This book draws on the expertise of faculty and colleagues at the Balsillie School of International Affairs to both locate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a contribution to the development of global government and to examine the political-institutional and financial challenges posed by the SDGs.

The contributors are experts in global governance issues in a broad variety of fields ranging from health, food systems, social policy, migration and climate change. An introductory chapter sets out the broad context of the governance challenges involved, and how individual chapters contribute to the analysis. The book begins by focusing on individual SDGs, examining briefly the background to the particular goal and evaluating the opportunities and challenges (particularly governance challenges) in achieving the goal, as well as discussing how this goal relates to other SDGs. The book goes on to address the broader issues of achieving the set of goals overall, examining the novel financing mechanisms required for an enterprise of this nature, the trade-offs involved (particularly between the urgent climate agenda and the social/economic goals), the institutional arrangements designed to enable the achievement of the goals and offering a critical perspective on the enterprise as a whole.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals makes a distinctive contribution by covering a broad range of individual goals with contributions from experts on governance in the global climate, social and economic areas as well as providing assessments of the overall project - its financial feasibility, institutional requisites, and its failures to tackle certain problems at the core. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of international affairs, development studies and sustainable development, as well as those engaged in policymaking nationally, internationally and those working in NGOs.

About the Author

Simon Dalby, Professor, Balsillie School of International Affairs and Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Susan Horton, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems, and Professor, Economics, University of Waterloo, Canada

Rianne Mahon, Professor, Balsillie School of International Affairs and Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Diana Thomaz, Doctoral Candidate, Balsillie School of International Affairs and Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Reviews

"The agreement on the SDGs was above all, an important achievement in international cooperation. But more is needed to take commitments to implementation. This book provides a rich analysis of what is needed, goal by goal. It fills a gap in current debates on SDGs that has focused on country action and neglected the need for further international cooperation to address key obstacles that lie in global rules, resources and action." - Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Professor of International Affairs and Program Director, The New School, New York, USA

"Adopted in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put forward a broad, and potentially transformative, agenda for global economic, social, and environmental development. The chapters comprising this excellent volume explore key aspects of the global governance issues stemming from SDGs. The book is a must read for scholars and practitioners interested in the relationship between global governance and sustainable development." - Daniel Beland, McGill University, Canada

"This valuable collection of papers explores the novel approach to global governance represented by the Sustainable Development Goals. Through a selection of goals, the SDGs set out a universal and transformative agenda for achieving an equitable and sustainable future. The authors recognise the opportunities of the SDGs, while illuminating the inevitable tensions and contradictions, contested priorities and challenges of coordination that are inherent in such ambition. Cutting across separate goals, and drawing on diverse disciplines, a range of arguments emerge around critical governance, financing and implementation challenges in the absence of hard enforcement mechanisms. The volume provides an immensely important resource for policy makers, practitioners and scholars seeking to look beyond individual goals and targets, to explore collective strategies for action and to grasp the transformative potential of the SDGs." - Sarah Cook, Director for the UNSW Institute for Global Development

Book Information
ISBN 9780367139988
Author Simon Dalby
Format Hardback
Page Count 276
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 880g