“No One Left Behind”: High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2026
The High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2026 was the highlight of activities at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during July. The top priority of the Forum was the annual review of global progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s review was deemed especially important because the world is entering the final four year stretch until the 2030 deadline that was adopted by all the United Nations Members States in 2015.
According to UN Global Compact, it is unlikely that the SDGs will be fully realized by the 2030 deadline. 15% of targets are on track and 21% show moderate improvement. However, 49% are advancing too slowly and 15% have lapsed below the 2015 baseline. Some of the major shortfalls are especially concerning because they include areas like climate action, peace and justice, and gender equality.
Highlighted areas that have seen improvement include:
- 92 % of the world’s population have access to electricity (1/3 is supplied by renewables);
- Currently, 74% of the global world has access to internet connectivity compared to 40% in 2015;
- In 2026, there were 570,000 AIDS related deaths compared to 1.1 million in 2015.
One of the most consequential improvements noted is related to SDG 6, access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Since 2015, 961 million people have gained access to safely managed drinking water, and 1.2 billion people gained safely managed sanitation. A large percentage of this gain took place in isolated rural areas. This is especially significant because, as noted at the Forum, the International Organization for Migration has recognized that without SDG 6, none of the other SDGs can move forward. Access to safe water and sanitation serve as the key ingredients needed to make progress in the areas of health, food security, and climate resilience.
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026, released during the Forum, emphasized that the “SDGs remain the world’s shared blueprint for peace, prosperity, and sustainability.” A decade’s worth of effort has shown what is possible, said Li Junhua, United Nations Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “The task now is to scale up what works – with urgency, investment and cooperation needed to fulfill the promise of the 2030 Agenda” – so that no one is left behind.
