January 19, 2024

United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals

This article has been written by Ms. Zuha, a 4th year BA.LL.B student studying at the University of Kashmir, J&K.

Abstract

This article aims to develop an understanding of the sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations. It is pertinent to mention that the action towards their fulfilment is not restricted to national policy frameworks but starts at a micro level. For the better implementation of the plan, we must understand our obligations towards our planet and take small steps in developing the world sustainably. 

 

What are sustainable goals?

Sustainable goals are the collective goals which have been set by the United Nations for the betterment of the world. These encompass the eradication of global issues that are not unique to just a few of the countries but are faced by the world at large. These goals are not mere developmental goals but sustainable in the sense that the achievement of these goals will not only improve the present status of the world but also lay ground for a better future of ourselves and the coming generations. Thus, the onus of working towards their achievement does not fall on a single country but the global nations as a whole. Action by all is required as it is action for all. These goals were adopted by the United Nations in the year 2015 against the target year 2030. 

  • No poverty
  • Zero hunger
  • Good health and well being
  • Quality education
  • Gender equality
  • Clean water and sanitation
  • Affordable and clean energy
  • Decent work and economic growth
  • Industry, innovation and infrastructure
  • Reduced inequalities
  • Sustainable cities and communities
  • Responsible consumption and production
  • Climate action
  • Life below water 
  • Life on land
  • Peace, justice and strong institutions 
  • Partnerships for the goals

These goals have been strategically compiled so as to pave the way for holistic development of countries. These goals are so intrinsically linked that inputs in one of the areas show results in the other.  The integrative natures of these goals ensure that working on one goal affects the improvement of others. They are all inter-dependent and are to be taken up simultaneously. As referred by the United Nations, they are a blueprint for a better future for all. 

Understanding these goals

Goal 1: No Poverty- 

Poverty is not just an issue prevalent in under developed countries. At present, around 10% of the world’s population lives in poverty. There is still substantial portion of the population who live in abject poverty surviving on less than $1.25 a day. Coupled with the fact that they have meagre to no means of access to healthcare, education and social protection, it becomes imperative that countries work on pulling people out of the clutches of poverty. United Nations calls for countries to eradicate extreme poverty everywhere and poverty by half by the target year. Furthermore, it also calls for adoption of pro poor policy frameworks by which nationally appropriate social protection systems can be put in place to enable the poor access to economic resources, basic services and overall resources. As per the official figures, countries have increased their governmental spending by 53% since 2015 in education, health and social services respectively. 

Goal 2: Zero Hunger– 

Worldwide, there are still around 820 million people who struggle to have food on their plates and even if they manage, fall prey to malnutrition anyway. Hunger is a problem which can be linked to poverty, agricultural slow downs, poor food distribution systems, famines, lack of nutritional awareness etc. The targets set in this respect include not only ending hunger by 2030 but also addressing malnutrition, improve agricultural productivity, modernise farming practices sustainably, encouraging investment in agro research and infrastructure etc.

Goal 3: Good health and well being– As the old saying goes, “Health is wealth”; development and its benefits cannot be fully realised unless people have sound health and well being. This goal particularly focuses on improving global health standards by increasing life expectancy, reducing child and maternal mortality rates, curbing spread of life threatening diseases like AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, inculcating positive outlook towards health holistically with special focus on mental health. Moreover, emphasis is laid on preventing and treating substance abuse, halving the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents, access to reproductive healthcare services etc. It can be done by encouraging more investment in the health sector, stabilising doctor-patient ratio, improving infrastructure, boosting global research and sharing of technology. As much as the national governments have been working on this goal, the global pandemic brought to the surface the leakages in the healthcare systems worldwide which necessitate revising healthcare policies and international cooperation, cultivating the idea of health insurance, and improving the quality of medicines and drugs available in the global market.

