We have entered an age of polycrisis. Conflict, climate change, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges are threatening to derail hard-earned progress towards the SDGs. While the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be over, the world is still reeling from its impacts. The recovery has been slow, uneven and incomplete. The pandemic has created significant reversals in global health outcomes. Childhood vaccinations have experienced the largest decline in three decades, and tuberculosis and malaria deaths have increased compared with pre-pandemic levels. COVID-19 has also had devastating impacts on education, causing learning losses in four out of five of the 104 countries studied. Its economic after-effects are equally severe. The pandemic interrupted three decades of steady progress of poverty reduction with the number of people living in extreme poverty increasing for the first time in a generation. It has also caused the largest rise in between-country inequality in three decades. By May 2023, the devastating consequences of war, conflict and human rights violations had displaced a staggering 110 million people, of which 35 million were refugees – the highest figures ever recorded. Nearly 7,000 people died during migration worldwide in 2022, with the number of deaths in various regions returning to pre-pandemic levels and, in many instances, even surpassing them. The climate crisis is worsening as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report finds that global temperature is already 1.1 °C above pre-industrial levels and is likely to reach or surpass the critical 1.5 °C tipping point by 2035. Catastrophic and intensifying heat waves, droughts, flooding and wildfires have become far too frequent. Rising sea levels are threatening hundreds of millions of people in coastal communities. In addition, the world is currently facing the largest species extinction event since the dinosaur age and the oceans were burdened with over 17 million metric tons of plastic pollution in 2021, with projections showing a potential doubling or tripling by 2040. Developing countries are grappling with an unprecedented rise in external debt following the pandemic, a situation compounded by inflation, rising interest rates, trade tensions and constrained fiscal capacity. Reforms of global governance and of international financial institutions are urgently needed to make them fit for purpose – and fit for the future – by giving more voice and participation to developing countries. This special edition of the Sustainable Development Goals Report reminds us that there is still much work to be done. Its comprehensive assessment of global progress towards the SDGs paints a sobering picture. Yet, this report also provides a vision of hope by showcasing the progress the world has made so far and the potential for further advancements. The task ahead is daunting, but it is not impossible. With just seven years left to deliver transformational change, political leaders and public institutions will need to rally all stakeholders around the SDGs and strengthen collaboration, while building trust and accountability. Steps like regulatory innovations that align private sector governance models with sustainable development objectives could spark significant change, if applied soon enough. The SDG Summit taking place in September will be a critical moment for Member States to galvanize efforts and renew their commitment to the SDGs. It will also be an opportunity for all of us – citizens, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders – to advocate for urgency, ambition and action to realize the Goals. The 2030 Agenda remains the clearest blueprint of humanity’s highest aspirations. When historians write about the twenty-first century, they will judge leaders and policymakers by whether they have succeeded in transforming this blueprint into reality. Back in September 2015, when global leaders met to adopt the SDGs, they declared that “the future of humanity and of our planet lies in our hands.” At this midpoint, these words are truer than ever. It is now up to all of us to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved – in full and on time