Turn of a decade - Are we on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals?

Our actions determine the outcomes. In the last decade, the world came together to sign the Paris agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals were launched - both in 2015. Shaken by the pandemic we enter 2021 with a lot of hope. Hope(noun): A feeling or expectation of something good to happen. And while hoping is good, it is important to understand that humanity could be engaged in wishful thinking since it is our actions that define whether our Hope will result in a world we want. It is therefore important to understand our vision of Hope. The world has a vision by 2030 and for those of you who are not familiar with it's a great time to acquaint yourself. It is encapsulated in Sustainable Development Goals. It's time to revisit and re-examine some of our critical global commitments in the past decade that holds the promise of a better world.

Our World of 2030: The Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. These goals can help us create a better world by 2030, by ending poverty, fighting inequality, and addressing the urgency of climate change. By spurring government action, corporate action, and individual action the goals. To understand the SDGs we need to rewind a little. Launched in 2012 in the Rio Summit on Sustainable Development, SDGs pick up where the MDGs left. Growing stress on natural resources, inequity, biodiversity loss, climate change, increasing pollution is threatening the global interconnected economies. All 17 SDG goals are interconnected and were launched in 2015 and provide a vision for global economies and businesses a vision of the Better World. The Business and Sustainable Development Commission was launched in Davos in January 2016. The key findings of the commission are encapsulated in the report Better Business Better World and it outlines an opportunity worth 12 trillion dollars in food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being. In a world unsettled by a global pandemic of 2020, it would be worthwhile for Businesses to contribute to creating a Better World, especially since COVID 19 lockdown world did give a glimpse of the importance of Health and wellbeing, how our food and distribution systems can be altered to focal on rebuilding local economies, how cities redefined work through work from home, and how energy consumption reduced due to less travel.

Can we build a better world? To answer this it is important check the progress of SDGs here. Listing out few major goals which need concentrated effort in the coming decade.

Goal number 12 - Sustainable consumption and Production : We need individual and corporate action to progress on this goal. During the pandemic for some time the consumption decreased - but post uplifting of lock-down we are seeing increasing consumption. This is worrying. Curbing consumption and demanding responsible products is key to the fulfillment of this goal.

Goal number 5 - Gender Equality - What is worrying is the path of women and girls is strewn with obstacles most of which lies in form of inequitable work distribution at home. Women spend more time than men in unpaid work, a burden that is got heavier during the pandemic. While we saw more women in positions of power, the world is far from parity

Goal number 15 - Life on Land - Our natural world is shrinking and biodiversity loss is happening at an accelerated pace. What is worrying is that only 1/3rd countries are not on track for meeting the biodiversity targets. Our natural world is intrinsically linked to climate and preservation of the same is vital to our existence.

Goal number 14 - Life underwater - More concerted action needed to keep our marine world safe. What is worrying is decline in fish stocks continue and small scale fishermen continue to be marginalized.

Goal number 7 - Clean Energy - We have made insufficient progress on clean energy and transition to renewables.

Goal number 13 - Climate change : The world is way off track to meet the Paris Agreement target, signaling cataclysmic changes ahead

Paris Climate Accord aims to limit the world temperature rise to 1.5 degrees - By 2030 the global net emissions need to be below 2010 levels. In year 2015 at COP 21, Paris brought all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.

In a recent report, we find that we are nowhere near meeting the goal in spite of a slight dip during COVID lock down. China, India, and the US continue to the largest emitters. Over the last decade, emissions have increased by 0.9% per year. While India is doing great on its renewable energy targets it would auger well not to dig new coal out so that it can meet the 1.5-degree target.

Sustainable development goals show us a vision of a better brighter world. Actions are needed at 3 levels: Government, Corporate, and Individual. The hope exists. In 2017 a book named Drawdown by Peter Hawken listed the most comprehensive solutions to reverse climate change. It showed that solutions exist and they can be achieved through government, corporate and individual action.

At the turn of the decade it's worth pondering - Can Humanity deliver the 2030 vision of a sustainable world? What in your view are key barriers to this world vision?