Culture and sustainable development: a still untapped potential

Over the past few years, national sustainable development planning has recognized the cultural and creative sectors as levers to advance mainly cultural, social and economic outcomes. The inclusion of action lines specific to the Convention remained stable overall. However, as the eighth chapter shows, the transversal role played by culture and creativity in sustainable development, including for the environmental transition, remains widely underinvested (as it is only acknowledged in 13% of Voluntary National Reviews monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda). Unlocking the transformative power of culture and creativity to raise awareness, take climate action and shift towards more sustainable models is a major challenge for the sectors. At the international level, the proportion of Official Development Aid allocated to culture and recreation accounted for only 0.23%. The contributions to the International Fund for Cultural Diversity have also decreased in recent years. Nonetheless, the involvement of non-traditional donor countries, the growing interest of multilateral organizations in the cultural and creative industries and the rise of South-South and triangular cooperation models offer new possibilities.