As leaders convene, the UN pushes toward its crucial global goals. But progress is lagging

The commitments were far-reaching and ambitious. Among them: End extreme poverty and hunger. Ensure every child on Earth gets a quality secondary education. Achieve gender equality. Make significant inroads in tackling climate change by 2030. Create “universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” But halfway to that goal, progress is lagging badly — and in some cases going backward. At a two-day summit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be trying to kick-start action to achieve the 17 goals adopted by world leaders in 2015. Developing countries in particular consider them crucial to closing the widening inequality gap between the world’s rich and poor countries.