Governing through goals: Sustainable Development Goals as governance innovation

Global governance in the Anthropocene is challenging for the planet and humanity; it is a multi-level, multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder endeavour calling on the international system to transcend its anarchic and ‘glocal’ power configurations. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the overarching 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development make the international to-do list for change more complex. This is as the SDGs encompass economic, social and environmental concerns—as well as involving all countries, all levels of decision-making and new actors. Synergies, cross-sectoral knowledge and local adaptability will be essential for their implementation. This edited volume is an output of the transdisciplinary Earth System Governance Project: an international research network which explores integrated governance systems that can ensure sustainability from the local to the global level. The contributors critically investigate goal setting and goal implementation as a new strategy, focusing on SDGs as a fundamental instrument for global governance towards 2030. They attempt to predict the potential usefulness and pitfalls of the SDGs in steering policies, actions and partnerships to attain sustainable development globally within the next 13 years. Published immediately after the adoption of the SDGs, the book is inherently prescriptive.