Progress on sustainable development: too many years, too many conferences, too many speeches. Some moments resonate more than others though. Four years ago at a meeting in Fiji, I was listening to remarks by the then-Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. He spoke of the traditional Fijian magimagi, or coconut fiber rope, and he described how the alchemy of the ocean and the stress of the sea can bind individual strands to give strength rather than cause decay. These individual elements twist together to form something collective, creating a form that is strong enough to endure.
This could describe what has been underway since 2015, with the adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Seventeen strands began to twist together and could become the rope to which we cling and pull ourselves to safety.
We have just passed the halfway mark in our 15-year plan to transform our world. I was privileged to have played a role both in the agreement that was struck in 2015, as Ireland and Kenya co-facilitated negotiations on what would become the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in the recent negotiations on the SDG Summit political declaration, adopted by consensus at the United Nations this September under the excellent leadership of Ambassador Fergal Mythen, the permanent representative of Ireland to the U.N. and Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, the permanent representative of Qatar to the U.N.
About the author
John Gilroy
John Gilroy leads on climate and sustainable development at the Mission of Ireland to the U.N. He has extensive knowledge of the SDGs, negotiating the 2030 Agenda in 2014-2015. This year he led Ireland’s team on the SDG Summit political declaration, supporting Ambassador Fergal Mythen as co-facilitator with Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani of Qatar.
