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Based on the results of a survey conducted in October-November 2021, this report provides an analysis of the level of awareness and penetration of the SDGs among GCNJ member companies and organisations, as well as progress on five of the global goals: SDG 5, (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Human Rights), SDG 13 (Climate Change), and SDG16...

A Voluntary Local Review (VLR) is an instrument to review and follow-up progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus accelerating their localisation. Since 2018, a growing number of local governments worldwide are turning to the VLR process to articulate their sustainable development policies, highlighting the growing...

The 2021 High-level Political Forum (HLPF) consolidated the prime role of VLRs (Voluntary Local Reviews) in localizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A record number of local governments – 17 cites –presented a 2021 VLR by July 2021 according to UN-Habitat. By comparison, 26 VLRs were published in 2020. VLRs have also gained broader...

Fernando Ortiz-Moya, urbanist working at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), explores the role of VLRs (Voluntary Local Review) in building better cities and what Tokyo is doing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic, which spread across the whole world in 2020, local and regional governments have continued their work to localise the ambitious goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since 2018, local and regional governments began the review and follow- up process...

Story highlights: The Voluntary Local Review (VLR) process is providing a useful tool for subnational levels of government to take on the SDGs. The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies has published two reports to support the growing number of local and regional governments conducting VLRs.

A ‘Voluntary Local Review’ (VLR) is a process whereby local and regional governments voluntarily carry out a review of progress being made in their implementation of the SDGs. This review includes policies, programmes, data, institutional set-ups and stakeholder engagement mechanisms to implement the 2030 Agenda at the local level. VLRs are then...

With only ten years left to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all UN member States in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, action is more urgent than ever. Cities, which are responsible for delivering many of the targets highlighted by the SDGs are accelerating their efforts. This is recognised by the...

Story Highlights; The HLPF has struggled to encourage countries to “integrate the three dimensions” of sustainable development, even though interlinkages among the 17 SDGs and their targets have been identified. A clear illustration of different tools, approaches, and conceptual frameworks for better understanding interlinkages between the SDGs...

The Japanese government has proposed a vision called "Circulating and Ecological Economy" in the Fifth Basic Environment Plan approved by the Cabinet in April 2018. The Circulating and Ecological Economy is an idea that aims to develop self-reliant and decentralized societies by leveraging regional resources, including natural environments and...