The Decade builds on the growing recognition that culture is a powerful driver and enabler of sustainable development. In the 2024 Pact for the Future, Member States recognized culture as a key component of sustainable development and committed to integrating it into economic, social and environmental policies and strategies, while ensuring adequate public investment in its protection and promotion. This recognition was echoed in the Sevilla Commitment, adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025, which recognized the contribution of culture and the creative economy to sustainable development and called for adequate public financing for culture and investment in cultural infrastructure.
This momentum was further strengthened at MONDIACULT 2025, where over 100 Ministers of Culture reaffirmed their collective commitment to anchor culture as an independent goal in its own right in a future UN development framework. This ambition was underpinned by a broader dedication to strengthened multilateralism, with culture as a cornerstone of global cooperation, solidarity and respect for human rights.
The Decade now offers a concrete opportunity to carry this multilateral ambition forward, bringing countries and partners together to turn political recognition of culture into sustained cooperation, investment and action. As countries accelerate action towards the Sustainable Development Goals and begin shaping the global development framework beyond 2030, the Decade provides a timely platform to harness culture’s multifaceted contribution to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
From tangible and intangible heritage to cultural and creative industries and participation in cultural life, culture shapes how societies respond to shared global challenges. Cultural and creative industries generate 3.39% of global GDP and account, on average, for 3.55% of jobs, while creating opportunities for innovation, economic diversification and growth. More broadly, culture is a source of knowledge, creativity and resilience, contributing to inclusive education, climate action, sustainable tourism, gender equality, youth empowerment, social cohesion and peace.
Spanning the final four years of the 2030 Agenda and the opening years of its successor framework, the Decade will serve as a strategic bridge between today’s commitments and tomorrow’s global priorities. Building on the political momentum generated by MONDIACULT 2022 and 2025, it will help advance the more systematic integration of culture into development policies, cooperation frameworks, financing and monitoring.