Meeting the target of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 is an uphill challenge for most Arab countries. In this regard, I have a number of messages. My first message is that we need to stop treating Arab countries as a monolith. Individual countries have distinctive needs, priorities, and economic, political and social contexts that must be recognized when developing implementation plans. Countries will need to identify their priority SDGs and develop national plans for their implementation, including policies and budgets. There certainly are many commonalities to build on, and regional cooperation is of paramount importance. However, this has to consider and utilize the variety of natural and human resources in a vast region stretching over two continents. Sustainable development priorities and goals in Qatar are certainly different from those in Jordan. And for a country mired in strife, such as Yemen, the needs of a postconflict era would still be vastly different. Implementation without context would cause a distortion.
For my second message, I invite you to ponder some common challenges facing our region: a young population suffering from high rates of unemployment which is disproportionately greater for women, weak research capabilities, a lack of public participation in development decision-making and inadequate institutional and policymaking capacities. Therefore, implementation plans for achieving SDGs must be linked with effective participation from nonstate sectors, job creation, homegrown science and data collection and monitoring capabilities, and institutional and public-policy capacity building. If we fail to address these problems in the course of SDGs implementation, we will have missed yet another opportunity, instead contributing to a state of perpetual dependence.
I will direct my third message toward partnerships for development. The message concerns financing, a key implementation ingredient. The ambitious SDGs need to be matched with revitalizing partnerships to mobilize sufficient resources. Inadequate financing was one of the shortcomings to full realization of the MDGs. In this respect, developed countries need to galvanize their efforts to fulfill their commitments to the U.N. long-standing target of 0.7 percent of gross national income as official development assistance to developing countries, pledged in 1970. But foreign aid has to be matched by local action. Therefore there is a pressing need to mobilize local resources through reforms in subsidies and tax-collection practices. Beyond that, our region boasts 10 development funds, which have amassed tremendous experience in providing finance to development projects worldwide. These funds have recently issued a joint declaration on their commitment to sustainable development and means of implementation, and created a Coordination Group on Sustainable Development. They can play an important role in assisting Arab countries in implementing the SDGs, including through fostering partnerships with other providers of development finance.
For my fourth message, I would like to call upon Arab governments to adopt a genuine cross-sectoral approach to sustainable development. This entails the integration of climate change considerations in the implementation of the SDGs, mainly based on the water-energy-food nexus. I am speaking about going beyond establishing a multiministerial higher council for sustainable development, or any such council, to a genuine integrative effort across disciplines and institutions.
My fifth message concerns a focus on the state of conflict in the region, and thus demands an approach to implementation that responds directly to the particular needs and priorities of areas suffering from armed conflicts and illegal military occupation. Beyond acting with multiple local, regional and international aid organizations today to provide safety and basic necessities to those affected, we would be wise to lay the foundation for integrating SDG implementation with the anticipated rebuilding efforts. I call upon local and regional civil society organizations to develop capacity building programs that would engage youth and women groups from conflict areas, so that they would be prepared to take a strong leadership role in integrating SDG implementation and climate action with rebuilding.
While we do not expect SDGs to provide a political solution in areas under military occupation, we do believe that the implementation of SDGs should create the enabling conditions for Palestinians living under occupation to exercise sovereignty over their water and other resources.
On a positive note, sustainable resource management is gaining stronger ground in various Arab countries. Countries in the GCC have recently initiated bold policies and measures to enhance water and energy efficiency and put a price tag on nature services. Voluntary energy and water efficiency programs have been enhanced and complemented with fiscal measures, including phasing out generous subsidies. The Saudi budget for the fiscal year 2015-16 highlighted this trend, as stated by the following statement from the Finance Ministry, committing to: “Reviewing government support, including revision of energy, water and electricity prices gradually over the next five years, in order to achieve efficiency in energy use, conserve natural resources, and stop waste and irrational use.”
While MASDAR in Abu Dhabi is a shining example of a government-driven transformative initiative in renewable energy, Dubai was host to the world’s cheapest kilowatt-hour of photovoltaic solar-generated electricity, through a private company applying a market-based investment model.
On the westernmost side of our region, we have a star performer in Morocco when it comes to renewable energy investment, with a daring target of 52 percent by 2030. It is a model worthy of emulating.
But we still have work to do. We have not yet made the leap to transforming those sectors that consume the most energy, namely housing and transportation. In addition, there is a need to focus public attention on the SDGs to facilitate their implementation. Public engagement and participation can have a direct impact on whether there will be policy changes that make the goals happen.
To conclude, there is an urgent need to invest in people-centered development, which fosters integration of human rights, including the right to development, and the principles of genuine public participation, accountability, transparency and nondiscrimination, into the development agenda.
Najib Saab, secretary-general of the Arab Forum for Environment & Development, wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR, based on his statement today at the U.N. General Assembly’s thematic debate on implementing the SDGs. He can be reached at nsaab@afedonline.org
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on April 21, 2016, on page 7.