Agenda 2030
By acting locally, the City assumes responsibility for and contributes to improving the conditions for global sustainable development.
Stockholm is taking a major responsibility and will play a leading role in implementing Agenda 2030. On 25 September, 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Agenda 2030 with 17 global goals that span many societal challenges. Until 2030, the world’s countries have committed to jointly implement a societal change that leads to achieving the global goals and socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable development.
The global sustainable development goals, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) website
The Agenda is global, but it is at the local level that many commitments and work on the goals are put into practice. It is at the local level that many priorities need to be made to make goals such as education for all, balanced ecosystems, sustainable cities and communities, and reduced inequality a reality. Agenda 2030 should support the city’s work in developing sustainability work. By acting locally, the city takes responsibility for and contributes to improving the conditions for global sustainable development.
What we want to achieve and why
The goals and sub-goals of the Agenda are linked to the city’s responsibilities and activities, such as work on security, human rights, urban development, elderly care, preschool, school and adult education, waste and recycling, and climate and environment.
Stockholm is actively working to live up to all three dimensions of sustainability and is at the forefront of sustainable development. The City thus has good conditions to achieve the sustainability goals of the Agenda, but there are challenges. An increasing population increases the need for housing, services, and transportation. Security, securing biodiversity, and equal access to the city’s activities are also issues that need to be addressed in a city as it changes.
The city’s set operational goals include the ambitions of the Agenda:
- A socially coherent Stockholm with a strong and equal welfare system.
- A green and fossil free city – leading the way in a just climate transition.
- A city with a solid and sustainable economy, where education, jobs and housing is available for all.
The city needs to develop ways of working to integrate different perspectives for sustainable development in all parts of society.
External collaboration
The implementation of Agenda 2030 should be characterised by learning and a sharing of experiences.
The implementation of Agenda 2030 should be characterised by learning and a sharing of experiences together with other actors and in the various networks where the city participates. In Sweden, an example is the network within Viable Cities and the 23 municipalities that have signed a Swedish climate contract in pursuit of the goal of climate neutrality and a good life for all within the planet’s borders.
Stockholm is also a member of the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity (CHANGE), a network of cities working to increase gender equality and equity.
As part of the work to create the conditions for international sharing of knowledge, the City has collaborated with New York and Helsinki on a reporting system for Agenda 2030, in a so-called Voluntary Local Review Declaration. It includes reporting to the UN on how development work is progressing. The reporting is part of the follow-up of sustainability work and increases opportunities to compare and learn from other cities to step up the pace of implementation to achieve the set goals.
Organisation
The City Executive Office is responsible for coordinating the City’s work to implement Agenda 2030.
The City of Stockholm has a council for Agenda 2030. The council is to support and advise the city’s work in achieving the sustainability goals.