Goal 4: Quality Education– With no prejudice to the global progress made on the promotion of education, it still is a distant dream for many. Large chunks of the population find themselves unable to read and write out of which substantial portions are women and girls. With countries grappling with issues like war, refugee crisis, poverty, epidemics; ensuring access to proper education still remains the least of the priorities at least on the domestic level. Nevertheless, education brings empowerment and it is indispensable to provide access to free and quality education to children, improve opportunities for higher education, inclusion of vocational skills in the curriculum, and opportunities for adult learning, incentivising towards reducing gender disparities. Furthermore, it is equally important to create an inclusive environment for disabled and other vulnerable sections to reap the benefits of education.   

Goal 5: Gender Equality– Crumbling under the weight of socially defined norms and roles, their whole life is made to revolve around their family to be taken care of. Owing to that, women still are underrepresented in political spaces, workforces, and academic platforms. They remain discriminated at various fronts despite their potential to shine cognitively as equally as their male counterparts. The extent of discrimination runs so deep that it manifests not just denying them opportunities like going to school, choosing life partner, voting rights, property rights but even breeding menaces like female foeticide, rapes, cruelty and violence. The perception of their being at a weaker standing economically, socially, physically further breeds the cycle of disempowerment and makes them fit for perpetration of violence and abuse. Investing in their empowerment will not only remove discriminatory trends but will also enable them to serve as an active asset for the economic growth across the globe. The United Nations calls the member nations to adopt policy frameworks that are pro women, which enable them to avail equal access to economic, social and educational resources, preparing groundwork for their smooth inclusion to the current workforce, fighting social evils by sensitisation, criminalising violence against women and educating them to acknowledge the former for taking appropriate action. One more crucial target is to expand women representation in political spaces so as to have women welfare centric policies that cater to issues that are unique to women like cutting down on pink tax, endorsing menstrual leaves, criminalising child marriages and other sexual offences, access to reproductive healthcare and so on and so forth. 

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation– Us sitting at our homes with adequate access to clean water is an underestimated privilege. The world is fraught with many inadequacies, one of them being the lack of access to water which is safe for consumption. This problem breeds grounds for water communicable diseases, infant deaths, poor health, living in insanitary spaces, open defecation etc. Thus, it is the time of the hour for countries globally to unite and work together for ensuring universal access to safe and affordable drinking water, eliminating water pollution, curbing open defecation practices, access to proper sanitation especially considering the needs of women who are more susceptible to infections, and protecting water based ecosystems and improving technologies related to water harvesting, desalination, wastewater treatment and recycling. 

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean energy– Pushing forward in the way of sustainability, this goal primarily focuses on ensuring access to affordable energy in forms of providing people with safe cooking fuels, encouraging opting for renewable sources of energy, improving energy use sustainably. Also, providing electricity in sub Saharan regions is also one of the targets covered under this goal. To quote an example, many countries have introduced policies to introduce and popularise the idea of solar energy. The recent Energy progress report tracking the progress of this particular goal identified several economic factors that hinder the realisation of this goal like high levels of inflation, debt distress, lack of financing. It also suggested that 1.9 billion people may still lack access to clean cooking by 2030.

Goal 8: Decent work and Economic growth– Unemployment is not just an issue in itself but has a bearing on other impending issues like poverty, hunger, education, poor health etc. Investing in promoting work culture by providing more jobs, entrepreneurship friendly environment, removing barriers for foreign investments, skill training can not only combat joblessness but can also boost country’s economic productivity and growth. Equally important is for governments to adopt labour friendly policies (minimum wages, ending forced labour and slavery) and facilitate credit availability. Since 2015, the attainment of these goals has been majorly hit by the Covid 19 pandemic and AI related disruptions.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure– Diverting special attention on industry sectors and infrastructure together with the element of innovation can boost economic growth. Recent years have posed challenges for the industry sectors both economically as well as environmentally necessitating the need to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation by adopting resource efficient and environmentally sound technologies. At the same time, the pandemic and natural disasters have highlighted the importance of reforming global infrastructure making it more resistant to geographical changes. Under this goal, the targets set include improving telecom connectivity, encouraging research and development in manufacturing sector, facilitating credit, developing regional infrastructure like improved road connectivity, diverse transportation systems, public utilities etc.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities– Not everyone in the society gets to live a decent life because of the persistent and deep rooted inequalities. Inequality manifests in various forms such as income, access to healthcare systems, work opportunities, social services, cultural acceptance etc. The global graph shows unequal distribution of wealth, inequitable access to resources, and differential treatment to refugees, denial of opportunities to disabled and outsiders. The United Nations calls for ensuring equal opportunity and reducing inequalities by eliminating discriminatory laws, promoting social, political and economic inclusion, wage and fiscal inequality and safe migration. 

