08 Sep Agenda 2030: where do we stand on the Sustainable Development Goals?

On September 25, 2015, the 193 member countries of the UN decided to adopt the 2030 Agenda containing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Eight years have passed, during which the world has experienced extremely dramatic events: primarily the COVID-19 pandemic, the outbreak of new wars and conflicts, terrorist attacks, and extreme weather phenomena.

In July 2023, the UN released an annual report to highlight the progress of the targets that had been set in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030.

Let’s find out about them together.

Goal 1: End all forms of poverty in the world.

🔴 If current trends continue, 575 million people will still be living in poverty, and only a third of countries will have halved their national poverty levels.

🟢 In many countries, to cope with the rising cost of living and the pandemic crisis, social protection measures have been expanded .

🟠 However, globally, there are many people still unprotected, particularly children, the elderly, and more fragile individuals. The largest expenditures on essential social services (education, health and social protection) are borne only by the most economically developed and/or emerging countries.

👉 Action and investment is needed to improve economic opportunities, foster education and extend social protection to all, without excluding anyone.

 

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

🔴 Recent events related to the pandemic, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and climate change have dramatically increased the number of people suffering from hunger. About 29.6 percent of the global population (2.4 billion people) lack access to adequate food.

🔴 Malnutrition is also often exacerbated by the high prices of some food items (including basic necessities), which despite a decline in 2021, continue to inflict many nations. In 2022, it was estimated that malnutrition caused in children under the age of 5: growth difficulties (148 million), wasting (45 million) and obesity (37 million).

🤜 Goal 2 is likely to fail by 2030 if a radical change is not implemented. Different states must coordinate to undertake investments that can transform the entire food system, starting with the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices.

 

Goal 3: Ensure healthy living and promote well-being for all at all ages.

🟢 In recent years, many countries have succeeded in achieving major advances in the health sector. Some relevant examples: 146 out of 200 countries have already lowered the mortality threshold or are close to doing so; effective treatment for HIV has reduced AIDS mortality by 52% since 2010; tropical diseases have been eliminated in 47 countries.

🔴 However, in some areas of the globe, natal mortality still has not been reduced and the situation of poverty does not allow people to use and/or access health facilities and services.

🔴 The Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing interstate crises have hindered the progress of the health system: childhood vaccinations have drastically declined and deaths from tuberculosis and malaria have increased compared to pre-pandemic levels.

👉 Further investment is essential for all countries to have adequate health care, as well as appropriate and necessary treatment.

Goal 4: Provide quality, equitable and inclusive education and learning opportunities for all.

🔴 Improving the education system was a very slow process even before the pandemic event. COVID-19 had a devastating impact on education causing loss of learning in several areas of the world.

🤜 Further measures are needed in order to universally enable secondary school completion by 2030. Investment in education must be a priority for countries that want to achieve Goal 4 and should be directed at: ensuring free and compulsory education, increasing the number of teachers, and improving school infrastructure including through the adoption of digital technologies.

 

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

🔴 The world “is not on track” to achieve gender equality by 2030.

🔴 In its current state, it will take: 300 years to end marriages with child brides; 286 years to close gaps in legal protections and remove racial discrimination laws; 140 years to achieve gender equality in leadership positions in the world of work; 47 years to achieve equal gender representation in national parliaments.

🔴 Globally, nearly half of married women lack decision-making power over their sexuality, health, and reproductive rights.

🤜 In this context, only the implementation of innovative reforms and policies can succeed in breaking down the barriers to achieving Goal 5.

 

Goal 6: Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

🟠 Although significant progress has been achieved, billions of people around the world lack access to safe water and/or adequate sanitation.

🤜 Achieving universal coverage by 2030 is a goal that requires countless efforts, considering that, in recent years, concern about water scarcity has increased in many parts of the world. Cross-sectoral investments that can promote innovation and the adoption of a more integrated and holistic approach on water management can enable the achievement of Goal 6 by 2030.

 

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy systems for all.

🟠 Goal 7 is driven by the global need to find more sustainable energy sources. Despite this, the search for sustainable energy is still slow going. In fact, at the current rate, about 660 million people will be stranded without access to electricity; about 2 billion people will still rely on polluting fuels and technologies for essential services such as cooking by 2030.

🟠 In the electricity sector, renewables power nearly 30 percent of energy consumption; however, the biggest energy challenges are in the heating and transportation sectors.

🟠 Developing countries are experiencing 9.6 percent annual growth in renewable energy installation, but despite huge needs internationally, financial flows for clean energy continue to decline.

🤜 Achieving Goal 7 requires accelerating electrification, increasing investment in renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and developing enabling policies and regulations for the energy transition.

 

Goal 8: Incentivize lasting, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

🟠 The recovery of the global economy is proceeding, albeit with some slowing. According to a 2022 estimate, about 2 billion workers are still in precarious conditions and without any social protection.

 

🟠 Although many of the world’s economies have entered a recovery phase, the global employment rate has declined significantly. The youth unemployment rate continues to be much higher than that of adults, indicating that it is necessary to ensure better employment opportunities for young people starting with education and training.

🤜 To achieve Goal 8, it is critical to implement a comprehensive reform of the financial system that can address rising debts, economic uncertainty, and trade tensions, while promoting fair wages and decent work, especially for young people.

