Fostering Parliament engagement and oversight on SDGs and the Just Transition

The UN Secretary General in the latest Sustainable Development Goals Report for 2024 sent a dire warning regarding the pace of achieving Agenda 2030 and called for urgent action: “Our failure to secure peace, to confront climate change and to boost international finance is undermining development.  We must accelerate action for the Sustainable Development Goals — and we don’t have a moment to lose.”[1]  With only 17 per cent of the SDG target implementation on track and already halfway through, we are in a state of intensifying poly-crisis. Conflicts, climate change, the pandemic, and financial crisis shape our world today and seem to be stalling or even rolling back progress on SDGs. (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2023)

There is a global call for a push towards reaching the next level of achieving the SDGs by strengthening civic space and public engagement in policymaking and decision-making (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2023). There are three urgent points of action raised by the UN Secretary General: peace, just green transition, digital transition and finance. There is no sustainable development without peace.

In addition to budget monitoring, public engagement is one of the SDG targets for parliament. Greater constituent input can contribute to more informed lawmaking and create greater trust which becomes visible during the voting process. Enabling public dialogue is critical for achieving SDGs and generating an understanding on the need for nationalizing and localizing SDGs. Furthermore, the number of young parliamentarians remains low and young MPs hold limited leadership positions, with less than 9 percent serving as speaker and 17.4 percent as committee chairs. To increase the participation of younger parliamentarians, governments need to take reforms and facilitate the ecosystem needed for this to happen (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2023).  Although the Goal 5 indicator shows we may be on track when it comes to gender equality, there are many areas that need further and deepened engagement and in particular when it comes to online gender-based violence (United Nations, 2023).

One of the solutions for moving countries out of conflict and violence as well as creating a much-needed push for achieving SDGs may be the just green transition.  By its very definition, just transition means leaving no one behind in the transition to low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economies and societies. Just transition may set in place ambitious environmental and climate action and can provide the push for implementing twelve to fourteen out of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production.

Clearly, the concept of just transitions goes beyond delivering on changing energy models. An ability of governments to understand and manage the multidimensional dynamics of the just transition seems acute. Through an inclusive dialogue, countries would need to develop respective approaches for a just transition that reflects the needs, priorities and realities of their societies to address climate change and environmental degradation. Importantly, this concept requires policy space for developing countries to set their productive capacities, new intellectual property frameworks, co-development of clean technologies, the expansion of ecosystem services to scale-up cooperation and secure funds for infrastructure and resilience-building. (United Nations, 2023)

Electoral support is in direct correlation with the just transition process through social dialogue. It is about employment security, re-skilling, pension funds and re-deployment measures, all important issues for the electorate. All those affected by the just transition need to be heard in support of transition towards a low-carbon economy. The scale of this transition is unprecedented, and it requires all parts of the society to be involved. Political parties need to be educated and equipped with guidelines on how to promote this transition, decent work and quality jobs. Political parties have a role to play to demonstrate their commitment to just transition through policies mitigation, adaptation and implementation. Promoting just transition needs to clearly complement the SDGs work in an inclusive process of embracing equity, meaningful participation, and respect for human rights. The present understanding that politicians or political parties may have on just transition and how they present it during election campaigns could affect the voting.

Furthermore, SDGs as a wider framework, provide a myriad of avenues for strengthening parliament’s responsiveness and inclusiveness allowing people to be part of law-making, scrutiny and budget analysis. Through a dedicated committee, cross-party caucus, in cooperation with State Audit Institution, Environmental Commissioner and similar, MPs may provide inputs into SDGs Voluntary National Reports (VNRs). Civil society may also be an important contributor by monitoring and inputting into the process. Finally, just transition offers a potential for compromise and balancing on the path towards sustainability. Governance of just transition requires developing mechanisms, processes, policies and accountable and responsive institutions that allow for effective social and public consultations.

The following engagement may be considered:

1. Establish SDG Caucuses: Create parliamentary groups focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to drive targeted discussions and policy alignment.
2. Dialogue on Just Transition: Organize platforms for dialogue that facilitate discussions on achieving a just transition, addressing both environmental and social aspects.
3. SDG Monitoring and Coordination: Set up systematic monitoring of SDGs through collaboration with independent oversight bodies, such as Supreme Audit Institutions, Equality Commissioners, Environmental Commissioners, Ombudspersons, and Anti-Corruption Agencies. These institutions are crucial for effective oversight of Agenda 2030’s progress.
4. Building an Inclusive National Platforms for SDG Monitoring: Support the creation of inclusive national dialogue platforms for monitoring SDG progress and just transitions. Encourage active participation of MPs in designing, monitoring, and contributing to Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs).
5. Fostering Local-Level Engagement: Organize local-level dialogues, workshops, public hearings, and awareness-raising initiatives to promote understanding of SDGs and the just transition.
6. Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups: Engage youth, women, and other vulnerable groups in developing narratives and monitoring the progress of SDGs and just transitions, ensuring their voices are part of the process.
7. Parliamentary Oversight for Climate and Employment: Support the establishment of parliamentary oversight for climate commitments and the generation of sustainable, inclusive growth. This process should be accountable and transparent.
8. Build Capacity of Political Parties: Equip political parties with guidelines on promoting just transition, decent work, and quality jobs. Encourage parties to demonstrate their commitment to these goals through concrete policies in their platforms.
9. Just Transition Cross-Party Caucus: Establish a cross-party caucus focused on just transition. This space will foster debates on climate, economic, and social policies, ensuring policy alignment across parliamentary committees. It will also create opportunities to involve stakeholders, such as civil society, social partners, researchers, and other experts, providing evidence-based input for policy decisions, similar to successful models in other committees and parliaments.

Parliament is the key institution vested with its constitutional obligation to represent people and thus should be an integral part of the implementation of SDGs by government through the following mechanisms and points of participation:

1. Internal and inter-parliamentary organisations
2. Cooperation with government

Also, some parliaments, as was the case with Sri Lanka, established committees on SDGs. Interparliamentary cooperation as a joint effort for the peer-to-peer exchange provides a drive for exchange and a push for implementation. Parliaments can take part in contributing to the SDGs Voluntary National Reports (VNRs). Finally, parliaments have the power to request the government and prime minister to put SDGs high on their agenda. A good example of internal and interparliamentary work may be the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) which developed a self-assessment toolkit for MPs (Interparliamentary Union, 2016) designed to enable parliamentarians to identify good practices, gaps, opportunities and lessons learned. The toolkit is not prescriptive and was designed to be used in all parliaments.

[1] https://press.un.org/en/2024/sgsm22290.doc.htm