Format and Organizational Aspects of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

A/RES/67/290View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 20a Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, published in 2012.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 1	Intergovernmental support and coordination for sustainable development	21
	Subprogramme 5	2030 Agenda and SDG coordination	6

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 1	Intergovernmental support and coordination for sustainable development	21	—
	Subprogramme 5	2030 Agenda and SDG coordination	6	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2025–2026

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2026	E/2026/75	Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for a sustainable future for all report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/67/290
2025	E/2025/69	Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/67/290

What subjects does this mandate have?

2 subjects

Conferences Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

51 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the lessons learned from the Commission on Sustainable Development;²²

²²A/67/757.

Decides that the high-level political forum, consistent with its universal intergovernmental character, shall provide political leadership, guidance and recommendations for sustainable development, follow up and review progress in the implementation of sustainable development commitments, enhance the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development in a holistic and cross-sectoral manner at all levels and have a focused, dynamic and action-oriented agenda, ensuring the appropriate consideration of new and emerging sustainable development challenges;

Also decides that the meetings of the forum shall be convened under the auspices of the General Assembly and of the Economic and Social Council;

Further decides that all meetings of the forum shall provide for the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States members of specialized agencies;

Decides that, in all meetings of the forum, every effort shall be made to reach consensus;

Also decides that the meetings of the forum under the auspices of the General Assembly:

Shall be convened at the level of Heads of State and Government;

Shall be convened every four years by the President of the Assembly for a period of two days, at the beginning of the session of the Assembly, as well as on other occasions, on an exceptional basis, upon a decision by the Assembly;

Shall be chaired by the President of the Assembly;

Shall result in a concise negotiated political declaration to be submitted for the consideration of the Assembly;

Further decides that the meetings of the forum under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council:

Shall be convened annually by the President of the Council for a period of eight days, including a three-day ministerial segment to be held in the framework of the substantive session of the Council, building on and subsequently replacing the annual ministerial review as from 2016;

Shall be chaired by the President of the Council;

Shall have a thematic focus reflecting the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development, in line with the thematic focus of the activities of the Council and consistent with the post-2015 development agenda;

Shall follow up and review progress in the implementation of all the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and environmental fields, as well as their respective means of implementation, improve cooperation and coordination within the United Nations system on sustainable development programmes and policies, promote the sharing of best practices and experiences relating to the implementation of sustainable development and, on a voluntary basis, facilitate sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, and promote system-wide coherence and coordination of sustainable development policies;

Shall take into account the work of the Development Cooperation Forum, as well as other activities of the Council relating to the integration and implementation of sustainable development;

Shall benefit from regional preparatory processes;

Shall result in a negotiated ministerial declaration for inclusion in the report of the Council to the General Assembly;

Decides that the forum, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, shall conduct regular reviews, starting in 2016, on the follow-up and implementation of sustainable development commitments and objectives, including those related to the means of implementation, within the context of the post-2015 development agenda, and further decides that those reviews:

Shall be voluntary, while encouraging reporting, and shall include developed and developing countries, as well as relevant United Nations entities;

Shall be State-led, involving ministerial and other relevant high-level participants;

Shall provide a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of major groups and other relevant stakeholders;

Shall replace the national voluntary presentations held in the context of the annual ministerial-level substantive reviews of the Council, building upon the relevant provisions of General Assembly resolution 61/16 of 20 November 2006, as well as experiences and lessons learned in this context;

Also decides that all meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly shall operate under the rules of procedure of the main committees of the Assembly, as applicable, unless otherwise provided in the present resolution, and that all meetings convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council shall operate under the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Council, as applicable, except as otherwise provided in the present resolution;

Underlines that the arrangement established by the Economic and Social Council for the Commission on Sustainable Development in Council decision 1995/201 of 8 February 1995 shall apply to the meetings of the forum held under the auspices of the Council, and that the arrangements established by the General Assembly in the annex to its resolution 65/276 of 3 May 2011 shall apply to the meetings of the forum held under the auspices of the Assembly;

Decides that the meetings of the forum shall devote adequate time to the discussion of the sustainable development challenges facing developing countries, including the most vulnerable countries, in particular the least developed countries, small island developing States, landlocked developing countries and African countries, with the aim of enhancing engagement and implementing commitments and that they will recognize the particular challenges facing the middle-income countries in achieving sustainable development, and reiterates that the efforts of middle-income countries should be adequately supported by the international community, in various forms, taking into account the needs of those countries and their capacity to mobilize domestic resources;

Encourages States to ensure that their participation in the meetings of the forum reflect the balanced integration of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development from their national perspectives;

