United Nations: The High-Level Political Forum has concluded with a renewed commitment to the 2030 Agenda
The United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) concluded its annual session on July 24, 2025, at the UN Headquarters in New York. This year’s forum, convened under the support of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), focused on the theme “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind”. The HLPF, which serves as the central UN platform for examining and evaluating progress on the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), united ministerial and high-level delegates from governments, UN bodies, academics, and other stakeholders.
During the ten-day event, participants conducted extensive reviews of five specific SDGs: Good Health and Well-Being (Goal 3), Gender Equality (Goal 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), Life Below Water (Goal 14), and Partnerships for the Goals (Goal 17). The forum also included Voluntary National Reviews, where countries delivered their advancements in applying the 2030 Agenda. A key highlight of the HLPF was the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration by Member States, reiterating their efforts to carry out their 2030 Agenda obligations to address and eradicate the several current crises faced by the world.
The HLPF 2025 took place at a critical point, marking ten years since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Junhua Li, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, emphasised the significance of the adopted Ministerial Declaration as a strong confirmation of a shared interest to solve the issues. However, the forum also highlighted the concerns regarding the slow advancements towards reaching the SDGs, with only 18% of the goals on track to be met by 2030. The declaration called for urgent action to address the current persistent challenges, including poverty and climate change, which were identified as some of the biggest global challenges impeding sustainable development.