2030 Agenda: The Critical Path Toward a Sustainable CDMX

On July 24, 2019, I presented a Proposition of Agreement to the Plenary of the Permanent Commission of the Congress of Mexico City, which recommends promoting the transversality of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals in local law and in the work programs of the alcaldías (mayoralties). 

With the Proposition of Agreement, new local laws and reforms are expected to remain aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals, which should also be reflected in various initiatives, propositions and opinions. Likewise, it encourages the 16 mayoralties to include the 2030 Agenda vision in their work programs. It should also be noted that the United Nations has recognized that legislative action is essential for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 objectives. Therefore, it is even more important that myself and the Congress of Mexico City seek to legislate, approve and guarantee the objectives of sustainable development.

In addition, it is imperative that legislative bodies spearhead long-term changes because, for generations, they have been in charge of regulating and driving the actions that govern societies, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Therefore, gaining compliance with the 2030 Agenda from the Mexico City Congress is to generate a commitment to sustainability from today to the future.

Although Mexico City has taken steps in this process of adopting the 2030 Agenda, there is still much to do. For years now, Mexico City has sought to promote multiple actions that give voice to local priorities and demands in the main international forums and, as a result, improve the system of global governance. After almost five years of adopting the 2030 Agenda, the possibility to keep improving invites us to reflect on two important matters that the UN secretary-general has pointed out before:

1. We need to do more! The efforts made since 2015 have not been enough to ensure progress toward the real achievement of the goals set for the year 2030. We cannot wait; we must do more, and we must do better.
2. Implementing the Agenda, as well as achieving its 17 targets, is the responsibility of all the players that make up society, including congresses and those who integrate them.

Yet, it should be highlighted that the Congress of Mexico City has made previous efforts to sensitize its deputies and find consensus on supporting the transversality of the 2030 Agenda. In February 2020, the Local Congress Political Coordination Board approved an agreement to establish a working group to promote actions to follow up on the Mexico City Congress' progress on the "Agenda 2020." 

In September 2019, the Plenary of the Congress approved the Proposition of Agreement by which personnel of the Legislative Modules of Citizen Attention and Complaints and the deputy  advisers are exhorted to train in the matter of the 2030 Agenda. In December 2019, efforts were consolidated through the signing of the Letter of Collaboration between the Congress of Mexico City and the Resident Coordination Office of the United Nations System in Mexico under the management of the presidency of the International Affairs Committee. 

The collaboration promoted by the International Affairs Committee, which I chair, together with the United Nations System Resident Coordination Office in Mexico, has a very clear objective regarding their collaboration, which is to adopt the Agenda 2030 at the First Congress of Mexico City to encourage Sustainable Development. As of today, it can be highlighted that the initiatives and points of agreement that I have presented before the Mexico City Congress address at least 12 of the 17 SDGs.

I wish for all of us to commit ourselves to the people in our City, actively promoting sustainable development. This is the path to solve inequality and what will allow us “to leave no one behind.”