Summary of the Countdown to the UN SDG Summit 2023 Webinar Series

During the run-up to the 2023 United Nations SDG Summit, the IntegrateSDGs team hosted a series of webinars between November 2022 and June 2023. The eight webinars aimed to explore where we are in SDG implementation, identify transformative actions for change, and assess what kind of disruptions they might create together with the benefits for those goals under review and for other goals with which there are interlinkages. This publication is a summary and an analysis of the eight webinars.

Introduction
The webinar series, ‘Countdown to the UN SDG Summit 2023’, in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, brought together more than 60 experts, policymakers, and practitioners with knowledge of the SDGs’ interlinkages and insights on integrated approaches that can help to develop recommendations on transformative actions for the SDGs, with an emphasis on strengthening the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda. The eight webinars, which resulted in more than 60 recommendations are summarized in this publication.

Background
The SDGs have been conceptualized to be interlinked but, over time, this has become even more important. There is an urgent need to identify how these interlinkages can be leveraged to speed up SDG implementation. The summaries try to capture key challenges, interlinkages, solutions, and recommendations for the sixteen SDGs discussed in the webinars. SDG 17 was considered in all webinars as a cross-cutting Goal. It is also essential to identify a new context for SDG implementation in the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery and the current geopolitical situation. These factors influence SDG implementation as well as new partnerships that need to be forged to achieve the SDGs. With generous support from UNEP and the EU, these webinars were the precursor to the IntegrateSDGs initiative and the establishment of the Communities of Practice which will continue to work on this initiative in the lead-up to the Summit of the Future in September 2024 and beyond.

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