Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They were created with the aim of "peace and prosperity for people and the planet..."[1][2][3] – while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability is at the center of the SDGs.[4][5]
"SDG" redirects here. For other uses, see SDG (disambiguation).Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
"A shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future"
Global
2015
The short titles of the 17 SDGs are: No poverty (SDG 1), Zero hunger (SDG 2), Good health and well-being (SDG 3), Quality education (SDG 4), Gender equality (SDG 5), Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced inequalities (SDG 10), Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), Climate action (SDG 13), Life below water (SDG 14), Life on land (SDG 15), Peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16), and Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).
These goals are ambitious, and the reports and outcomes to date indicate a challenging path. Most, if not all, of the goals are unlikely to be met by 2030. Rising inequalities, climate change, and biodiversity loss are topics of concerns threatening progress. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to 2023 made these challenges worse. The pandemic impacted all 17 goals and emphasized the interconnectedness of global health, economic, social, and environmental challenges.[6] Some regions, such as Asia, have experienced significant setbacks during that time. The global effort for the SDGs calls for prioritizing environmental sustainability, understanding the indivisible nature of the goals, and seeking synergies across sectors.
With regards to the political impact of the SDGs, it has been observed that they have mainly influenced global and national debates. By doing so, they have led to discursive effects for global and national debates. However, they have struggled to achieve transformative changes in policy and institutional structures.[6] The uneven prioritization of goals reflects longstanding national development policies. This complicates the global endeavor towards sustainable development. For example, there has long been a tendency to favor socio-economic objectives over environmental ones.[6]
Funding remains a critical issue for achieving the SDGs. Significant financial resources would be required worldwide. The UN, other international organizations, and national governments are trying to assist with funding efforts. Furthermore, the role of private investment and a shift towards sustainable financing are also essential for realizing the SDGs. Examples of progress from some countries demonstrate that achieving sustainable development through concerted global action is possible.
The 17 Sustainable Development goals[edit]
Structure of goals, targets and indicators[edit]
The lists of targets and indicators for each of the 17 SDGs was published in a UN resolution in July 2017.[7] Each goal typically has 8–12 targets, and each target has between one and four indicators used to measure progress toward reaching the targets, with the average of 1.5 indicators per target.[8] The targets are either outcome targets (circumstances to be attained) or means of implementation targets.[9] The latter targets were introduced late in the process of negotiating the SDGs to address the concern of some Member States about how the SDGs were to be achieved. Goal 17 is wholly about how the SDGs will be achieved.[9]
The numbering system of targets is as follows: Outcome targets use numbers, whereas means of implementation targets use lower case letters.[9] For example, SDG 6 has a total of 8 targets. The first six are outcome targets and are labeled Targets 6.1 to 6.6. The final two targets are means of implementation targets and are labeled as Targets 6.a and 6.b.
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) website provides a current official indicator list which includes all updates until the 51st session Statistical Commission in March 2020.[10]
The indicators for the targets have varying levels of methodological development and availability of data at the global level.[11] Initially, some indicators (called Tier 3 indicators) had no internationally established methodology or standards. Later, the global indicator framework was adjusted so that Tier 3 indicators were either abandoned, replaced or refined.[11] As of 17 July 2020, there were 231 unique indicators.[11]
Data or information must address all vulnerable groups such as children, elderly people, persons with disabilities, refugees, indigenous peoples, migrants, and internally-displaced persons.[12]
Challenges[edit]
Too many goals and overall problems[edit]
Scholars have pointed out flaws in the design of the SDGs for the following aspects: "the number of goals, the structure of the goal framework (for example, the non-hierarchical structure), the coherence between the goals, the specificity or measurability of the targets, the language used in the text, and their reliance on neoliberal economic development-oriented sustainable development as their core orientation."[157]: 161
The SDGs may simply maintain the status quo and fall short of delivering an ambitious development agenda. The current status quo has been described as "separating human wellbeing and environmental sustainability, failing to change governance and to pay attention to trade-offs, root causes of poverty and environmental degradation, and social justice issues."[4]
A commentary in The Economist in 2015 argued that 169 targets for the SDGs is too many, describing them as sprawling, misconceived and a mess compared to the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).[158]
Funding[edit]
Cost estimates[edit]
The United Nations estimates that for Africa, considering the continent's population growth, yearly funding of $1.3 trillion would be needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. The International Monetary Fund also estimates that $50 billion may be needed only to cover the expenses of climate adaptation.[171][172][173]
Estimates for providing clean water and sanitation for the whole population of all continents have been as high as US$200 billion.[174] The World Bank says that estimates need to be made country by country, and reevaluated frequently over time.[174]
In 2014, UNCTAD estimated the annual costs to achieving the UN Goals at US$2.5 trillion per year.[175] Another estimate from 2018 (by the Basel Institute of Commons and Economics, that conducts the World Social Capital Monitor) found that to reach all of the SDGs this would require between US$2.5 and $5.0 trillion per year.[176]
Allocation of funds[edit]
In 2017 the UN launched the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development (UN IATF on FfD) that invited to a public dialogue.[177] The top-5 sources of financing for development were estimated in 2018 to be: Real new sovereign debt OECD countries, military expenditures, official increase sovereign debt OECD countries, remittances from expats to developing countries, official development assistance (ODA).[176]
The Rockefeller Foundation asserted in 2017 that "The key to financing and achieving the SDGs lies in mobilizing a greater share of the $200+ trillion in annual private capital investment flows toward development efforts, and philanthropy has a critical role to play in catalyzing this shift."[178] Large-scale funders participating in a Rockefeller Foundation-hosted design thinking workshop concluded that "while there is a moral imperative to achieve the SDGs, failure is inevitable if there aren't drastic changes to how we go about financing large scale change."[179]
A meta-analysis published in 2022 found that there was scant evidence that governments have substantially reallocated funding to implement the SDGs, either for national implementation or for international cooperation. The SDGs do not seem to have changed public budgets and financial allocation mechanisms in any important way, except for some local governance contexts.[6] National budgets cannot easily be reallocated.[112]: 81
SDG-driven investment[edit]
Capital stewardship is expected to play a crucial part in the progressive advancement of the SDG agenda to "shift the economic system towards sustainable investment by using the SDG framework across all asset classes."[115][180] The notion of SDG Driven Investment gained further ground amongst institutional investors in 2019.[181][182]
In 2017, 2018 and early 2019, the World Pensions Council (WPC) held a series of ESG-focused (Environmental, Social and Governance) discussions with pension board members (trustees) and senior investment executives from across G20 nations. Many pension investment executives and board members confirmed they were in the process of adopting or developing SDG-informed investment processes, with more ambitious investment governance requirements – notably when it comes to climate action, gender equality and social fairness.[183][115]
Some studies, however, warn of selective implementation of SDGs and political risks linked to private investments in the context of continued shortage of public funding.[6]