Missed Targets, New Realities: What Comes After the SDGs?

Thursday, July 16, 2026 | 9:00-10:30 AM, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York Office, Suite 34D

With less than four years remaining until 2030, the world is falling significantly short of the Sustainable Development Goals. Beyond implementation gaps, overlapping crises and shifting geopolitical realities have exposed deeper structural weaknesses in the international system. As multilateralism fragments, fiscal pressures intensify across the Global South, and climate and security challenges grow, the need is no longer simply to assess the SDGs but to rethink the frameworks, financing architectures, and governance institutions needed for sustainable development beyond 2030. 

In this context, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is pleased to invite you to a closed-door, informal breakfast discussion on “Missed Targets, New Realities: What Comes After the SDGs?” with Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Environment and Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. As part of the FES Beyond 2030 initiative, this session offers a Chatham House rule space and brings together senior representatives from governments, the United Nations, and academia to examine the lessons of the SDG era and explore what a future global development agenda might look like.

Space is limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. A light breakfast will be served at 8:45 PM

Speakers:

• Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
• Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
• Adam Lupel, Executive Director, Coalition for the UN We Need
• Nudhara Yusuf, Senior Advisor, Global Governance Innovation Network
• Waheguru Sidhu, Clinical Professor, New York University, Center for Global Affairs

• Shari Spiegel, Director, Financing for Sustainable Development Office, UN-DESA