Is goal-setting an effective strategy for global sustainability governance? Insights from the Sustainable Development Goals

Recent reports from the United Nations and academic studies share a similar diagnosis: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to guide societies towards sustainability transformations, is in a serious crisis (Biermann et al., 2022a; Biermann et al., 2022b; United Nations, 2025). The world is not on track to achieve the goals by 2030, with several of the goals even in regression, and many countries falling behind on their commitments to meeting the SDGs by 2030 (Global Sustainable Development Report, 2023). On top of this slow progress, backlash began to emerge in some places against the SDGs. This is most visible in the United States under the second Trump administration as well as a few countries with governments led by self-described “libertarians,” such as Argentina (Heartney, 2025; Nori et al., 2024). In this turbulent context, sustainable development initiatives have faced enormous challenges in many sectors – a trend likely to undermine efforts to advance the 2030 Agenda.

At the same time, the United Nations, the European Union, and many countries across both the Global North and Global South continue to use the SDGs in their policy frameworks (Hickmann et al., 2024). This suggests that, beyond shaping global sustainability discussions, the SDGs have begun to take roots within various social, political, and administrative systems. How do the SDGs impact sustainability transitions in different contexts? The contributions to this Special Issue shows that the SDGs and the concept of governance by goal-setting exemplified by these global goals remain relevant in practice. The authors of the different articles provide evidence that efforts have been made to integrate the SDGs into national, sub-national, and transnational institutional frameworks and policies, yet with substantial variation across contexts.

This Special Issue offers new insights into the conditions under which governance by goal-setting can be effective in promoting sustainability transitions across the globe. The seven studies compiled here present a diversity of perspectives on the effectiveness and impact of globally agreed policy goals as a governance strategy, examining SDG implementation across different scales, sectors, and actors, ranging from national and sub-national governments, private corporations, and multi-stakeholder partnerships. Together, the issue enhances our understanding of governance by goal-setting and draws broader lessons for accelerating SDG implementation by and beyond 2030.

The full article is available: here