The Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) is schemed by the United Nations for “peace and prosperity” for both people and the planet. The United Nations created a set of distinct but interelated goals to guide global development. Each goal has his own target, though they are all interconnected.
Basically, the SDGs form a blueprint to achieve a sustainable future for all. Below are facts about the SDGs.
During the Rio +20 summit in 2012, a proposal was originated by Colombia and Guatemala where a process was launched to define a set of Sustainable Development Goals as a new global framing to redirect the world towards a sustainable path.
The goals are a result of a three-year process that brought together UN member states, thousands of actors from the international community and over 7 million people engaged in 83 National surveys, making it the biggest consultation in UN history.
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Three dimensions of sustainability were intended to be balanced by the SDGs which are; environmental, social and economic; built upon achievement and lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg plan of implementation
The list of 17 goals and 169 targets of the SDGs were finally adopted by nations in September 2015. The breadth and depth of the proposed SDGs is profound. Adoption of a right-based approach, the new agenda aims to leave no one behind and promote social inclusion for the most vulnerable group.
The new goals are schemed to be universal with each country setting its own priorities and it is not legally binding.
The final document Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development states in its Preamble: “This Agenda is a plan of
action for people, planet and prosperity”, and affirms “the interlinkages and
integrated nature of the SDGs are of crucial importance in ensuring that the
purpose of the new Agenda is realised”.
The 2030 agenda also includes the United Nation Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted in july, which frames out different means to implement the global goals including Domestic resource, Private finance and Official Development Assistant (ODA). The SDGs aims to elevate a pattern shift of financing beyond ‘development aid’, with Multi-stakeholders partnerships, social investment and ethical trade.
How to engage the public in support of a complex Agenda is a key challenge. The UN is currently rising a major advertising campaign led by film writer and Director Richard Curtis.
As with all intergovernmental agreements, its success lies on the political support of the governments of all states involved.
According to a recent study of all 34 OECD states conducted by the German’s Bertlsemenn foundation, the country that will be most likely to complete the goal first are the four scandinavian nations: Sweden, Norway, Dernmark and Switzerland following in the fifth place. USA, Greece, Chile, Hungary, Turkey and Mexico are the nations with the lowest ranking.
(Article idea culled from a journal by European Network for Community-Led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability)