The Civil society's role in the Sustainable Development Goals: an analysis of Brazilian political identity and it's behavior towards supporting a global agenda

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals, signed in 2015 by all UN member states, are based on the protection of human rights, the reduction of inequalities, the fight against poverty and the protection of the environment. These goals are an non-legally binding agreement that there are no international laws obliging states to comply - therefore, the pathway that the UN suggests is that the goals should be implemented through joint action with various actors, including non-state actors. The importance of non-state actors is to monitor, hold states accountable, promote transparency in the process and ensure that the goals are implemented. Thus, the lack of support from the states themselves for civil society endangers the implementation of the global agenda. In this article, I argue using social-constructivism's theory that the state support for civil society is directly linked to the identity of the high-ranking government. To this purpose, the Brazilian case that went through elections that shifted it's political identity after the signing of the agreement will be presented and how each government, with its political identities, behaved regarding supporting civil society in carrying out the SDG 2030.