UNESCO

I had the opportunity on 7 August 2019 in Kalmar to talk to Lena Ek, former Swedish Minister of the Environment (2011-2014) and directly involved in the negotiations of the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On my question about the prospects for making cultural sustainability more prominent in future global sustainability goals, she pointed out three important issues:

1. The SDGs focus on the most prioritised issues only, and it is significant already that culture is mentioned twice in the current targets (SDG 4.7 and SDG 11.4).
2. The SDGs evoke many other treaties and conventions, especially related to human rights. It may be important to relate cultural sustainability to cultural rights.
3. In the eyes of some nations, cultural issues and potential goals are not always very concrete or considered important for development, so there is room for more clarity on this.