 

Goal 9: Build a resilient infrastructure and promote innovation and equitable, responsible and sustainable industrialization.

🔴 COVID-19 has affected the recovery of manufacturing, with global growth slowing to 3.3 percent in 2022 from 7.4 percent in 2021. Progress in least developed countries (LDCs) is far from achieving the goal of doubling the manufacturing share of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

🟢 However, technology sector industries have demonstrated robust growth rates.

🟠 Although by 2022, 95 percent of the world’s population has access to mobile broadband, some areas still remain underserved.

🔴 Global carbon dioxide emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes grew by 0.9 percent to a new all-time high of 36.8 billion tons, well below global GDP growth, returning to a decade-long trend of decoupling emissions and economic growth.

👉 To achieve Goal 9 by 2030, it is necessary to support LDCs, invest in advanced technologies, reduce pollutant emissions, and increase mobile broadband access.

 

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among nations.

🔴 Goal 10 has been impacted by the pandemic that has triggered a significant increase in inequality between countries. Worldwide, 1 in 6 people, particularly women and people with disabilities, have experienced some form of discrimination,

🔴 2022 was the year with the highest number of refugees (34.6 million people) and high mortality among migrants (nearly 7,000 deaths recorded globally).

🤜 Reducing inequality requires: equal distribution of resources, investment in education and skills development, implementation of social protection measures, combating discrimination, supporting marginalized groups, and promoting international cooperation for fair trade.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, durable and sustainable.

🔴 About 1.1 billion people still live within slums found in urban areas (2020 figure) and there is a risk that in the next 30 years the number could exceed 2 billion. By 2022, globally only 1 in 2 urban residents will comfortably access public transportation.

🔴 Air pollution is no longer an exclusively urban problem.

🔴 Worldwide 3 out of 4 cities have less than 20% of their area dedicated to public spaces and streets.

🤜 To achieve Goal 11, efforts must focus on implementing inclusive and resilient policies, sustainable urban development practices that prioritize access to basic services, affordable housing, efficient transportation, and green spaces for all.

 

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable patterns of production and consumption.

🔴 High-income countries have 10 times the environmental impact of low-income countries.

🔴 Global crises have triggered an upswing in fossil fuel use, doubling from 2020 to 2021.

🤜 Responsible consumption and production must be an integral part of recovery from the pandemic and acceleration plans for Sustainable Development. It is critical to implement policies that are supportive of sustainable practices and decouple economic growth from resource use.

 

Goal 13: Promote actions, at all levels, to combat climate change.

🔴 Current action plans are wholly insufficient to effectively address the climate crisis.

🔴 Extreme weather events are increasingly frequent and intense in every corner of the planet, and the continued rise in temperatures will only exacerbate the climate situation we are currently experiencing. The main cause is the continuous and constant emissions of pollutants from all industrial sectors. In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, emissions must decrease starting today, 7 years away, reducing by about half by 2030.

🤜 Urgent and transformative action beyond mere plans and promises is essential: all economies must move toward climate-resilient development while charting a clear path whose goal is to zero net emissions. Measures are needed to avoid catastrophic consequences and ensure the security of a sustainable future for generations to come.

 

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

🔴 Growing phenomena such as eutrophication*, acidification, sea warming, and plastic pollution, as well as the trend of overfishing, are undermining the health of the oceans.

🟢 Although some progress has been made in expanding marine protected areas and combating illegal fishing to support small-scale fishers, achieving Goal 14 still requires many large-scale actions.

👉 Funding for ocean science should be increased, conservation efforts intensified, nature- and ecosystem-based solutions promoted, and human-induced impacts addressed.

 

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of the Earth’s ecosystem.

🔴 The global triple crisis (climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss) is the main cause of increasing forest loss, land degradation and species extinction. All of this poses a serious threat to both the planet and people as terrestrial ecosystems are vital to sustaining human life.

🟢 Although some progress has been made in sustainable forest management, protection of natural areas, and conservation of national biodiversity, most improvements have been modest.

👉 To achieve Goal 15, a radical change in man’s relationship with nature is essential. Action must be taken to defeat the root causes that have triggered the various crises and recognize the enormous value that nature holds for all living things.

 

Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions.

🔴 Achieving Goal 16 is quite far off considering the new and ongoing violent conflicts around the world.

🔴 In 2022, conflict-related civilian deaths and refugee numbers increased by more than 50 percent, largely due to the war in Ukraine.

🔴 Various injustices and social inequalities are prevailing over peaceful and inclusive societies.

🤜 Achieving Goal 16 by 2030 requires restoring trust and strengthening the capacity of institutions in ensuring justice for all and facilitating peace.

 

Goal 17: Strengthen means of implementation and renew the global partnership for sustainable development.

🔴 In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, developing countries are facing several economic problems such as unprecedented increases in external debt levels, record inflation, rising interest rates, interstate competition, and limited fiscal capacity.

🟠 Despite a 65 percent improvement in Internet access since 2015, progress on bridging the digital divide has slowed in the post-pandemic period.

🔴 Geopolitical tensions hinder international cooperation and coordination.

🤜 To accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development, collective action to provide developing countries with the necessary resources, funding, and technologies is important.

 

*Eutrophication: a degenerative process of water induced by excessive inputs of fertilizer-acting substances carried to the sea by rivers and coastal settlements. For further study.

 

Anna Sagnella