The High-level Political Forum is the United Nations’ central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The ISC at the United Nations High Level Political Forum

The ISC has a central role in this platform as a co-convenor of the UN Major Group for Science and Technology. The ISC works with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) to secure a mandate for science at the UN and to integrate scientific and expert knowledge into sustainable development-related policy processes. 


2023 HLPF events

Science Day – Evidence-based strategies for SDG acceleration

Science Day aims to address lagging progress in achieving the SDGs, providing an informal platform within the High-Level Political Forum for decision-makers, scientists, and other stakeholders to exchange views and strategies.

15 July 2023

Watch live here on 15 July at 9:00 EST / 13:00 UTC

Harnessing the Power of Science for the 2030 Agenda

The Council will launch the report of its Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability, a call for doing science differently to deliver on the SDGs, at the UN New York Headquarters as a side-event of the 2023 HLPF. This launch will introduce the ISC’s model to unlock science’s potential for long-term sustainability in front of high-level representatives attending the Forum.

17 July 2023

Learn more


Rescuing and integrating the Global Agenda: Harnessing Science and Technology more effectively

Position paper for the 2023 High-Level Political Forum, prepared by the ISC Fellows.


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The ISC and the 2030 Agenda

The biggest and most urgent challenges for contemporary science are to identify tractable pathways to global sustainability, and to assist in the creation and promotion of policies and public action that can advance societies along those pathways.

Implementation of the 2030 Agenda calls for multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder collaboration and for greater policy coherence, based on systemic understanding and so-called ‘whole of government’ approaches.

The scientific community must be a key partner in the implementation of the global goals at national, regional and global levels.

Science can provide critical data, knowledge and innovation to inform society and decision-makers about the opportunities and challenges associated with particular pathways and interventions. It can identify leverage points for social transformations that support greater sustainability.

Therefore, ISC’s Action Plan 2019-2021 ‘Advancing science as a global public good’ sets the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as one of the four domains of impact that the ISC seeks to contribute to by developing a series of projects and initiatives aimed at increasing the contribution of science to the achievement of the global agenda for sustainable development.

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