Dear <<First Name>> <<Last Name>>

Last week the Swiss Federal Council has taken important decisions in view of institutionalizing the Agenda 2030 at the federal level. It has installed an “Executive Committee Agenda 2030”, bringing together representatives at the management level of the most affected Federal Offices to oversee and coordinate the implementation activities. Furthermore the Federal Council appointed two Delegates for the Agenda 2030, Mr. Daniel Dubas of DETEC, and Mr. Jacques Ducrest of FDFA. Together they will have the operational lead for the implementation activities.

More than three years after the adoption of the Agenda 2030 the institutional setup is finally in place. We at SDSN Switzerland hoped that a sustainability unit above the sectoral federal offices would be installed in order to ensure the implementation across sectors and silos. Moving forward it is high-time to raise political ambitions and initiate transformative actions to achieve the SDGs until 2030.

For instance, the extension of the Sustainable Development Strategy until 2030 is an important first step to ensure long-term policy planning. As a next bold step we recommend the Federal Council and the Executive Committee to upgrade the Strategy from its current status as an annex of the Legislature Plan and provide it with the necessary (financial) means. This would allow the Sustainable Development Strategy to unfold its potential and connect the various sectoral policies to a long-term, coherent SDG implementation strategy.

With only eleven years left until 2030, we cannot lose more valuable implementation time. We look forward to working with and supporting the new Committee and Delegates with SDSN Switzerland’s transdisciplinary expertise as well as practical problem solving for sustainable development.