Sustainable Development Goals - And What Can You Do To Help

The year of 2015, marked an historic year in sustainable development, when a common vision, a set of goals were established, and a multi-national agreement was made to protect the future of the world’s people and the planet! The UN Climate Change Agreement and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals were created and agreed upon by 193 countries. 

The Sustainable Development Goals were embedded in an inspiring UN agreement that took two years of negotiations, and reflects the input of many thousands of people. It covers the purpose of the sustainable goals, as well as expectations of all nations, and all people, in implementing them. The resulting document is called “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

The described 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are:

#1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere (About 1 billion people still live in poverty — defined as an income of less than US $1.25 per day. The targets under Goal 1 include aiming for a world where the poor are not vulnerable to climate change, and have “equal rights to economic resources.”)

#2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture (Ending hunger also includes ending malnutrition, protecting small farmers, and changing farming itself so that agriculture and ecosystems can co-exist. It also means protecting the genetic diversity of the crops we grow, while investing in research to make farming more and more productive, especially in developing countries. By 2030, we need to ensure that no one ever goes hungry.)

#3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (This Goal includes a comprehensive agenda for tackling a wide range of global health challenges, from tuberculosis and AIDS to traffic accidents and alcoholism. Goal 2 also calls for achieving “universal health coverage”; reducing illness and death caused by pollution; and increasing the global health workforce, especially in the world’s poorer countries.)

#4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning (The Targets for Goal 4 cover the need for access to university-level education, vocational training, and entrepreneurship skills, and they pay special attention to issues of equity. This Goal also includes the promotion of education for sustainable development.)

#5: Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls (Equality and empowerment includes freedom from discrimination and violence. It also includes making sure woman have their equal share of leadership opportunities and responsibilities, as well as property ownership and other concrete reflections of power in society. Note that the Targets for this Goal make several references to the need to be nationally “appropriate” in interpreting what they mean.)

#6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all (Basic water scarcity affects 40% of the global population, and nearly a billion people do not have access to that most basic of technologies: a toilet or latrine. The targets for this goal provide details for what we must do to rectify this situation, including protecting the ecosystems that provide the water in the first place.)

#7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (Globally, about 1.3 billion people live without access to electricity. Modern energy is also connected to access to water (Goal 6): you need energy to get water. In the wealthier countries, who have energy, this Goal pushes for a conversion to renewable sources, and it calls for dramatic improvements in efficiency everywhere.)

#8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all (At least 75 million young people around the world, aged 15-24, are unemployed, out of school, and looking at a bleak future. This Goal, while calling for economic growth to help close that gap, also calls for innovation and for “decoupling” growth from ecosystem degradation.)

#9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (The world is becoming more industrialized, but often not in ways that are resilient and sustainable. This Goal aims for ensuring that everyone can enjoy the benefits of what humanity can build — and for fostering a much more innovative and environmentally sound approach to industrial development.)

#10: Reduce inequality within and among countries (The world is astonishingly unequal: the richest 80 people have the same wealth as the bottom 3.5 billion. The Goal includes a range of measures, including regulation of the financial markets, to make the playing field more level. Importantly, it also covers the issue of migration, which should be “orderly, safe, regular and responsible.”)

#11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (More than half the world lives in cities, and by 2050, at least 66% will — and most of the growth in cities is happening in Africa and Asia. If those cities are not sustainable, the world will not be, either. This Goal also covers issues like transportation, disaster preparedness, and even the preservation of “the world’s cultural and natural heritage.”)

#12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (The world’s nations (through the UN) have already agreed to a “10-year framework” to make the way we produce and consume goods more sustainable. This Goal references that, but also covers topics like reducing food waste, corporate sustainability practice, public procurement, and making people aware of how their lifestyle choices make a difference.)

#13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (On Dec 12, 2015, a historic Climate Change agreement –Paris Agreement- was adopted by 195 countries. It pledged to curb emissions, strengthen resilience and joined to take common climate action. All countries have agreed to hold global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius. And recognizing the risk of grave consequences, they have further agreed to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. In addition, a review mechanism has been established whereby every five years, beginning in 2018, Parties will regularly review what is needed in line with science. Governments have agreed to binding, robust, transparent rules of the road to ensure that all countries do what they have agreed across a range of issues.)

#14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources (Global oceans and live within them are over-fished, under-protected, and stressed from climate change and pollution. This Goal describes what we must do to save them — which includes research and learning, because we understand so little about what lies under the water’s surface.)

#15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss (Life on land, on our beautiful planet Earth, is under terrible stress. This comprehensive Goal covers nearly every aspect of the threat to living ecosystems and biodiversity. We cannot afford to lose any more of nature — hence the repeated use of the word “halt” in the Targets section.)

#16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies (Reduce violence. End torture. Decrease the production and flow of arms. Reduce corruption. Create governments and institutions that work … for everyone. This Goal also includes a Target that specifically calls for policies to promote sustainable development — which would certainly include the implementation of the SDGs themsevles.)

#17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development (Goal 17 is about making sure all countries have what they need — funds, capacities, technologies, etc. — to achieve the rest of the SDGs. The Targets are a comprehensive list of such needs, including the need for partnerships and collaboration.)

What can us, as individuals and businesses do to help make these goals a reality? First, we need to decide, what does each of these goals mean to us personally, to our families, and to our communities. Then, evaluate what steps can we personally take to minimize our impact on the environment and increase our own health and well-being. And most importantly, start taking small actions that would move us towards a better, more sustainable future. One Simple, Smart, Sustainable step at a time.

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Resources:

17 goals. Tools & Resources: http://17goals.org/

Full text of “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E

Full text of “Adoption of the Paris Agreement”: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf