The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their 169 targets and 231 indicators epitomise the trend of global governance by numbers. This article suggests the notion of a global “indicator reporting trajectory” that is shaped by three main elements: the politics of indicators, a reporting infrastructure and indicator advocacy. I propose that indicator reporting trajectories may result either in policy shrinking or in indicator accountability. The idea of an indicatory reporting trajectory is empirically illustrated with the case of indicators on multistakeholder partnerships of SDG 17. High expectations are put on such partnerships to accelerate SDG realization, but they face several accountability challenges. The analysis shows how indicators that capture globally agreed (but contested) goals can silently disappear due to a lack of data and measurability during long follow-up processes. I argue that there is a great risk for policy shrinking with regard to multistakeholder partnerships under SDG 17 and that this has implications for accountability and, in the end, for the realization of the 2030 Agenda.
Policy implications
- Participants in review processes related to the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals should be aware that these indicators cover only narrow parts of the goals. Governments, UN bodies and civil society organizations would be advised to draw on complementary qualitative sources to assess policy implementation gaps. Too much focus on indicators leads to risks of policy shrinking.
- Separate review reports on Sustainable Development Goal 17 are needed to avoid policy shrinking related to multistakeholder partnerships. Ideally, the production of such reports should be led by the UN but include independent commentaries from civil society, business associations and researchers. These reports could combine data on indicators with qualitative data sources, including analyses of governments' Voluntary National Reviews and the UN SDG Actions Platform registry.
- In their annual indicator-based reports, the UN and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network should acknowledge that certain Sustainable Development Goals are particularly hard to assess through indicators. This can increase awareness of the need for alternative reporting sources among actors who draw on the reports when making policy priorities.
- Due to its state-centric focus, Sustainable Development Goals' indicator reporting is less useful as an accountability tool directly in relation to multistakeholder partnerships. Nevertheless, civil society organizations and other stakeholders can use indicator reports to demand accountability for policy implementation from governments and intergovernmental organizations.
Photo by Lewis Burrows