• To achieve the SDGs, planning processes within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must be improved, to integrate the Agenda at all levels of policy and government, linking plans and budgets in a coherent manner.


• Given the financing gap, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda must be collaborative (public sector, private sector and civil society); public-private partnerships are key to achieving the SDGs.


• The SDGs can serve as a key investment risk assessment framework: the more sustainable the investment, the greater the returns.


• Because they are classified as middle-income or graduated countries, Caribbean nations receive less funding, even though they are more exposed to natural disasters and are more vulnerable to external economic shocks.

• South-South and triangular cooperation are important means for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in particular through the exchange of successful experiences and support to develop statistics and national plans.


• It is important to support technological capabilities in the region (through free software and technology transfer) and greater openness to concessional financing schemes for middle-income countries.


• Data are key assets for achieving the SDGs: without data innovation and protection, it will not be possible to drive the 2030 Agenda forward.


• The prioritization of measurement is key; the SDG indicators must be prioritized by national and regional realities.

Challenges

• Even if they have achieved sustained growth, middle-income countries display large structural gaps, so the graduation criterion should be multidimensional. One possibility would be to assess countries by triple-impact indicators (GDP, social inclusion indices and per capita greenhouse gas emissions).


• It is a major challenge to coordinate efforts (between and within countries) to be more efficient and manage budget limitations.


• A common language needs to be built up among businesses and between them and the public sector, and the contribution of the private sector must be reflected in voluntary national reviews. In particular, there is little information on the universe of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).


• The region is below the world average in terms of data management. In particular, there is a normative and cultural gap in data protection, which could be closed through multilateral efforts, public-private partnerships and the establishment of standards for the ethical management of big data.


• There is a gap in terms of statistical production and the accessibility of information that already exists. National statistical offices need new capacities and trained professionals to leverage new data sources, supply data for measuring the SDG indicators and process qualitative information.


• There is a need to strengthen statistical disaggregation at the local level and for vulnerable groups, in order to determine why some are lagging behind. There are not enough data to support a theory of change capable of indicating why what is implemented works or does not work.


• There are challenges of implementation (absence of laws and formal structures), measurement (definition of standard criteria) and attribution (how to ensure the scope of the results and choice of methodologies).


• Data need to be linked up with public policies in order to improve accountability.

Opportunities

• The private sector, with its investment capacity, should be more engaged in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; this would allow firms to explore new markets and adopt new business models.


• TNew data sources (big data) can be integrated into official statistics on SDGs, in addition to being used for disaster risk management and improvement of public services.


• International trade can be a source of financing for development, but policies must be in place to ensure that it is inclusive. It is also important to strengthen trade within Latin America and the Caribbean, which can be fostered by making maritime infrastructure more efficient.

• Businesses that perform well with respect to SDGs improve this performance, and their profitability, over the long term. Collecting SDG-related data internally has enabled firms to include these data in their economic and social returns, which makes it more feasible to issue green bonds.


• Good practices in fostering business commitment to the SDGs include: the social enterprise business model; the B Impact Assessment tool; the SDG Corporate Tracker initiative to measure and analyse the private sector contribution to SDG 17 in Colombia; the call for sustainable, innovative and multi-stakeholder initiatives for sustainable development in Colombia; social impact bonds in Argentina; and the analysis of business impact on the SDGs across all the links in the value chain.

• Good practices at the regional level include the Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC2020) (a platform for the design of public policies on digital matters in the region) and the Regional Amazon Observatory.


• The Network for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and follow-up to the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean was created to strengthen the institutional capacities of countries and to link up capacities, needs and cooperative initiatives.

• The SDGs should be integrated into planning systems (at all levels), budgets and national statistical systems.


• The political opposition must be included in the development of plans, in order to ensure continuity despite changes of government. The SDGs must be an agenda of State, not of government.


• Direct multi-stakeholder partnerships (between civil society, academia, the private sector and government at all levels) should be promoted to make the implementation of the 2030 Agenda a continuous, participatory and bottom-up process of policymaking and progress review.


• Policy frameworks must be created, especially for fiscal policy. Strengthening of tax systems and active fiscal policy are key to financing the 2030 Agenda. To expand fiscal space, it is necessary to: (i) reduce tax evasion (through national policies and regional agreements); (ii) tax the digital economy; (iii) rethink tax expenditure; and (iv) strengthen taxes on personal income and real estate.


• It is important to develop innovative mechanisms for financing the 2030 Agenda. “SDG bonds” could be a way to transfer resources from companies towards sustainable development, provided that the information on green bonds and SDGs is comparable.

• Countries need to modernize their statistical systems in order to leverage new data sources (big data, geospatial information systems and administrative data sources).


• Developing statistics at the territorial level is fundamental for moving forward on the SDGs. Spatial planning needs to be strengthened by means of knowledge transfer.


• The multidimensional approach to development needs to be bolstered with methodologies (developed in the South) to measure the progress of South-South cooperation, on the basis of more and better data.


• The harmonization of efforts should be reflected in the work of the agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system operating in the region; the coordinated support of the system is essential, including for the gathering of information and coordination of key stakeholders.