ABSTRACT
Responsibility refers to the obligations that an actor must fulfil. It can be allocated on the basis of different principles. Governments hold the main formal responsibility for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many other actors can also hold responsibility for accelerating SDG implementation. This is based on principles of closeness, capacity or having caused an outcome. Several factors impact how responsibility is realized in practice. The implementation of the SDGs is a politically charged process. It is shaped by institutional mandates, financial resources, knowledge, goal conflicts, political will and accountability measures. The SDGs will be more successful if a wide range of public and private actors assume shared responsibility for goal implementation.
