Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs)

Since launching in 2019, Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) has been recognized as an agile and dynamic platform to support action and implementation of the SDGs.

GO4SDGs connects the dots between global partnerships and regional needs and solutions, fostering collaboration and progress, particularly towards achieving SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). We do this through three main workstreams:

1. Policy coherence and circularity scale-up: Support governments to strengthen policy coherence and mainstream circular economy and sustainable consumption and production (SCP) approaches in national policies, including on climate change, biodiversity and pollution.
2. Innovation and finance for SMEs: Support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase capacities and access to financing innovation and circularity.
3. Youth empowerment: Amplify their voices, embrace sustainable lifestyles, and provide new skills and knowledge for green jobs for youth.

The GO4SDGs approach is about building synergies and cooperation, avoiding duplications, hence creating a bigger collective impact. We do this by offering a range of existing tools, guidelines and knowledge products – developed by our partners – to take action, scale up efforts and replicate best practices.

Working with our partners, GO4SDGs has scaled up implementation through communities of practice, peer-to-peer learning networks and a variety of regional partnerships to transform knowledge into action with a focus on high-impact sectors such as food systems, textiles, tourism and finance. 

 GO4SDGs Flagship Initiatives

1. Green Jobs for Youth Pact: Accelerating regional implementation in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central Asia and Europe, West Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. This is through fostering regional partnerships, responding to regional priorities, and leveraging existing tools, guidelines and knowledge from pact partners (UNEP, ILO and UNICEF).
2. Sustainable Lifestyles: Supporting implementation of the UNEA 6 Resolution on "Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles." through tools like the Sustainable Lifestyles Academy and promoting sustainable lifestyles in education through regional networks such as ARIUSA and Central Asia's Sustainable Lifestyle University Network
3. Circularity in Food: Increasing regional capacities and initiatives on food systems and waste reduction through the recipe of change campaign and regional working groups on food waste reduction.
4. Circularity in Textiles: Building capacity for designers and stakeholders to promote circularity in the fashion and textile sector through the West Asia Sustainable Fashion Academy (WASFA) and the Sustainable fashion communication playbook
5. Finance for Innovation and Circular Economy: Strengthening partnerships and scaling up innovation and financial mechanisms in Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. This work includes a finance-ecosystem pilot project to promote resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP) in SMEs operating in the dairy and tea value chains in Kenya.  In partnership with UNEP-FI, GO4SDGs has launched the Principles of Responsible Banking training Central Asian banks.
6. Circularity in Tourism: Raising ambition on standards and certification for sustainable tourism in Africa and Central Asia.

Learn more about how GO4SGDs here

Contact us

Email: UNEP-Economy-go4sdgs <unep-economy-go4sdgs@un.org