As regards the actual implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a significant share will be conducted at the local level. Cities will play an important role in ensuring the successful achievement of the goals. In other words, the cities will be the ones to transform the goals from items on an agenda to concrete measures.
In the Helsinki City Strategy there are several goals through which the city contributes to the global promotion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Helsinki promotes the Agenda 2030 goals through, among other things, the goal of carbon neutrality, the prevention of exclusion, the mobility program and the promotion of equality and inclusion.
Second report in 2021
Having committed to the Agenda 2030 SDGs, Helsinki initiated city-level reporting on sustainable development for the second time . The report, which was completed in May 2021 and was published as this web site, emphasises concrete actions and aims to identify development themes as well as issues highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic. The end goal is for the city to be able to recover from the crisis in a sustainable manner.
In addition to all of the City’s division, some Helsinki City Group enterprises participate in the reporting efforts. City residents and interest groups were also involved in the examination of sustainable development.
The reporting process and the sustainable development report itself are intended to benefit the preparation of the Helsinki City Strategy for the following council term, as well as future projects and programmes.
Second city in the world
Helsinki was the second city in the world to commit to the local sustainable development reporting model created by the City of New York. Alongside New York and a host of other partners, we have worked since 2018 to promote the extensive global adoption of the reporting scheme. So far, more than 200 cities from all over the world have joined the efforts. The overall aims of the arrangement are not limited to producing a report and instead extend to achieving the Agenda 2030 goals and establishing the role of cities as builders of a better world. In this context, local implementation reporting conducted on a voluntary basis will serve as our common language.
Helsinki’s first sustainable development report ‘From Agenda to Action – The Implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Helsinki 2019’ was published in June 2019 and submitted to the UN in July 2019.