24
A Unifying Event: Around the same time the
International Olympic Committee awarded the
2028 Summer Olympic Games to Los Angeles.
The expiration of the SDGs in 2030 aligns nicely
with the timing of the 2028 Los Angeles
Olympics, allowing the city to promote its efforts
to ready the city for the Olympics as a simultaneous exercise in advancing sustainable
development.
Data-driven Decisionmaking: The mayor
also possesses a strong orientation for using data
and goals to drive progress. He had made an
SDG-like commitment in 2017 to decrease the
number of unsheltered Angelenos by 50% in
5 years and functionally end homelessness in
10 years. This pledge demonstrated the mobilizing effect of aligning policy and budget against a
publicly accountable goal. The mayor’s political
focus has helped produce a county bond for
$355 million annually for services and programs,
a city bond for $1.2 billion for supportive housing, and an executive directive to expedite the
process of standing up temporary shelters.
Implicit Alignment: Indeed, the city’s policies and plans already mirrored many of the priorities reflected in the SDGs. In April 2015, the
mayor had released Sustainability City pLAn,
which sought to integrate and measure environmental health, equity, and economic near-term
and long-term outcomes. The city was also in the
closing stages of finalizing Resilient Los Angeles,
a plan developed in conjunction with Rockefeller
Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative. The
city had made a commitment in 2017 to update
all of its 35 community plans within 6 years
through neighborhood-level consultations, and
the Mayor’s Dashboard was already providing
real-time data measuring the city’s performance
across a number of issues and sectors.
University Support: The pieces fell into
place with the addition of university partners.
Occidental College offered financial resources,
faculty involvement, and assistance from students. Ultimately faculty and students from ASU,
UCLA, and USC would also participate. These
university teams provided capacity for mapping
existing city policies and metrics against the
SDGs, undertaking labor-intensive analysis that
might otherwise have taxed city staff. With a supportive mayor, the Hilton Foundation provided
funds to the Mayor’s Fund for a staff person in
the mayor’s office to take on the responsibility
for coordinating the city’s efforts on the SDGs.
3.4
Aligning to the SDGs
What does “implementation” of the SDGs entail?
For the countries that agreed to the 2030 Agenda,
the UN resolution emphasizes the importance of
“cohesive nationally owned sustainable development strategies, supported by national financing
frameworks,” as well as regular review of progress using “a set of global indicators.”
10
The goals, targets, and indicators are set at the
national and global levels. Using the data as a
basis, countries develop strategy and financing
frameworks according to their national circumstances. They then annually report national data
to the UN Statistical Commission based on a
standard set of indicators. Countries also voluntarily make Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs)
at the United Nations, offering a self-assessment
of national progress and presenting their plans to
reach the SDGs.
However, officially determined and universally accepted SDG targets for local purposes do
not exist. There is also no formal set of indicators
or official forum for reporting local SDG
progress.
Cities are thus faced with the prospect of creating their own proxies for the national targets
and indicators, especially as it relates to their own
specific context and the data that they have available. There is no straightforward “trickle-down”
from the national to the local – cities must make
decisions at every juncture. For example, Los
Angeles could set target 1.2, a 50% reduction in
poverty, at the nationally mandated poverty line
or a poverty line that is more in line with the cost
of living in the city.
10 Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, A/Res/70/1, UNGAOR, 70th
Session (2015), pp. 28
T. Pipa
A Unifying Event: Around the same time the
International Olympic Committee awarded the
2028 Summer Olympic Games to Los Angeles.
The expiration of the SDGs in 2030 aligns nicely
with the timing of the 2028 Los Angeles
Olympics, allowing the city to promote its efforts
to ready the city for the Olympics as a simultaneous exercise in advancing sustainable
development.
Data-driven Decisionmaking: The mayor
also possesses a strong orientation for using data
and goals to drive progress. He had made an
SDG-like commitment in 2017 to decrease the
number of unsheltered Angelenos by 50% in
5 years and functionally end homelessness in
10 years. This pledge demonstrated the mobilizing effect of aligning policy and budget against a
publicly accountable goal. The mayor’s political
focus has helped produce a county bond for
$355 million annually for services and programs,
a city bond for $1.2 billion for supportive housing, and an executive directive to expedite the
process of standing up temporary shelters.
Implicit Alignment: Indeed, the city’s policies and plans already mirrored many of the priorities reflected in the SDGs. In April 2015, the
mayor had released Sustainability City pLAn,
which sought to integrate and measure environmental health, equity, and economic near-term
and long-term outcomes. The city was also in the
closing stages of finalizing Resilient Los Angeles,
a plan developed in conjunction with Rockefeller
Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative. The
city had made a commitment in 2017 to update
all of its 35 community plans within 6 years
through neighborhood-level consultations, and
the Mayor’s Dashboard was already providing
real-time data measuring the city’s performance
across a number of issues and sectors.
University Support: The pieces fell into
place with the addition of university partners.
Occidental College offered financial resources,
faculty involvement, and assistance from students. Ultimately faculty and students from ASU,
UCLA, and USC would also participate. These
university teams provided capacity for mapping
existing city policies and metrics against the
SDGs, undertaking labor-intensive analysis that
might otherwise have taxed city staff. With a supportive mayor, the Hilton Foundation provided
funds to the Mayor’s Fund for a staff person in
the mayor’s office to take on the responsibility
for coordinating the city’s efforts on the SDGs.
3.4
Aligning to the SDGs
What does “implementation” of the SDGs entail?
For the countries that agreed to the 2030 Agenda,
the UN resolution emphasizes the importance of
“cohesive nationally owned sustainable development strategies, supported by national financing
frameworks,” as well as regular review of progress using “a set of global indicators.”
10
The goals, targets, and indicators are set at the
national and global levels. Using the data as a
basis, countries develop strategy and financing
frameworks according to their national circumstances. They then annually report national data
to the UN Statistical Commission based on a
standard set of indicators. Countries also voluntarily make Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs)
at the United Nations, offering a self-assessment
of national progress and presenting their plans to
reach the SDGs.
However, officially determined and universally accepted SDG targets for local purposes do
not exist. There is also no formal set of indicators
or official forum for reporting local SDG
progress.
Cities are thus faced with the prospect of creating their own proxies for the national targets
and indicators, especially as it relates to their own
specific context and the data that they have available. There is no straightforward “trickle-down”
from the national to the local – cities must make
decisions at every juncture. For example, Los
Angeles could set target 1.2, a 50% reduction in
poverty, at the nationally mandated poverty line
or a poverty line that is more in line with the cost
of living in the city.
10 Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, A/Res/70/1, UNGAOR, 70th
Session (2015), pp. 28
T. Pipa