UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

30 July 2025

The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, from 14 to 24 July 2025.

The Russian delegation was headed by Boris Titov, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Relations with International Organisations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and a member of the MGIMO Board of Trustees.

With financial support from MGIMO Endowment, Darina Elizarova, a first-year master’s student in the Climate and Carbon Regulation programme and a member of the Youth Council for Sustainable Development, took part in the Forum as a member of the Russian delegation.

The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development has been held annually since 2015. UN Member States gather in New York to review their progress towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The theme of the 2025 Forum was “Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive and Science- and Evidence-Based Solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The discussions focused on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDGs 3, 5, 8 and 14.

On 17 July, Darina Elizarova represented the Russian Federation at the Forum session “SDG 14 and Interlinkages with Other SDGs – Life Below Water”. She presented successful Russian practices for engaging young people in addressing challenges facing marine ecosystems, including the work of the Youth Council for Sustainable Development, whose members also include MGIMO students.

“Visiting the UN Headquarters is probably a dream shared by every MGIMO student, but I had never even imagined that I would have the opportunity to speak at a forum of this level. It has been an invaluable experience, beneficial not only for my career development but also for building social skills,” said Darina Elizarova.

The full text of her speech is available via this link.

Each day of the Forum focused on progress towards a specific Sustainable Development Goal and included presentations of countries’ Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). On 21 July, the ministerial segment opened, followed by high-level meetings. In his address, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that only 35% of the SDG targets were on track. He also stressed the need to strengthen and expand partnerships and ensure that all decisions are aligned with long-term goals. These messages, together with the Forum itself, once again highlighted the continued relevance of the sustainable development agenda.

On 23 July, the event also featured the presentation of the MGIMO report The Russian Federation and Sustainable Development: A Review of Achievements and Initiatives by Regions, Businesses and Civil Society (2020–2025).