At this year’s What Works Climate Solutions Summit (WWCSS) in Berlin, the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition hosted a session titled "Accelerating Progress towards the SDGs: Insights from the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition" bringing together leading experts to discuss the use of evaluative evidence for the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The session featured a keynote delivered jointly by Yeonji Kim (Green Climate Fund) and John Lavis (Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges). Yeonji Kim introduced the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition and highlighted progress on the Planet Pillar synthesis. The pillar is currently led by two co-chairs, UNEP and GCF and conducting a scoping exercise to decide on conceptual approaches and priority themes. John Lavis, a new member of the Coalition, elaborated on the Coalition's mission to complement existing UN science assessments such as those by the IPCC and IPBES, by summarizing practical climate solutions and implementation strategies. He emphasized the Coalition's role in synthesizing both UN independent evaluations and scientific studies to provide actionable insights tailored to specific contexts and populations.
The panel discussion included perspectives from Elke Johanna de Buhr of UNICEF, who oversees global evaluations related to climate, environment, and disaster risk reduction, and Sven Harten of DEval, who shared insights on the importance of robust evaluation in climate solutions. The session concluded with a lively Q&A, where panelists addressed audience questions about the application of evidence synthesis in policymaking and program implementation, highlighting a need for robust evaluation for policy impact in achieving SDGs.
“Dissemination and uptake are the two areas I see that we can aim to do better. We need to explain and communicate better why and how the synthesized evidence is relevant to policy- and decision-makers.” – Yeonji Kim (GCF)
Session details
Event: What Works Climate Solutions Summit (WWCSS) in Berlin
Date/time: June 11, 2024/17:30~18:30
Session Title: Accelerating Progress towards the SDGs: Insights from the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition
Panelists:
- John Lavis (Member, Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges)
- Yeonji Kim (Knowledge Management and Uptake Specialist a.i., GCF)
- Elke Johanna de Buhr (Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF)
- Sven Harten (Senior Researcher, DEval)
Moderator:
- Jenn Thornhill Verma (Senior Advisor, McMaster Health Forum)