Publications Search

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.

フェルナンド・オルティス-モヤIGES研究員が、より良い都市づくりにおけるVLR（Voluntary Local Review：自治体による自発的なSDGsレビュー）の役割を解説し、SDGs（持続可能な開発目標）の達成に向けた東京の取り組みを紹介します。

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.

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...

This report demonstrates that changes in consumption patterns and dominant lifestyles are a critical and integral part of the solutions package to addressing climate change. The report fills a gap in the existing research by establishing global targets for lifestyle carbon footprints, examining current consumption patterns and their impacts on...

This article argues that the environment was extensively incorporated into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with broad and ambitious targets, reflecting environmental concerns throughout the SDGs. Many environment‐related targets – including some of the most important ones – were placed under ‘non‐environmental’ goals. The SDGs also...

The Satoyama Development Mechanism (SDM) is a seed funding mechanism to encourage IPSI members to develop and accelerate sustainability actions in SEPLS. This report aims to present the SDM projects and their contributions to global goals, for the consideration of policymakers, businesses, researcher institutions, organizations and civil society...