As you read this, a historic moment is underway as nearly two hundred heads of state are gathered in New York for the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations.

We are particularly heartened about the adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They are far-reaching and address key challenges facing our world including climate and poverty. Our consortium’s work sits at the crossroads of this hard-won consensus and the stark reality that few countries have the necessary resources to measure progress toward the SDGs.

We know from our experience in sustainable agriculture that progress is most likely with a common measurement languagewhich brings together the private sector with local communities to understand and manage the social, economic, and environmental impacts of production.

Our recent work echoes exactly that – from initiatives in India measuring the sustainability of cotton to the creation of a first-of-its kind performance monitoring tool which allows real-time access to key sustainability performance indicators across countries. These initiatives contribute to COSA’s existing body of work toward the realization of the SDGs in sustainable agriculture – one measurement at a time.