Trans-Pacific Sustainability Dialogue

Ban Ki-Moon, the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and current chairman of the Ban Ki-Moon Foundation for a Better Future emphasized the consensus at the UN on the importance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also recounted the mixed results in the achievement of SDGs since they were established in 2015. While the international community recognizes the merits of SDGs, their implementation has encountered obstacles that can push their completion in 2030 further to another 60 years. The former UN Secretary-General warned of irreversible repercussions should SDGs be delayed. South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo echoed the urgency for rapid actions in accomplishing SDGs and reminded everybody of the need for creative solutions and the solidarity of various stakeholders to address pressing international problems and critical SDG issues such as poverty and the climate crisis.

As part of the efforts in expediting the implementation of SDGs, the Ban Ki-Moon Foundation and Stanford Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center with Korea Environment Institute, Ewha Womans University, Natural Capital Project, Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, Korea Environment Cooperation, and K Water as co-hosts, organized an international, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational Trans-Pacific Sustainability Dialogue held recently in Seoul from 27 to 28 October.

The first day of the forum identified two vital issues in the SDG implementation. As the former Australian Prime Minister and current President of Asia Society Kevin Rudd put it, SDGs have “fallen off of the international agenda” because of a combination of geopolitical and economic factors. The Russian aggression in Ukraine, tensions between the US and China, and the impending economic crisis preoccupy the concerns of world leaders and policy makers. He called for those in the “positions of informal leadership around the world” to sustain efforts in developing “fresh ideas, fresh initiatives, and fresh political momentum” to mobilize resources supporting planetary sustainability and the achievement of SDGs.

Second, the forum agreed on the observation that multilateralism is in retreat amidst demands for multilateral actions and the growing evidence pointing to the insufficiency of unilateral or bilateral initiatives in resolving global problems. The return of geopolitics reminiscent of the Cold War also deepened trust deficit among global actors in their interactions with each other. Addressing the issue of trust, some speakers highlighted the need to implement SDGs based on the principle of “science not ideology” in the hope that a technocratic approach would circumvent politics hounding SDGs.

Second, the forum agreed on the observation that multilateralism is in retreat amidst demands for multilateral actions and the growing evidence pointing to the insufficiency of unilateral or bilateral initiatives in resolving global problems. The return of geopolitics reminiscent of the Cold War also deepened trust deficit among global actors in their interactions with each other. Addressing the issue of trust, some speakers highlighted the need to implement SDGs based on the principle of “science not ideology” in the hope that a technocratic approach would circumvent politics hounding SDGs.

Student panels on the second day raised interesting issues as well. First, student panels traced the contours of the changing global landscape on green financing, gender mainstreaming, development cooperation, and business and social justice; and, proposed pragmatic approaches in the implementation of SDGs. One of these proposals is to acknowledge and exploit the achievements of the Global South by retrofitting existing development cooperation mechanisms or reappropriating ideas such as the right to protect to include SDGs. Old platforms offer familiarity and common vocabularies for more productive engagements among participants.

Second, the student forum tackled the issue of context and ownership of SDG projects. A PhD student at Ewha Womans University raised an important question on how projects initiated and implemented by outsiders are accommodated by locals. As a riposte to “science not ideology” approach, context is also necessary in accomplishing SDGs. Veritable and noble science-based projects that are insensitive to local cultures and sensibilities would be untenable in the long run. Local communities, in addition to the support from the outside, should be empowered and given a proactive role in identifying local problems and solutions. Science may not be ideological, but it is social.

Brendan Howe, Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Ehwa Womans University, closed the conference with a reminder that SDGs should be implemented in a holistic manner that prioritizes “bottom-up, human centered engagement and empowerment.”