Weak governance in 2030 Agenda implementation
There are shortcomings in the implementation and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, according to the Swedish National Audit Office’s audit. The Government is recommended to prioritise more clearly the actions needed for Sweden to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda.
The Swedish National Audit Office has examined the central government’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The overall conclusion is that there are numerous shortcomings, the most serious being that the Government has not identified a clear direction for priorities in Sweden’s implementation.
“Although the Government has stressed the importance of the 2030 Agenda, it has not adequately directed what should be done – or how. Consequently, government agencies have continued to operate as usual, without taking any further actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda,” says Auditor General Christina Gellerbrant Hagberg.
The Riksdag and the Government have determined that Sweden is to be a leader in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. While Sweden had a high global ranking in the 2030 Agenda when work began in 2016, it has not made much progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since then.
The Government’s organisation of this matter has been sporadic and no structures have been set up with the long-term approach that sustainability issues require. A comprehensive knowledge base has been developed, but few proposals have been translated into governance by the Government. The Swedish National Audit Office considers that the Government should have better directed government agencies to enable achieving the SDGs.
Furthermore, it has been unclear who is responsible for creating coherence between policy areas to ensure that, together, they contribute to sustainable development. In addition, the Government has reinterpreted the very concept of coherence, which has led to less ambitious efforts, despite the objective decided by the Riksdag having the opposite intent.
The Government has failed to arrange comprehensive status follow-up of Sweden’s progress on the 2030 Agenda. The main reason is that the Government’s management of Statistics Sweden has led to the early termination of producing relevant goal achievement indicators. It has also meant that extensive work was carried out to no avail.
“In spite of ten years of work, there is currently no overview of the status of SDG achievement in Sweden. Accessing follow-up of existing indicators is also difficult,” says Karl Nilsson, project leader for the audit.
The Government’s reporting to the Riksdag on Sweden’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda has also been inadequate. For example, the Government has not sufficiently clearly described the efforts required to better fulfil objectives.
Besides, reporting to the Riksdag has deteriorated. The most recent report, for 2024, is incomplete, in that it lacks target-level reporting, making it impossible to follow progress over time.
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Government:
- define, more clearly, priorities in 2030 Agenda-related work to indicate the policy areas in which further measures are needed for Sweden to better achieve the SDGs
- clarify, in its governance of agencies, the responsibility of the latter for implementing the 2030 Agenda
- ensure the existence of follow-up that provides the public and the Riksdag with a comprehensive and relevant overview of Sweden’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda
- analyse and report on conflicting objectives and on synergies in policy coherence for global and sustainable development.
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