This book describes the work and impact of civil society, the Major Groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholder entities that mobilized to influence the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the outcome, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It explores how such entities engaged in UN processes through feedback to open consultations, in mobilization by recognized and formalized NGOs or civil society organizations, through interventions in formal sessions, through written interventions, and in mechanisms like the Major Groups. It identifies tools and tactics that non-Member State entities utilized to make their voices heard in the UN processes that created the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs with a focus on a few processes, especially the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Open Working Group of the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals, and the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (of the UN Statistical Commission). The book provides a foundation for those who wish to have a holistic understanding of how intergovernmental negotiation occurs at the UN with a focus on how non-Member State entities are included or excluded from such processes. The book reveals how non-Member State entities engage in tactics and practices to make their voices heard in intergovernmental processes. The chapters give insight to global governance, global democracy, and inclusive decision-making practices. 

The book not only covers the history of the participatory processes that created the 2030 Agenda, 17 SDGs and 169 targets, and SDG Indicator Framework, but also adds to our understanding of how each goal was articulated and why each was included as a global goal. In addition, the book assesses the negotiation, debate, and language of the four communities and dimensions of sustainable development (social, economic, environmental, and peace and security) by way of discussing the final goal and target language adopted. Based on interview data as well as analysis of primary source documents, the text reviews how each of the goals builds on and connects with the others to represent the general trends in sustainable development thinking and practice. Vignettes in each chapter provide details and anecdotes about the negotiation and discussion processes that represented the nature of inclusive negotiation and diplomacy practices. The vignettes highlight how the processes gained input from civil society, NGOs, Major Groups, and other stakeholders (especially marginalized groups) that don’t often have a voice in such negotiations. Further, connections are made in each chapter between the four dimensions of sustainable development, overarching trends in achieving the SDGs, and the future of the 2030 Agenda and the post-2030 sustainable development agenda. Indeed, the conclusion discusses lessons learned and possibilities for the future of global democratic governance.

Roni Kay M. O’Dell is Assistant Professor of Political Science (focus on Environmental Politics) at California State University San Marcos, Department of Political Science and Global Affairs.