10 The Sustainable Development Goals and Multilateral Agreements Arild Underdal and Rakhyun E. Kim
This chapter builds on Young’s insightful analysis (this volume, chapter 2) of potential advantages and limitations of goal setting as a general strategy for earth system governance, but focuses on one particular function, namely that of reforming or rearranging existing elements of earth system governance so as to enhance overall performance in promoting sustainable development. Broad agreement on a new set of goals for global governance can, at least for a while, open new windows of opportunity for innovative change, including the establishment of new rules and institutions. However, at least in a five- to 10-year perspective, the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals will depend primarily on their success in being actively pursued by existing institutions. (In this chapter, we use the label of “institution” broadly, referring to organizations as well as regimes and international agreements.) Most of these institutions will be deeply immersed in their own agendas and will be valued by their members primarily for pursuing the missions for which they were established. A similar observation could apply to several other goal-setting attempts as well, but the Sustainable Development Goals stand out as particularly demanding in their ambitions to provide guidance across established policy domains. The notion of sustainability itself has implications for a very wide range of human activities, and so does the notion of development. To be effective, the Sustainable Development Goals must therefore penetrate or in some other way bring into line existing regimes and organizations, in particular powerful institutions established (primarily) for other purposes. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals, each with a set of more specific targets. With such a comprehensive agenda, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals will depend critically on how thousands of agents already engaged in governing human affairs—ranging from local councils and
