UN member states are expected to agree a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) at a high level summit in New York from 25 to 27 September 2015. This Library Note provides information on issues relating to the SDGs which have attracted parliamentary attention over recent months including the number of goals; universal health coverage; climate change; and implementation and monitoring.
Sustainable Development Goals: Parliamentary Perspectives (258KB PDF)
This Library Note has been prepared in advance of the debate in the House of Lords on 17 September 2015:
[…] that this House takes note of the forthcoming summit on sustainable development goals in September and Her Majesty’s Government’s objectives at that summit.
The United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will be held from 25 to 27 September 2015 in New York, as a high-level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly. At this summit, UN member states are expected to agree the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework of 17 goals and 169 targets covering both human development and environmental sustainability, all based on the fundamental principle of “leave no one behind”. The SDGs are intended to cover the period until 2030. The international community began work several years ago on developing a new framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), most of which had a target deadline of 2015. From September 2014, work on the ‘post-2015 development agenda’ was brought together with a separate strand of work begun under the Rio+20 process to draw up a set of sustainable development goals. The SDGs to be agreed at the September summit are the culmination of both of these strands of work.
The House of Commons Library briefing on The Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, published on 4 September 2015, provides information about the international negotiating process leading up to the SDGs and an analysis of the UK Government’s policy. (Similar ground is covered in the House of Lords Library Note on Global Development Goals in 2015, published in December 2014, about the earlier stages of the negotiating process.) The purpose of this Library Note is to complement that briefing by providing further information on parliamentary perspectives, highlighting issues which have attracted attention during select committee inquiries, debates and parliamentary questions over recent months. These include:
Sustainable Development Goals: Parliamentary Perspectives (258KB PDF)
The Nature’s Rights Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill sponsored by Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party). The bill would recognise nature as a legal subject, granting it specific rights for protection and restoration. The bill would set out a legal framework for how this would operate, including an integrated rights framework and mechanisms for how nature’s rights would be implemented and enforced.
![Nature’s Rights Bill [HL]: HL Bill 7 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Environment-568x426.png)
The UK is a signatory to the convention establishing an international claims commission for Ukraine. The commission would assess claims for compensation for damage and losses caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The House of Lords International Agreements Committee has broadly welcomed the convention, but also raised concerns about the scope and efficacy of the commission.
Recent tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have raised concerns about stability and security in the country, particularly due to reports of external influence and recent secessionist rhetoric in Republika Srpska. This briefing outlines recent developments, international responses and the UK government’s position on Bosnia and Herzegovina ahead of a House of Lords debate on the subject.