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities– More than half of the world’s population has moved to cities in search of better jobs, opportunities, access to healthcare and other utilities. However, rapid urbanization has posed a significant burden on the resources of urban areas and increased slum dwellings even in form of encroachments. This goal particularly demands that urbanisation and state planning should go hand in hand. Cities and other urban areas must be well equipped to provide safe and affordable housing facility and access to other public utilities. These places must also be well developed in terms of infrastructure so as to facilitate smooth movement of people and goods. Efforts must also be taken to protect the cultural and natural heritage of these places from the rapid influx of people and public recreational spaces must be developed to improve the overall living standards. Under this goal, least developed countries should also be supported in terms of funding and advancing technical assistance so as to move them ahead in building sustainable cities and urban spaces. 

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production– Ever growing population and limited yet declining natural resources rings a bell for the dark future that awaits us. The problem is not only limited to our over consumption but also in our consumption patterns. Consumerism and capitalization have together overburdened our resources. Approximately, 1/3rd of the total food produced goes into landfills, an average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year, fashion industry accounts for 10% of the total CO2 emissions, plastic waste is ruining our water ecosystems and creating toxic environments for aquatic life,US$120 billion could be saved up annually if only people switched to efficient light bulbs etc. Thus, global action under this heading is called for halving global food waste, encouraging recycling and reuse practices, sound management of chemicals, spreading information and awareness on sustainable living and boosting local tourisms. The response by younger generations in this respect has not been revolutionary but mindful like switching to steel cups instead of using paper cups, carrying lunch boxes for packing food, thrifting culture, using cloth bags in place of polythene bags. All these practices bear a testament that our mindful living can save not just the present generations but the future ones too. 

Goal 13: Climate Action– The climatic atmosphere of the world has changed. We are witnessing warmer and even hotter temperatures, rising sea levels, unprecedented floods, and other natural disasters, increasing numbers of skin related diseases including cancers, droughts and other agricultural slowdowns. Are we to blame? As discussed before our consumption and production patterns have turned and acquired a selfish nature so much so that we just don’t care about the planet. What is the need of the hour? Reducing global greenhouse emissions, spreading awareness on climate change and its consequences, judicious use of resources all form the targets of the sustainable development agenda. Realising that this problem transcends territorial boundaries, in a bid to show global cooperation and willpower, a Green Climate Fund has been created which is contributed towards by the developed nations as per their potential rates of emissions, the funds of which are mobilised into developing and devising measures to help developing and other under developed countries to tackle climate change related issues.  

Goal 14: Life below Water– We heavily rely upon our water based ecosystems such as oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, glaciers for food, drinking water, tourism and global trade. These ecosystems are also home to thousands of marine species. In the recent years, our water resources have been enveloped with various challenges such as ocean acidification, overfishing, water pollution, declining marine life etc. These water resources are pivotal global resource which must be conserved as well as improved. Target goals set include reducing water pollution, addressing ocean acidification levels, regulating practices of over-fishing, conserving at least 10% coastal and marine areas, protecting marine biodiversity and promoting marine research and development. 

Goal 15: Life on land– Human action has adversely impacted terrestrial life. A large proportion of animal and plant species have been pushed on the verge of extinction. We humans have been in a constant endeavour in destroying other habitats for the sake of building our own. Rising levels of air and land pollution, deforestation, unregulated mining, poaching, animal product trafficking, rapid industrial activity in remote areas and other factors have culminated in the ecological disequilibrium. Adding to that, the world is also seeing emergence of zoological diseases which was very apparent during the pandemic and few cases of monkey pox. Nevertheless, the damage is done. The world leaders have realised that it is imperative to take steps to halt deforestation, restore forests and wetlands, preventing extinction of endangered species, controlling poaching and other forms of trafficking, controlling illegal manufacturing to preserve habitability for land species.

