Countdown to WSDS 2025

Achieving Sustainable Development through Integrated Action

Day: 7th March 2025 | Friday
Time: 2:30 – 4:00 pm (IST)

We are living in a time of Polycrisis. Key challenges confronting the world include planetary crises, sliding back of key sustainable development goals and the ever-growing conflict situation threating world peace. It is more important than ever that sustainable development and environment stewardship is promoted at all levels and across all spheres. The pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 demands unprecedented collective action. The SDGs are inherently interconnected; progress on one depends on others. Achieving them requires governments, businesses, and civil society to unite, dismantling barriers and fostering vertical and horizontal collaboration. These goals are not isolated objectives but an interconnected framework addressing the multifaceted challenges of our time. Yet, political, environmental, and economic activities remain siloed, obstructing systemic solutions. To mainstream sustainability, tools like green budgeting, sustainable procurement, green investments, and regulatory frameworks must be prioritized.

The plenary aims to drive integrated action toward achieving the SDGs by fostering collaboration, mainstreaming sustainability, and advancing systemic solutions to address interconnected global challenges.

Questions for Discussions

  • What are the most critical systemic barriers currently hindering the integration of sustainable development across political, environmental, and economic spheres, and how can they be addressed?
  • How can tools like green budgeting, sustainable procurement, and regulatory frameworks be effectively implemented to promote cross-sectoral integration and accelerate SDG progress?
  • What role can vertical (national to local) and horizontal (cross-sectoral) collaborations play in mainstreaming sustainable development, and what best practices can be scaled globally?
  • In the face of multiple global crises, how can governments, businesses, and civil society balance short-term recovery efforts with long-term sustainable development goals?