Facts: 17 global goals
Agenda 2030 was adopted by all UN member states in 2015. The agreement contains 17 main goals, which must be achieved by 2030 at the latest:
1. No poverty
2. No hunger
3. Good health and well-being
4. Good education for all
5. Equality
6. Clean water and sanitation for all
7. Sustainable energy for all
8. Decent working conditions and economic growth
9. Sustainable industry, innovations and infrastructure
10. Reduced inequality
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Sustainable consumption and production
13. Combat climate change
14. Seas and marine resources
15. Ecosystem and biological diversity
16. Peaceful and inclusive societies
17. Implementation and Global Partnership
Source: United Nations
Extreme poverty must be abolished. Injustices are reduced and climate change is slowed down. These are some of the hopes behind Agenda 2030, which contains 17 main goals for a sustainable world to be achieved by 2030.
But implementation is slow. For the past three years, the limited progress made since the UN adopted the goals in 2015 has been slowed down by the corona pandemic.
“Lost Decade”
Now – at the current rate and with half the time gone – not a single target looks within reach by 2030. That assessment makes Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) which evaluates the process continuously. The goals of reducing hunger, improving health and protecting biodiversity are particularly bad.
“We risk a lost decade for sustainable development,” says the report’s lead author Guillaume Lafortune to the AP news agency.
— And there is actually a risk that the gap between rich and poor countries in terms of sustainable development may be greater in 2030 than it was in 2015.
With several major multilateral meetings planned this year, such as the G20 in Delhi and the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, SDSN is calling on the international community to direct its money so that it better contributes to meeting the goals.
“It would be unconscionable if the world misses this opportunity, especially if the richest countries try to avoid taking responsibility,” writes SDSN chairman Jeffrey Sachs in a comment.
The report also analyzes individual countries’ work with the sustainability goals by examining indicators such as poverty, hunger, disease and carbon dioxide emissions.
Sweden ranks second after Finland – but despite that, a lot of work remains to make the goals a reality here as well.