KEY ESSENTIALS

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Law

Module 1: Introduction to the SDGs
Democratising Education for Global Sustainability and Justice
Online Education Series 2023
Learning Objectives

• Introduce learners to the relevance of sustainable development law and governance.

• Engage learners in thinking critically about how sustainable development is reflected in
law and governance worldwide.
• Introduce learners to the role of governance in sustainable development law.
• Prepare learners to strengthen the role of law and policy in monitoring and reporting.
• Inspire learners to continue their professional development.
SDGs Origins and Timeline
An International Regime
“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic
growth ... these are one and the same fight.”
- UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

Global policy agenda through 2030 Agenda and global Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs)
• 17 Goals, building on MDGs & 1992-2012 Agenda
• 169 Targets, measurable with indicators
• A framework to facilitate international cooperation and action, linked
to many international treaty regimes

International dispute settlement across many courts & tribunals

• State to State advisory opinions & dispute settlement advancing in
ICJ, PCA, ITLOS, also WTO / FTAs
• State to Other disputes addressed in regional human rights courts
IACHR, ECHR, ACHR, also other regional courts, dispute/complaint
mechanisms in international accords/organisations, ISDS under
ICSID or UNCITRAL rules)
Illustrations of Brief SD Law Bios
It is important to use consistent formatting of name, education and current position, to stay
brief (80 words), and clearly focus on relevant interests, experience and languages.

• [Name of Person], BSc (Paris), BCL (Oxon), is a Franco-British legal specialist in human
rights, criminal law and sustainability. Currently a law lecturer at University College
London (UCL), she assisted the International Co-Prosecutor of the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on charges of crimes against humanity and
genocide, and also served as lead researcher for UN Department of Political and
Peacebuilding Affairs and LSE Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation. She speaks
French and English.
• [Name of Person], BA (NLSIU), LLB (NLSIU) is a practising advocate before the High
Court of Karnataka, India, and an expert in dispute resolution concerning infrastructure
and property law. He has assisted the Hon High Court of Karnataka in environmental
matters, including constitutional challenges to land enactments under Karnataka Land
Reforms Act, and has published over 40 papers and books worldwide, including
Sustainable Developments in Property Law (CUP, 2022). He speaks Hindi, English and
basic Arabic.
Recommended Online
Resources:
- UN Sustainable Development Goals
[Click here]
- World Summit on Sustainable
Development [Click here]
- International Institute for Sustainable
Development [Click here]
- Sustainable Development Solutions
Network [Click here]
Recommended Further
Reading:
- UN, Our Common Future (1987)
- A Sen, Development as Freedom
(Oxford University Press 1999)
- MC Cordonier Segger and A Khalfan,
Sustainable Development Law:
Principles, Practices and Prospects
(Oxford University Press 2004)
- J Sachs, The Age of Sustainable
Development (Columbia University Press
2015)