Sustainable Development Goals (DP IB Geography)

Revision Note

The Role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

What is sustainable development?

  • Sustainable development means meeting the needs of today whilst ensuring that future generations can also meet their needs

  • Sustainable development can be divided into three categories

    • Economic sustainability

    • Environmental sustainability

    • Social sustainability

  • Achieving environmental sustainability will require a reduction in the use of natural resources or technological advances 

  • The development of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set out in 2015 

  • The SDGs were developed from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set out the challenges world leaders committed to combating, including:

    • Poverty

    • Hunger

    • Disease

    • Illiteracy

    • Discrimination against women

    • Environmental degradation

  • The SDGs are the areas viewed as the world's most urgent challenges

An Explanation of the 17 SDGs (Source: UN SDGs)

2030 Goal

Explanation and current state

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End all forms of poverty by 2030, including absolute and relative poverty 

If current trends continue, only one-third of countries will achieve their targets by 2030 

Almost 600 million people will still be living in extreme poverty

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End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

There has been an increase in the number of people facing hunger

In 2022, about 122 million more people were facing chronic hunger than in 2019

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Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Almost three-quarters of 200 countries have met or are on track to meet the SDG infant mortality target

Vaccinations have declined significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning cases of  tuberculosis and malaria have increased

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Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

The COVID-19 pandemic led to learning losses in 4 out of 5 countries studied in the 2023 report

In 2023, only one in six countries will achieve the secondary school completion target

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Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

If progress continues at the current rate, it will take:

  • Approximately 300 years to end child marriage

  • Over 280 years to remove discriminatory laws

  • About 140 years for equal representation in leadership and positions of power

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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Approximately 2.2 billion people still do not have access to safely managed water

Around 3.5 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation

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Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Approximately 2 billion people will rely on polluting fuels for cooking by 2030

Renewable energy provides almost 30% of electricity but there is still significant dependence on fossil fuels

Global access to electricity has increased from 87% (2015) to 91% (2021) 

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Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

COVID-19 led to an increase in informal employment to an estimated 2 billion people 

The global unemployment rate decreased to 5.4%

Young women are twice as likely (32%) as young men to not be in training, education or employment 

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Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

In 2022, 95% of the global population could access a mobile broadband network

Due to COVID-19, the growth of manufacturing fell to 3.3% (2022) from 7.4% (2021)

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Reduce inequality within and among countries

The COVID-19 pandemic increased income inequality between countries over 4% difference

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Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Approximately 1.1 billion people live in squatter settlements

Access to public open spaces is less than 20%, the target is 45–50%

Only 52% of the urban population has convenient access to public transport

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Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

The material footprint (use of raw materials) is ten times higher in high-income countries than low-income countries

Food waste was 931 million tonnes (2019), far above the target

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Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

The rate of global mean sea level rise has doubled since 2002

The world is currently predicted to pass the 1.5°C tipping point in 2035

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Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

The amount of plastic waste in the oceans is estimated to triple to over 50 million metric tons by 2040

There has been a continuous increase in acidification of oceans—30% higher than in pre-industrial times

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Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification; halt and reverse land degradation; and halt biodiversity loss

Global forest coverage has decreased from 31.9% (2000) to 31.2% (2020) or 0.1 billion hectares

One million species are threatened with extinction

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Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

There was a 50% increase in conflict-related civilian deaths in 2022

Almost 110 million people were forcibly displaced in 2022, an increase of 19 million from 2021

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Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Debt in low-income countries has increased significantly since Covid-19

Official development assistance has increased by over 15%; much of this is due to aid to Ukraine

Internet access has increased from 40% in 2015 to 66% in 2022

  • In the UN 2023 report on the SDGs, it was reported that

    • Only 15% of targets were on track

    • Almost half (48%) are moderately or severely off track

    • For 37%, there is stagnation or regression in the targets

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