Despite mixed results in the past, multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) are considered important governance instruments for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This perspective discusses the ‘next generation’ of MSPs, comparing them to previous generations, and whether they can contribute to transformative change. The discussion is based on a first analysis of nearly 500 MSPs collected in the Transformative Partnership 2030 project, comprising a subset of initiatives on the Partnership Platform maintained by the United Nations. Three observations are made. First, only a small number of the 7000 or so entries on the Partnership Platform are active MSPs. Second, international organizations and national government are the main partners in MSPs. The most common functions are related to soft governance such as knowledge dissemination and information exchange. Third, MSPs mainly connect environmental and social SDGs, notably between climate change, biodiversity, health and education. They are less focused on the economic goals, addressing the drivers of unsustainable behavior. The perspective recommends an update of the Partnership Platform, more research on how to harness potential synergies across SDGs in MSPs and more attention to meta-governance of MSPs, at the UN level.

尽管过去的结果喜忧参半，但多方利益相关者伙伴关系 (MSP) 被认为是实现可持续发展目标的重要治理工具。这一观点讨论了“下一代”多利益相关方伙伴关系，将它们与前几代进行比较，以及它们是否有助于变革。讨论基于对 2030 年转型伙伴关系项目中收集的近 500 个 MSP 的初步分析，其中包括联合国维护的伙伴关系平台上的一部分举措。进行了三个观察。首先，合作伙伴平台上的 7000 多个条目中只有一小部分是活跃的 MSP。其次，国际组织和国家政府是多利益相关方伙伴关系的主要合作伙伴。最常见的功能与知识传播和信息交流等软治理有关。第三，多利益相关方伙伴关系主要将环境和社会可持续发展目标联系起来，特别是在气候变化、生物多样性、健康和教育之间。他们较少关注经济目标，解决不可持续行为的驱动因素。该观点建议更新伙伴关系平台，更多地研究如何在多利益相关方伙伴关系中利用跨可持续发展目标的潜在协同作用，并在联合国层面更多地关注多利益相关方伙伴关系的元治理。