The beginning of this year marked an important milestone for sustainable development in global terms.
New Year's Day saw the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, agreed by the United Nations last September with the aim of stimulating action over the next 15 years “in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet”.
There are 17 SDGs in total, spanning 169 specific targets. Their ultimate aim is to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.
In the UN’s view, overcoming extreme poverty is “the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development”.
The SDGs have been developed to address this fundamental issue but they also cover a much broader sustainability agenda. For example as well as SDG 1 and SDG2 which aim for “No poverty” and “Zero hunger”, there are also:
SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy
SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production
SDG 13 Climate action
The inclusion of these additional goals make the SDGs much more relevant to all nations on their home turf as well as guiding priorities for international aid and cross-border partnerships.
The SDGs replace and build on the progress of the Millennium Goals which were launched in the year 2000 with the aim of eradicating global poverty by 2015. While huge progress has been made in some areas such as improving maternal health, tackling hunger and providing access to clean water and sanitation, the Millennium Goals did not achieve all they hoped and there are still areas where people suffer extreme poverty and the ill-health and economic hardship that goes with it.
To ensure the kind of transformation envisaged by the SDGs, the UN recognizes that these new goals must be shared by all nations with no-one left behind. Governments around the world are expected to show consideration of the targets in the development of national and international policies.
As citizens we also need to be mindful that we share the planet and its resources with everyone else around the world, as well as future generations to come. We are the key stakeholders in the SDGs -how well they are adopted and accomplished will be due in no small part to how much we call for the changes needed for them to succeed.
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