With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each UN Member State has committed to contributing to the achievement of our common goals in a spirit of solidarity, within their own countries and at the regional and global levels, while taking into account different national realities, capacities, and levels of development, and respecting national policies and priorities. The 2030 Agenda is based on the principle of leaving no one behind, and of common but differentiated responsibilities.
Achieving a socially just and ecological transformation of societies and economies requires acknowledging and addressing the cross-border effects of national actions. Every country must consider the “spillover effects” of its own consumption, production, trade, and financial activities, particularly their impact on other countries, including those in the Global South, where negative externalities often disproportionately accumulate. These harmful spillovers can undermine global sustainable development efforts, reinforcing inequalities and environmental degradation.
To effectively address spillover effects, it is essential to engage diverse experts who can define, assess, and mitigate these effects from multiple perspectives. For now, spillover effects are typically measured along global supply and value chains, with current analyses still primarily focusing on the impacts of consumption. Additionally, integrating spillover effects as a key building block of (future) sustainability agendas will ensure that national policies and economic decisions contribute to sustainable development without shifting burdens elsewhere. Addressing these effects is essential to advancing a truly sustainable and globally equitable future.
For this Learning Journey, spillover effects are defined as the cross-border impacts of a country’s consumption, production, trade, and financial patterns on other countries.
The objective of the “Spillover-Innovation Learning Journey” imitative is to establish an inclusive cross-sectoral platform that connects internationally and equips diverse policymakers and stakeholders with the tools to integrate spillover-conscious strategies into sustainability agendas. This will contribute to both national, regional and global efforts toward sustainable prosperity and create momentum for embedding these considerations within sustainability frameworks.
The Learning Journey places a strong emphasis on peer-to-peer learning, enabling the exchange of best practices, lessons learned, and key insights on spillover effects within sustainable development. Through multi-stakeholder engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration, the initiative seeks to develop innovative practices to consider spillover effects. It will also establish foundations for their integration into evolving sustainability agendas.
An inclusive learning and experimentation space: A dedicated environment to explore and advance strategies related to spillover effects, providing a structured setting for experimentation and knowledge exchange.
Facilitated exchange across national, regional and global levels: Opportunities for policymakers and diverse stakeholders to engage in peer-learning and share innovative approaches, fostering collaboration and shared insights.
Support for scaling innovative spillover practices: Resources and support to help innovative practices grow and adapt, enabling their integration into sustainability agendas at multiple levels.
Enhanced awareness and integration of spillover considerations: Tools to support the embedding of insights and lessons learned into intergovernmental processes, national policies, and sustainable development agendas.
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