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 |
End all forms of poverty by 2030, including absolute and relative poverty |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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If progress continues at the current rate, it will take:
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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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