9. Conclusion and next steps
Iceland confirms its commitment to implementing Agenda 2030 for sustainable development nationally and in international cooperation. It will continue to build on its traditions of defending democracy, protecting human rights, ensuring gender equality, and using natural resources in a sustainable manner.
Iceland’s second VNR has illustrated what institutional changes have been made since the last VNR. It outlines Iceland’s progress in implementing the SDGs and what challenges lie ahead under each goal. The VNR highlights key aspects with interactive links to further information online. Extensive consultation with various stakeholders, such as local governments, youth organizations, and civil society has been emphasised. Increased involvement of civil society organizations was ensured in this VNR, with an independent joint civil society assessment of all the SDGs. Cooperation with academia has been strengthened to map Iceland’s spillover effects, or the effects national actions
have on the abilities of other countries to implement the SDGs, which is one of Iceland’s main challenges.
Iceland’s first VNR reported on 30% of the UN indicators. This figure has grown to 70% in this VNR. Additionally, the government has established 39 well-being indicators to monitor Iceland’s quality of life and well-being. Out of these, 34 have been reported and the government will continue to develop measurements for the remaining five indicators to measure progress beyond GDP. Until the next VNR, Iceland will continue its determined integration of the 2030 Agenda, using the newly established cooperation platform of Sustainable Iceland and the National Sustainability Council as its backbone.
The next step in the implementation is formulating a new national strategy for sustainable development to be submitted to Parliament by the end of 2023 and build on the SDGs as guiding principles. The Prime Minister has travelled around the country to gather ideas and opinions from the public on sustainable development, which has proven to be a highly valuable input into the design of the national strategy.
This proposed strategy will be based on a vision of a desired future in 2030, outlined in general terms and based on measurable targets. The supporting action plan will include smaller milestones, defined responsibilities, and proposals for financing. A key attribute of the process is the broad participation of the many stakeholders represented in the Sustainability Council, as well as of the public. The action plan will then leverage the programs already in effect and focus on the areas that require special attention.
Simultaneous with this VNR process, the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities is preparing a Voluntary Subnational Review (VSR) that outlines the progress of the localization of the SDGs on the municipal level. Chapter six in this review discusses their findings and main challenges.
A new strategy for sustainable development will continue the dialogue with various stakeholders, improve budgeting for the SDGs by connecting them to the government’s fiscal strategy, and increase data gathering for monitoring progress.
It is Iceland’s ambition to increasingly use the vision for sustainable development in policymaking across ministries and fields and to make sure that no one is left behind in the process. The COVID-19 pandemic and other events in the recent years have showed us how interconnected we all are and that impact from actions in one part of the world may be felt in others. There is an urgent need to accelerate actions for Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals to build the future we want.