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and strong institutions– Conflicts are inevitable in human societies. Even presently, the world is witnessing large scale human rights violations. People are being displaced from their homelands and are denied citizenship in other countries. What is development if these people who are vulnerable and are subject to conflict related violence are not given protection? Some of these ordeals are not even globally acknowledged. Sustainable development works on the principle of inclusivity and thus, attention needs to be paid by the global forums towards these conflict hotspots. In addition to ensuring that people have access to justice systems domestically, it is important to check exploitation, trafficking, illicit arms trade, bribery, and soaring crimes. The rule of law must be promoted at national as well as international levels. Furthermore, upholding fundamental rights like right to information, to get registered at birth, to participate in decision making process, demanding accountability must be the top priority of the global governments. 

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals– It is evident that addressing global issues and achieving sustainable future goals cannot be done alone. The world leaders must unite to work collectively towards the attainment of the sustainable agenda. No one country can claim to have all the resources, technology finance, human capital and research to accomplish these goals in isolation with other countries. Therefore, global partnerships are key to the realisation of these goals. These partnerships can manifest in forms of giving and receiving assistance in finance, technology, capacity building, trade etc. Few of the targets set under this heading are enhancing international support, promoting and transferring environmentally sound technologies at concessional rates, rule based and free trading system, increasing developing countries exports and coherent sustainable development policy. 

Indian Perspective:  Here awesome of the initiatives taken in pursuance of India’s commitment to fulfil sustainable development goals. 

  • Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan( Clean and Healthy India)-  This cleanliness campaign launched by the BJP led government is a perfect example of India’s commitment to achieve SDG 4 i.e. Clean water and sanitation. The campaign involved constructing toilets across the rural as well as urban areas in the country (10 crore built approximately) as well as sensitised the public on the need to use them. This program ha positive implications on curbing the practice of open defecation and effective bio waste management. 
  • Ayushman Bharat (Health Insurance)- In pursuance of fulfilling SDG3, Health and Well being, the government provided 60 crore people in India with Health insurance cover with the upper limit of five lakh rupees. 
  • Beti Bacho Beti Padho – The BBBP policy endorsed by the Modi government aimed to eradicate the evil social menace of Female foeticide and other evils that a girl child has to fall victim to because of the mere fact of her sex. Under this policy, various schemes were launched to empower girls to receive education and attain financial independence by incentivising their parents to open bank accounts in the name of their girl child.
  • Make in India Project: This project encouraged producers and manufacturers to produce products domestically and locally to combat external market competition. This not only added to the enhancement of the gross domestic product but also had positive outcomes in generating employment and promoting research and innovation. 
  • AMRUT scheme (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation)- Launched in 2015, this scheme aimed towards providing basic amenities to the urban areas in as many as 500 cities across the country. It first focused on providing water supply and sewage networks in every household in the selected cities. 
  • Ujjwala scheme– The cooking gas consumer base reached 31.26 crore in the last few years because of this scheme’s objective of providing LPG gas connections to Indian households which relied upon the traditional biomass for cooking.

These are just a few examples. Although there’s still a long way to go, India has made considerable progress in achieving the sustainable development goals.

 

Conclusion

Although it is difficult to say whether the countries who had committed themselves to work on the sustainable development goals will be able to reach the adopted targets by the end of 2030, it is important to mention and acknowledge the efforts made by these countries in the positive direction. If not all, substantial proportion of targets have been and are still being worked upon. The journey towards making a better world for the present and the future generations will not cease at the end of target year but will continue to take new forms afterwards. With the use of emerging technologies and rising public opinion, these targets stand a good chance of being implemented and reformed in a better way that suits the changing needs of the society. 

 

References

 

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