The year 2020 marked the start of the Decade of Action and Delivery, which was shaken by the outbreak of a global pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has reiterated, now more than ever, the urgency for accelerating the actions towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations and the need to safeguard public services.

A crucial lesson learned from COVID-19 is that the common challenges we face do not respect borders. The environmental, social, and economic consequences of the pandemic have awakened a fresh impetus for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The only way to successfully navigate this journey is by working together. Multi-stakeholder and multi-level partnerships are a critical dimension of the 2030 Agenda and we will only move closer to realising its vision if we make a more effective engagement of local and regional authorities, civil society, especially young people, local communities, academia and other relevant actors.

Local and regional governments play a key role to facilitate the transformation needed to successfully implement and reach the goals in the 2030 agenda, in order to achieve sustainable and resilient societies.

On 28-29 October 2021, the AER and its global partners gathered in Strasbourg to reaffirm their commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by signing a Manifesto with the following principles:

REAFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO IMPLEMENTING THE 2030 AGENDA

and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and commit, in this Decade of Action, to making increased efforts towards the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda as an action plan for the planet, people, prosperity, peace and partnership.

REITERATE OUR SHARED COMMITMENT

to pursue a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to achieve a more sustainable and resilient world.

STRENGTHEN OUR COOPERATION

with peers and partners across Europe and the globe to accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals taking into consideration the United Nations Common Agenda. Partnerships, including decentralized cooperation, are key means to accelerate implementation, continue sharing and learning from each other and propose innovative solutions to common challenges.

CALL FOR GREATER RECOGNITION

by national governments, European and International Institutions of our critical role in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and meaningful engagement in the implementation, follow up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals, notably within national and international reporting, including the Voluntary National Reviews process.

BETTER ACCESS TO INCLUSIVE, TRANSPARENT AND QUALITY DATA TO MONITOR PROGRESS TOWARDS THE 2030 AGENDA

call on national governments, European and International Institutions to provide local and regional governments better access to inclusive, transparent and quality data to monitor progress towards the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals at all levels of governance, facilitating the Voluntary National and Local Reviews process.

CALL FOR INCREASED FINANCIAL AND CAPACITY SUPPORT

by national governments and European Institutions for local and regional governments to implement the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals at the subnational level, in a recognition of the specific responsibility of regions as an intermediary tier able to efficiently combine and balance a wide range of local interests and dynamics.

TO STRENGTHEN A STRUCTURED MULTI-LEVEL DIALOGUE

call upon national and global leaders to strengthen a structured multi-level dialogue, recognize local and regional governments as policy-makers and include them in the decision-making process, in order to facilitate local-global leadership on the 2030 Agenda.

Endorse the Manifesto!

If you are interested in this, check the official event website, regions2030.com. And if your organisation is interested to become a signatory, please contact the AER institutional Relations & Advocacy officer, Gisela Guari at [email protected]