In this regard, it discusses the changes that will be required and how the agenda will affect the continent’s development path. An underlying theme throughout the book is the role of monetary value and investment for sustainable development: whether through financing, enhanced turnaround resulting from a more educated population, or more socially innovative entrepreneurs.

This book explores the record of the UN development system (UNDS) over more than 70 years as a fount of ideas and concepts in development; as a contributor to development thinking and strategy; and as the principal source of global development goals from the first UN Development Decade to the SDGs. It also examines the more mixed record of the UNDS in its operational role and asks how the ideational and operational functions can be more successfully aligned, and what changes such an alignment would imply. The chapters consider: The logic of global governance through international organizations The origins, functions, structure of the UN development system UN contributions to development thinking The UN’s development agendas, 1960s to 2015 Reforming the UN development system The future of the UN and multilateralism The book will be of great use for students and scholars studying political science, international organizations, the UN, and development, as well as for practitioners associated with the UN, including member-state missions, UN staff, and development cooperation professionals.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of seventeen goals and 169 targets, with accompanying indicators, which were agreed by UN member states to frame their policy agendas for the fifteen-year period from 2015 to 2030. Written by three authors who have been engaged in the development of the SDGs from the beginning, this book offers an insider view of the process and a unique entry into what will be seen as one of the most significant negotiations and global policy agendas of the twenty-first century. The book reviews how the SDGs were developed, what happened in key meetings and how this transformational agenda, which took more than three years to negotiate, came together in September 2015. It dissects and analyzes the meetings, organizations and individuals that played key roles in their development. It provides fascinating insights into the subtleties and challenges of high-level negotiation processes of governments and stakeholders, and into how the SDGs were debated, formulated and agreed. It is essential reading for all interested in the UN, sustainable development and the future of the planet and humankind.

The ambitious 15-year agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015 by all members of the United Nations, contains a pledge that “no one will be left behind.” This book aims to translate that bold global commitment into an action-oriented mindset, focused on supporting specific people in specific places who are facing specific problems. In this volume, experts from Japan, the United States, Canada, and other countries address a range of challenges faced by people across the globe, including women and girls, smallholder farmers, migrants, and those living in extreme poverty. These are many of the people whose lives are at the heart of the aspirations embedded in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They are the people most in need of such essentials as health care, quality education, decent work, affordable energy, and a clean environment. This book is the result of a collaboration between the Japan International Cooperation Research Institute and the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. It offers practical ideas for transforming “leave no one behind” from a slogan into effective actions which, if implemented, will make it possible to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In addition to policymakers in the field of sustainable development, this book will be of interest to academics, activists, and leaders of international organizations and civil society groups who work every day to promote inclusive economic and social progress.

"Before the UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Historical Companion enables professionals, scholars and students engaged with the SDGs to develop a richer understanding of the legacies and historical complexities of the policy fields behind each goal. Each of the seventeen chapters tells the decades or centuries-old backstory of one SDG, including an examination of how the SDG problem impacted past societies and the various attempts at understanding and addressing it. Collectively, the chapters reveal the multiple and often interwoven histories that have shaped the challenges later encompassed in the SDGs. The book's chapters, written in an accessible style, are authored by international experts from multiple disciplines. The book is an indispensable resource and a vital foundation for understanding the past's indelible footprint on our contemporary sustainable development challenges"--

This book highlights the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These universally agreed-upon aspirational goals for people, the planet, prosperity, and peace will not be achieved without all global and local actors – governments, the private sector, and civil society – playing their part. The SDGs offer a unique opportunity to align existing sustainability initiatives through a common framework and accelerate the industry’s efforts to address important challenges in the global textile value chain. Future sourcing models will largely be redefined by how this sector addresses the underlying themes as sourcing countries prioritize the goals and integrate them into their national plans. Stimulating discussion and exploring the many different ways in which the textile and clothing industry can implement the UN SDGs, this informative book provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of the topic, and presents various approaches, including reflexive, empirical, hands-on or applied theoretical.