The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Governance of Global Public Goods

This chapter analyses the relationship between global public goods (GPGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It argues that the Global 2030 Agenda of the United Nations constitutes an example of how the concept of GPGs has been given a normative dimension in international law, as well as of the difficulties that may be encountered in the process of operationalization of GPGs. The normative framework for the implementation of the SDGs relies on the use of indicators to evaluate state performance in achieving the SDGs. The choice of such indicators is crucial for appropriate decision making. However, both the usefulness and the legitimacy of indicators have been put into question. The chapter contends that the indicators are in fact normative – and intrinsically politically-driven – instruments. For this reason, the development of a global indicator framework should be expected to follow a democratic procedure involving all the relevant stakeholders.