A review of New Zealand’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

This think piece highlights an opportunity for New Zealand’s National Science Challenges (NSCs) to make a distinctive and lasting contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with potential to increase the capabilities of New Zealand’s science institutions.

The report provides some guidance on who should hold responsibility for the goals in a New Zealand context, and how existing science might inform and help measure progress towards the goals.

The findings suggest that New Zealand needs to increase its ambition in relation to the SDGs. Specifically, there needs to be a direction from government, ideally in the form of a Cabinet Paper, with clear recommendations, priorities and an approach for implementation and reporting.

The case studies in this report provide a basis for establishing how existing science outputs from the NSCs can help inform and measure progress towards the goals.