Ten years ago, 193 UN Member States committed to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global framework for sustainable development, aiming to ensure future generations are better off than their predecessors while leaving no one behind.

While we’re ten years in, with a goal of achieving the SDGs by 2030, we’re seeing improvement across most of the SDGs, albeit much too slowly.  In fact, the past few years alone, progress in achieving the SDGs has further slowed.

Leading researcher at Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), Associate Professor Shirin Malekpour, was the first Australian selected by the UN Secretary-General as one of fifteen international scientists who wrote the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report, which warned the SDGs were far off track, with only 2 out of the sample of 36 targets assessed being on track, and progress on eight deteriorating.

And the recent UN SDG Report 2025 revealed only 35 per cent of SDG targets with available trend data are on track or show moderate progress. Nearly half are moving too slowly or making only marginal progress, while 18 per cent have regressed.

While interconnected crises like the COVID-19 pandemic,  geopolitical conflicts  , a cost-of-living crisis, and  climate disasters  have limited progress on the SDGs, they alone cannot explain the slow progress. Government commitment to the SDGs and national implementation has been mixed.

Despite the challenges, Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) and Climateworks Chair, Professor John Thwaites AM, believes the SDGs remain a foundation for assessing progress and addressing the universal challenges that affect all countries.

In today’s fast changing and turbulent world, the SDGs remain more relevant than ever, and bold, coordinated action is needed to secure a sustainable and equitable future by 2030 and beyond.

The SDGs provide a framework and targets to help us achieve societal goals like decent work and economic prosperity, climate action, good health and wellbeing and reduced inequalities.

What’s more, they can be complementary. Many actions taken to achieve one SDG also have positive “spillover” effects across others, for example if you improve education you lift economic prosperity, if you improve water and sanitation you boost health,” Prof Thwaites said.

Diplomacy, global cooperation and problem solving to address the SDGs don’t only happen at a formal national level through government diplomats.  Universities and knowledge institutions, like MSDI, have an essential role to play in promoting global cooperation and developing solutions to meet the great challenges of climate change, sustainable development and peace.

In 2012, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University created the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to mobilise the world’s universities to help develop and implement the SDGs.

Since then, MSDI has held the regional chair for SDSN Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

MSDI's role in shaping the SDGs

MSDI played a role in shaping the SDGs ahead of 2015, by synthesising and communicating evidence-based insights in high profile journals; and through SDSN and the International Science Council was actively involved in the negotiations at the UN that influenced the make-up of the SDGs.

We have continued thought leadership and convening networks nationally and internationally for SDG action, with a particular focus on governance for the SDGs, SDG localisation, assessing SDG progress, and modelling SDG interlinkages and policy pathways.

Key projects we’ve led include the Australian SDG Summits in 2016 and 2018, Transforming Australia SDG progress reports, global guides for universities, the development of the SDSN Youth network, a resource to support Pacific cities and towns to undertake SDG Voluntary Local Reviews, SDG modelling, and multiple high-profile published papers.

Associate Professor Malekpour and key MSDI researchers, Dr Cameron Allen and Dr Paris Hadfield were recently selected as lead and contributing authors of the first Asia Pacific Synergies Report, supported by United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific  and Asian Development Bank, which will discuss synergies between SDGs, climate and biodiversity agendas.

Much of the research emphasises that incremental change is insufficient and calls for urgent, science-based, transformative changes across sectors to prevent further backsliding and achieve the 2030 Agenda.

With the 2030 deadline for SDGs fast approaching, we need to keep the momentum and focus on achieving as much progress on the SDGs before 2030. However, with the official UN-led process to determine the future of the SDGs post-2030 likely starting in 2027, MSDI is also starting to turn to what comes next.

Drawing on over a decade of research, practice and bringing stakeholders together on implementing the SDGs, we’re working with other global experts to reflect on lessons learned and develop options to strengthen the next global agenda.

We’re working with the Stockholm Environment Institute to convene discussions with other world-renowned scholars and experts in the SDGs to discuss how the scientific community could contribute to the post-2030 global sustainable development agenda and help inform the UN process.

We believe the time is now to influence the post-2030 process and outcomes and ensure that the SDGs are extended beyond 2030. The wellbeing of future generations depends on the foundations we build today and we need to work together to plan for a better future for our children and grandchildren,” Prof Thwaites said.