Maravillas thin in its tenth anniversary, the 2030 Agenda faces a discouraging panorama: only 17% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) records a sufficient pace of progress. The probability that the SDGs are not reached is high. The recent report on the contribution of Spanish companies to the SDGs, from the Chair of Leadership and Sustainability of ESADE and the Social Observatory of the La Caixa Foundation, attributes part of this stagnation to an international context of geopolitical fragmentation, weakening of multilateralism and unequal climate strategies. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza have generated record levels of displaced. Climate and environmental crises increasingly threaten planetary ecosystems. The year 2024 was the warmest to date; Global greenhouse gas emissions and CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere also reached historical maximums. GDP per capita in the most vulnerable countries now grows slower than in advanced economies, for the first time in this century, slowing the convergence of income. To this is added a high external debt and an investment deficit in the SDGs of four billion dollars per year in developing countries. The goals with greater delays have to do with food systems, biodiversity, sustainable use of land, peace and solid institutions. In Spain, almost 58% of the objectives are on their way to being achieved, 18% show limited progress and 24% are in setback. The country is located in the top 15 of the World OD index, with a score of 80.7. BRICS show significant progress, but the poorest countries are lagging behind. The gap between the global average performance and that of the most vulnerable countries has been widened since 2015. Practices such as unsustainable consumption, the export of toxic waste, illicit trade or disloyal fiscal competence generate negative impacts and hinder the achievement of the SDGs. To reduce these impacts and move towards fair and sustainable trade, it is crucial to strengthen multilateralism. This implies continuing to establish ambitious regulations and standards that foster a more sustainable, equitable and aligned commercial system with the well -being of people and the protection of the planet. However, the beginning of Trump's second administration, geopolitical tensions and the resurgence of commercial disputes have relegated the principles of global climate governance to the background. Likewise, the rise of extreme right political parties has placed sustainability in the target of all kinds of criticism, turning the identification with the SDGs into an ideological issue subject to the political orientation of each government. This instrumentalization has weakened the global consensus and slowed its implementation. Even so, in the Summit for the Future forum (2024) the PACT for the Future was approved, an attempt to establish an agreement to revitalize global cooperation. The pact seeks to «accelerate» the SDGs with «bold, ambitious and transformative» actions, although their binding capacity is limited and the will of the actors to apply it, uncertain. The distance between formal commitments and its real implementation has been a constant. The private sector will play a key role in achieving these actions. Among their priorities include: strengthening the resilience of food chains, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, and strengthening private investment in sustainable development and climatic action. There is a clear disconnection between the geopolitical situation and the vision of the pact, as well as between the signatories and their real capacity to meet the objectives. The United Nations presents the pact as a high -range international agreement for «a new beginning in multilateralism», but military and commercial conflicts show the crisis of this model. Although achieving a global pact in a context is a success, invoking aspirations without real support can further damage the credibility of the institutions that represent multilateralism. Àngel Castiñeira is director of the Chair of Leadership and Sustainability of ESADE (URL).
