Giving Compass' Take:

• The Brookings Institution and UN Foundation found various ways that U.S. leadership is embracing the SDGs across multiple industries to drive progress at both local and global levels. 

• What are the ways that philanthropists are working locally to address SDG achievement? How can partnerships advance this work? 

• Learn more about how the U.S. could lead  SDG progress.

This year’s U.N. General Assembly in September was the first time that heads of state and government came together to assess global progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since their adoption in 2015. Four years in, the United States is the only OECD and G-20 country that has not volunteered to report on its SDG progress. Yet American leadership is not absent.

Cities, states, universities, philanthropies, corporations, and NGOs have embraced the SDGs to advance social, economic, and environmental progress in communities across the United States, providing a platform for American local and global engagement on sustainable development.

While in New York City, the Brookings Institution and UN Foundation hosted an event to examine these diverse forms of leadership by different segments of American society, exploring their role in advancing progress domestically and worldwide.

Several key takeaways emerged:

  1.  The SDGs reflect and reinforce America’s values. 
  2. The SDGs are a comprehensive and useful framework for U.S. action locally and globally. 
  3.  The SDGs should be a core part of strategies and plans for businesses, philanthropy, and other institutions. 
  4.  American cities are leaders in addressing global issues through local action. 
  5. The SDGs are providing American universities with the basis for addressing societal challenges and growing the next generation of social leaders.
  6. American innovations are inspiring global action. 

Read the full article about U.S. leadership on SDGs by Anthony F. Pipa and Kaysie Brown at Brookings.