The Local2030 Coalition successfully promoted localization at the 2024 High-Level Political Forum by co-organizing and participating in key high-level events and holding several meetings with partners who are committed to accelerating the six SDG transitions at the local level.

Local2030 Coalition Special Event. Unlocking transformative change through the localization of the six SDG transitions

The Local2030 Coalition Special Event aimed to present the advancements achieved by the HII on SDG Localization scaled up through the Local2030 Coalition that have multiplier catalytic effects to promote transformative actions and solutions at the local level through the lens of the 6 SDG Transitions.

The three panels explored innovative solutions and best practices that support localized action towards the realization of the SDGs, transformative financing mechanisms to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda, and next steps towards the Summit of the Future, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and COP30.

Some of the key recommendations that emerged from the session were the following:

• To translate the six SDG transitions at the local level, the UN must scale up inter-agency collaboration, synergies among stakeholders and catalyze change through the Local2030 Coalition’s Working Group 1.
• Leverage the effect that urban areas have on poverty, inequalities and climate change to accelerate the SDGs through the scaling up of best practices from the local level and the fostering of multistakeholder dialogue.
• Foster collaboration between universities and the UN to support SDG awareness raising and support youth-led projects and ensure the integration of SDG localization efforts into educational curriculums.
• Strengthen academia’s role in achieving the SDGs by focusing academia internally on impactful research at scale, addressing the crisis of misinformation and building trust to foster partnerships at the local level.
• The political system must systematically enable LRGs to learn and adapt and elevate their role in decision-making processes at the national and international levels to localize the 2030 Agenda.
• Scale up the development of tools to provide essential information for investment decisions (SDG investment maps, UN-Habitat's cities investment platform, etc.).
• Strengthen the Joint SDG Fund and coordination among UN Resident Coordinators (UNRCs) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) to finance the localization of the SDGs through tools such as the Localization Marker.
• Strengthen the representation of LRGs within the UN system, including formal communication and consultation channels to ensure LRGs have a voice in global decision-making processes.
• Ensure that SDG Localization is mainstreamed within the agendas of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference, COP30 and the World Summit for Social Development through a roadmap of action and preparatory meetings.

Watch here the Local2030 Coalition Special Event: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1h/k1h7vlg3jr

Local and Regional Governments Forum

The Seventh Local and Regional Governments Forum (LRGF), organized by UN DESA, the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF), UN-Habitat, UNDP and the Local 2030 Coalition, was held on 11 July.

The forum highlighted the interconnected importance and breadth of local action and governing in partnership to power the SDG Rescue plan through the six key SDG transitions. Special emphasis was placed on building high-impact coalitions led by local and regional governments as transformative and multisectoral partnerships driving progress and future-oriented initiatives.

The LRGF brought together local, regional, and national governments as well as representatives from the United Nations and other stakeholders to discuss how high-impact localization policies, partnerships, multilevel governance, and financing can close the gap in the implementation of the SDGs. It marked an opportunity for the constituency of local and regional governments to share key messages and inputs towards the Summit of the Future, to be held in September 2024, and the World Social Summit, to be held in 2025.

As a co-organizing partner, the Local2030 Coalition ensured that the discussions held amongst the local and regional government constituency clearly linked with the work in achieving the targets of the High-Impact Initiative on SDG Localization presented in the Local2030 Coalition Special Event the day before the LRGF. The Local2030 Coalition, in its closing remarks of the forum, highlighted the key role that local and regional governments and their associations play in Local2030’s mission, underscoring that they are at the heart of its governance, being represented in its Steering Committee providing strategic leadership and policy guidance, and are an integral part of its work plan, being linked to the coalition’s targets and contributing to its work through the Local2030 Hubs: the coalition’s centers of excellence established to build capacities for innovative action and nurture the development of and access to methodologies and tools for SDG localization.  Recalling that the year 2030 is swiftly approaching, the Local2030 Coalition committed to work together with the local and regional government constituency to ensure that SDG Localization and local and regional governments remain front and center in the global development agendas.

Watch here the Local and Regional Government Forum: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k13/k132baz59f

Special Event on SDG Acceleration

On July 15^th, the Local2030 Coalition was featured in the HLPF Special Event entitled “Keeping the SDG Promise: Pathways for Acceleration” convened by the Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group and Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J.  Mohammed, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Spain. The Special Event explored the role of the SDG transitions in accelerating progress, showcasing concrete examples of success, and emphasizing the critical link between the development of updated Nationally Determined Contributions and SDG acceleration. It also provided an update on the progress of the “High Impact Initiatives” (HIIs), stemming from the United Nations system and other stakeholders at the 2023 SDG Summit, in particular, the HII on SDG Localization which is the Local2030 Coalition.

During the session, a system approach to foster SDG acceleration was discussed, considering the broader context of HII implementation as well as scaling up resources for the six SDG transitions. Emphasis was placed on initiatives that have multiplier effects and that can be monitored adequately as well as country programmes that are already making progress in SDG Acceleration, drawing on the work of the Joint SDG Fund. The Local2030 Coalition was represented by UN-Habitat, as permanent co-chair, which offered a snapshot of the advancements made in the implementation of the High Impact Initiative on SDG Localization. These efforts, underscored in the session, showcase the high impact of localization, and its potential to amplify voices and scale up local actions. Within this context, the role of the Local2030 Coalition as a convening space to build on existing localization initiatives and create an enabling environment that fills policy gaps, was emphasized and will be harnessed to further advance on the implementation of the HII on SDG Localization.

Watch here the Special Event on SDG Acceleration: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1w/k1w2lo5fn4

The brochure of the 12 high impact initiatives can be accessed here.

 Examples of these advancements highlighted in the HII brochure include:

• the establishment of two thematic working groups focusing on the six SDG transitions: one on "Localizing the six transitions" and another on "Financing the six transitions at the local level", both acting as comprehensive mechanisms to develop guidelines and good practices;
• a strengthened partnership with the EU, through the first edition of the EU-UN dialogues on SDG Localization, resulting in a roadmap of cooperation for 2024 and 2025 to jointly accelerate SDG implementation;
• the partnership with the Joint SDG Fund which, with the support from the Spanish government, has seen $10 million committed to catalytic initiatives at the local level through a call for seed funding proposal for SDG Localization distributed to 29 UN Country Teams and the SDG Localization marker, which will help identify programmes under other funding tracks that also have a principal contribution to SDG localization.
• The Knowledge and Scientific Network, supporting the acceleration and localization of the SDGs by bridging the gap between research, data and knowledge and policy and decision-making:
• The UNSG Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments, which aims at strengthening the role of local and regional governments within UN intergovernmental processes and its third deliverable on strengthening the relationship between UN Country Teams, national governments, and local and regional governments; and
• The Local2030 Hubs, which is expanding its efforts and network of Hubs to support localization efforts, including proposals to establish a Hub in Cairo, Egypt.