On 22 March, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities debated and voted on a recommendation calling on national governments to step up the localisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we approach the mid-term review of Agenda 2030 at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2023 and the SDG Summit in September 2023 in New York, the Congress emphasised how urgent it was to provide local and regional authorities with the freedom to act and proper means to implement the SDGs.

“We don’t have a second to lose!  We must rally our forces and react to the crises currently piling up!” With this message, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), addressed the Congress and reminded it of some of the major international meetings to be held on the SDGs this year. She invited the Congress to co-operate with Coalition 2030 on the localisation of SDGs within the UN.

Xavier Cadoret (France, SOC/G/PD), 1st Vice-President of the Chamber of Local and Regional Authorities and the co-rapporteur on the SDGs, pointed out that of the 17 SDGs in UN Agenda 2030, two-thirds must be implemented at local and regional level. Viewing the concept of sustainability in the broader sense of democratic, social and economic sustainability, the Congress co-operated with a large number of stakeholders inside and outside the Council of Europe to promote multi-level governance and an active role for local and regional authorities in the implementation of the SDGs. Without the freedom to take decisions and adopt budgets, they would not be able to gear the strategies of Agenda 2030 to the ever-changing local context.

In the opinion of Gunn Marit Helgesen (Norway, EPP/CCE), 1st Vice-President of the Chamber of Regions and co-rapporteur on the localisation of the SDGs, one of the key messages of the recommendation was the need to involve local and regional governments in Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). The data collected by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) showed that Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) and localisation of SDGs resulted in better co-ordination of the process involving local government associations in national mechanisms. The example from Norway provided by Ms Helgesen indicated that the three VLRs carried out in her country had helped municipalities and regional authorities to work together more effectively and, moreover, that the conclusions of these reports had been incorporated into VNR 2021. Giving a political voice to local and regional authorities – and to youth associations – would help to make them more accountable and prompt them to take part in relevant international forums such as the UN ECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, the HLPF and the SDG Summit.

Including representatives of local and regional authorities in discussions at international level was also a priority for Gail MacGregor, a Councillor in Annandale North Ward Dumfries and Galloway and the CEMR spokesperson on Agenda 2030 and SDGs. The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) also encouraged the generalisation of VLRs. The aim was to make the link between the international ambitions of Agenda 2030 and the actual circumstances on the ground at local level. Co-operation between the Congress and the CEMR in the context of the New Urban Agenda would also contribute to the process of localising SDGs. In addition, for the first time this year, the European Commission would be presenting a voluntary review on the SDGs.

The General Rapporteur on local and regional democracy to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Armen Gevorgyan (Armenia), referred to the numerous crises that Europe was currently experiencing, which required the constant readjustment of the SDGs and the strategies to carry them out. In his view, local and regional authorities should be doing more to seek help from civil society and the private sector. Data collection methods and the assessment of results differed from one country to another, meaning that there was a need for better co-ordination to produce a true picture of how the SDGs were currently being implemented.

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