The Global Sustainable Development Report 2023, a UN report on the SDGs in which Professor Norichika Kanie of the Graduate School of Media and Governance was involved as an author, has been published.

The Global Sustainable Development Report 2023, for which Professor Norichika Kanie of the Graduate School of Media and Governance has been involved for the past several years, has been completed and published. Prof. Kanie is one of 15 authors in an independent group of scientists appointed to prepare the report by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Comment from Prof. Norichika Kanie of the Graduate School of Media and Governance

It has been three years since the Secretary-General of the United Nations contacted us in 2020. We are pleased to announce the completion of the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023 (GSDR 2023). I worked in a group of 15 colleagues selected from around the world, collaborating and writing the report almost entirely online due to the pandemic. It was a completely novel experience. On a personal note, the report is highly emotional for me, as the writing process coincided with difficult times of losing both parents--my father in 2021, and my mother in 2022. The mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the SDGs is that almost all the goals will be quite difficult to achieve by 2030. However, there is hope. Transformations toward achieving the SDGs are beginning to take place around the world. How do we sow the seeds of transformation and accelerate the process? The essence of that answer is laid out in this report, which suggests an "S-curve" model for a successful transformations. By referring to this model, we will be able to objectively evaluate the current status of our actions and have future prospects. In order to accelerate the transformation, coordination between science, policy, and society is required. We hope you will use the GSDR as a guide for the second half of your efforts toward achieving the SDGs. Please stay tuned for the future developments and what we prescribe for each stakeholder.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Messages from the authors of the GSDR2023
Professor Norichika Kanie, Graduate School of Media and Governance
xSDG Laboratory, Keio Research Institute at SFC

Released by: General Affairs Office at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC)