title: Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Report prepared by The World in 2050 initiative
Creators: name: Nakicenovic, N.
name: Riahi, K.
name: Boza-Kiss, B.
name: Busch, S.
name: Fujimori, S.
name: Goujon, A.
name: Grubler, A.
name: Hasegawa, T.
name: Kolp, P.
name: McCollum, D.L.
name: Muttarak, R.
name: Obersteiner, M.
name: Pachauri, S.
name: Parkinson, S.
name: Zimm, C.
Publisher: name: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Year: 2018

description: The World in 2050 (TWI2050) initiative endeavors to demonstrate how the objectives of sustainable development within planetary boundaries can be met, ensuring prosperity, social inclusion, and good governance for all. TWI2050 is a global research initiative launched by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC). The initiative brings together a network of more than 150 participants that includes leading policymakers, analysts, modelling and analytical teams from 60 organizations from around the world to collaborate in developing pathways toward sustainable futures and the policy frameworks needed for implementing the SDGs, and more importantly, for achieving the needed transformational change. This report of the international TWI2050 scientific initiative was prepared by more than 60 authors and 20 organization and was launched at UN High-level Political Forum, 9-18 July 2018. It comprises key messages, synthesis and four chapters. Chapter 1 introduced TWI2050 framework. The narrative and target spaces are presented briefly in Chapter 1 and will be further refined in the next phase of TWI2050 and published. Chapter 2 examines, at the global scale, some major current trends in demography, economics, finance, society and politics. It presents potential major tipping points and dynamics that are likely to interact thereby creating a very different world from the present. It assesses currently observable megatrends and historical patterns with corresponding path dependencies. The chapter points to several of these megatrends that need to be taken into consideration how to achieve the transformation to sustainability. Chapter 3 investigates the characteristics of pathways that would lead to sustainable future. It first assess the scientific literature on pathways that achieve several SDGs. Next, implications of the linkages across SDGs are highlighted by presenting model-based pathways which follow an integrated approach with special emphasis on the six transformations. Pathways are presented that feature SDGs under review at HLPF 2018 (SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15). The chapter concludes with a discussion of research implications. Chapter 4 presents - from multiple perspectives - the governance framework required to achieve and steer transformations toward sustainability. This governance framework comprises of both fine tailored policy principles across the social, economic and political domains as well as enabling conditions for the great (societal) transformation that is needed to achieve the sustainability aspirations. The main findings and conclusions of the four chapters are summarized in the Synthesis presented at the beginning of the report that also connects them to policy interventions.