Director’s Message
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the world’s shared purpose, centered on the simple yet revolutionary principle of “leave no one behind”. Across the world, the SDGs have been embraced at all levels of society. Cities such as Los Angeles, Helsinki, Buenos Aires, national governments including Mexico and India as well as private companies like Qualcomm and Hilton have committed themselves to the shared goal of a sustainable and inclusive future, using the SDGs to guide and measure progress.
Having spent my career in research as well as working with governments around the world, I know that many of the solutions exist to achieve the SDGs, but too often the silos within academia and government limit opportunities to translate science into good policy.
The SDG Policy Initiative uses the SDGs as a framework for bringing together policymakers and researchers to inform evidence-based solutions for a sustainable future. The SDGPI showcases the latest scientific contributions around the 17 SDGs at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, through its faculty and research centers. In addition, you will learn about a series of programs that put the SDGs into action to address interconnected challenges at global, national and local scales.
Across interrelated challenges such as poverty, discrimination, climate change and biodiversity loss, meeting the SDGs and achieving sustainable and inclusive growth more broadly will require bringing academia, governments, civil society, the private sector, and individuals together around the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals. These principles — sustainability with equity and justice at its core — have never been more urgent.
Regards,
Gordon McCord
July 2020
