Transforming Multilateral Diplomacy: The Inside Story of the Sustainable Development Goals

Transforming Multilateral Diplomacy provides the inside view of the negotiations that produced the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which will guide UN environment and development policy through 2030. Not only did this process mark a sea change in how the United Nations conducts multilateral diplomacy, it changed the way that the UN does its business. This book tells the story of the people, issues, negotiations, and paradigm shifts that unfolded through thirteen sessions of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and the subsequent seven sessions of negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, from the unique point of view of Co-Chair of the Open Working Group and Co-Facilitator of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Kenyan Ambassador Macharia Kamau, and other key participants from governments, the UN Secretariat, and civil society. The historic nature of the Sustainable Development Goals and their negotiation make this story a must-read for anyone interested in multilateral negotiations, diplomacy, the environment, sustainable development, or the United Nations.