Published on 11 February 2025

Implementation of the SDGs

Switzerland is implementing the SDGs. Financing plays a key role in driving this forward at the international level in particular, while an efficient follow-up and review process is an important tool for supporting and promoting implementation.

Graphic from the flyer «Messen, was wirklich zählt» (CC BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — © Association Plattform Agenda 2030

Implementation and financing

Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires significant financial resources. According to UN estimates, the global investment required to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is between five and seven trillion US dollars per year. This sum can only be reached if public donors are joined by private donors. At the Third International Conference on Financing for Development held in mid-July 2015, the international community agreed on a set of measures to fund the 2030 Agenda. Known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, this framework is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda, and includes a number of potential solutions:

• Domestic resource mobilisation

  The Addis Ababa Action Agenda identifies domestic resource mobilisation as a key source of financing for sustainable development. These resources help to build functioning institutions for sustainable development, make governments more accountable to their people, and reduce dependence on foreign support. To this end, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda envisages measures such as strengthening national tax systems and intensifying international cooperation to curb tax evasion and illicit financial flows. Switzerland continues to play an active role in this area, implementing international standards and providing technical assistance to other countries.

• Private financing resources

  The Addis Ababa Action Agenda recognises the important contribution the private sector can make to implementing the SDGs, for example through private direct investment in sustainable development, remittances from migrants and funding from foundations and charitable donors. A favourable regulatory environment and corresponding incentives are important in all countries to ensure that the private sector invests more in activities that promote sustainable development, while public-private partnerships are also to be encouraged. Switzerland is ideally placed in both these areas.

• Targeted use of official development cooperation

  Official development cooperation is another important means of financing. In future, it should increasingly be channelled to the poorest countries and continue to be guided by effectiveness criteria. Official development cooperation should also be increasingly used to achieve greater leverage, for example by helping to mobilise domestic resources or additional private-sector resources. Switzerland is holding to its target of spending 0.5 per cent of gross national income on official development cooperation, while acknowledging the UN target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

• Non-financial measures to achieve the SDGs

  In addition to financing, sustainable development is also promoted through a range of other means. In the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, states committed to promoting policy coherence and favourable framework conditions at the national and international levels. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda recognises the importance of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development. It therefore provides for measures for effective knowledge transfer and the dissemination of environmentally friendly and resource-efficient technologies. Switzerland supports a rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and fair multilateral trading system, which is also a key prerequisite for promoting sustainable development. Finally, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda also provides for measures for sustainable debt management and the return of stolen public assets.

Follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda

An efficient follow-up and review framework is central to implementation. The 2030 Agenda sets out a mechanism that encompasses the national, regional and global levels. It is based on the national reporting carried out by UN member states. The relevant international platforms also carry out thematic reviews.

The results of the review are presented at the global level in the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which was created in 2012. The HLPF meets every year as part of the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and every four years within the framework of the UN General Assembly. The HLPF also considers the results of the review of the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for development finance. The HLPF discusses the results, draws conclusions and makes recommendations. All states can participate in this discussion and report on the status of implementation in their country. Switzerland presented its implementation status in 2018 and 2022 (country report).

Links

• UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

Documents

• Switzerland’s 2018 country report

  PDF969.11 kB20 June 2018

• Switzerland’s 2022 country report

  PDF8.15 MB12 July 2022

• Addis Ababa Action Agenda

  PDF894.00 kB27 July 2015