Acknowledges the importance of the regional dimension of sustainable development, and invites the United Nations regional commissions to contribute to the work of the forum, including through annual regional meetings, with the involvement of other relevant regional entities, major groups and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate;

Stresses the need for the forum to promote transparency and implementation by further enhancing the consultative role and participation of the major groups and other relevant stakeholders at the international level in order to make better use of their expertise, while retaining the intergovernmental nature of discussions, and in this regard decides that the forum shall be open to the major groups, other relevant stakeholders and entities having received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the General Assembly, building on arrangements and practices observed by the Commission on Sustainable Development, including Economic and Social Council decision 1993/215 of 12 February 1993 and Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996, which shall be applicable to the forum;

Decides, in this regard, that, while retaining the intergovernmental character of the forum, the representatives of the major groups and other relevant stakeholders shall be allowed:

To attend all official meetings of the forum;

To have access to all official information and documents;

To intervene in official meetings;

To submit documents and present written and oral contributions;

To make recommendations;

To organize side events and round tables, in cooperation with Member States and the Secretariat;

Encourages the major groups identified in Agenda 213 and other stakeholders, such as private philanthropic organizations, educational and academic entities, persons with disabilities, volunteer groups and other stakeholders active in areas related to sustainable development, to autonomously establish and maintain effective coordination mechanisms for participation in the high-level political forum and for actions derived from that participation at the global, regional and national levels, in a way that ensures effective, broad and balanced participation by region and by type of organization;

Invites the organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions and other relevant intergovernmental organizations, including the World Trade Organization, to contribute within their respective mandates to the discussions of the forum;

Emphasizes that the forum shall provide a dynamic platform for regular dialogue and for stocktaking and agenda-setting to advance sustainable development and that the agenda of all meetings of the high-level political forum shall be focused, while allowing flexibility to address new and emerging issues;

Reaffirms that the forum shall contribute to the enhanced integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development in a holistic and cross-sectoral manner at all levels, and in this regard invites the forum to take into account the contributions and work of relevant United Nations intergovernmental bodies in the social, economic and environmental fields;

Decides that the forum shall strengthen the science-policy interface by examining documentation, bringing together dispersed information and assessments, including in the form of a global sustainable development report, building on existing assessments, enhancing evidence-based decision-making at all levels and contributing to the strengthening of ongoing capacity-building for data collection and analysis in developing countries, and requests the forum to consider, in 2014, the scope and methodology of a global sustainable development report, based on a proposal of the Secretary-General reflecting the views and recommendations of Member States, and relevant United Nations entities, including the Committee for Development Policy;

Also decides that the forum may provide recommendations to the board of the 10-year framework of programmes for sustainable consumption and production, as well as to the United Nations Environment Programme, as the secretariat of the 10-year framework, taking into account their reports;

Requests the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council to coordinate with the Bureau of the Council and with the bureaux of the relevant committees of the Assembly to organize the activities of the forum so as to benefit from the inputs and advice of the United Nations system, the major groups and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate;

Decides that the forum shall be supported by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat in close cooperation with all relevant entities of the United Nations system, including funds and programmes, multilateral financial and trade institutions, the secretariats of the three Rio conventions and other relevant treaty bodies and international organizations within their respective mandates;

Requests the Secretary-General to carry over all the remaining funds from the Trust Fund for Support of the Work of the Commission on Sustainable Development to a voluntary trust fund of the forum in order to facilitate the participation of developing countries, the least developed countries, representatives of major groups and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, in the work of the forum and to support the preparations of the forum, and in this regard invites Member States, financial institutions and other organizations to contribute to the voluntary trust fund of the forum;

Decides that travel expenses for one representative of each of the least developed countries shall be paid from the regular budget of the United Nations for participation in all formal meetings of the forum;

Recommends that the Economic and Social Council abolish the Commission on Sustainable Development effective upon the conclusion of its twentieth session, to be held prior to the first meeting of the forum, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 67/203 of 21 December 2012;

Decides that the first meeting of the forum under the auspices of the General Assembly shall have an inaugural character, requests the President of the Assembly to convene the meeting at the beginning of the sixty-eighth session for the duration of one day, and decides that, on an extraordinary basis and only for the purpose of that meeting, the outcome of the meeting shall consist of the summary of the President;

Also decides to consider at its sixty-ninth session the need to convene a meeting of the forum under the auspices of the General Assembly in 2015 in relation to the launch of the post-2015 development agenda;

Further decides to review at its seventy-third session the format and the organizational aspects of the forum, unless otherwise decided;

Emphasizes that the review of the implementation of General Assembly resolution 61/16 should take into account the present resolution in order to avoid duplication.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?