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The world is truly on the road towards the year 2030 that will (hopefully) have entrenched the ideals of sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development accompanied by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets is an important vehicle in this quest. To avoid the shortcomings of previous global drives, there is a need to routinely determine and quantitatively estimate all aspects that can inform the efficient and targeted use of resources that drive this agenda. This approach is the quintessence of responsible consumption and production, aspects that are closely addressed under SDG 12. In addition, there is a need to coordinate policy actions within and across national borders and continents. This is critical for delivering a critical mass of transformation that can deliver the SDGs mandate. The coordination of policy actions is the crux of contemporary research and practice revolving around the concept of policy coherence for sustainable development initiatives whose aim is to increase the effects of policy interventions. This concluding chapter reflects on how various key state and non-state actors covering the global, national and sub-national levels are contributing to the drive of scaling up the implementation of SDGs.

As this chapter is published, the world would have moved past 4 years since the ratification of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (AfSD) in September 2015. The 2030 AfSD enshrines 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which countries are to domesticate, localize and implement. Given the indications of a slow movement in SDGs implementation, the global, regional, national and local voices advocating for scaling up SDGs implementation are growing. These voices can be divided into two major groups, namely, those from the state (government) and those from non-state actors. While the Voluntary National Review (VNR) system remains the barometer upon which progress in implementing SDGs is measured, the early indication is that there has been good progress in some sectors particularly both the private and public corporate sectors and other sectors too.

This chapter presents the context regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). The chapter comes in three major sections dealing with SDGs localisation in the teaching and learning space; SDGs localisation in the research and development space and SDGs localisation in IHE with a focus on governance and management. Apart from the 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development and its 17 intertwined SDGs, reference is made to other important global development agendas with a bearing on SDGs implementation in IHE. Such global agendas include the Paris Agreement; Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda from the United Nations’ Habitat III. The chapter concludes by presenting the Sustainable Development Goals and Institutions of Higher Education book chapter outlines covering the elements discussed in each of the 14 main chapters.