The world’s heads of state decided on the sustainability goals in 2015 and wanted to achieve them by 2030. These include combating the climate crisis and ending extreme poverty. Is that still possible?
The head of the UN development agency UNDP sees the danger that the United Nations’ delayed sustainability goals will become irrelevant.
At the high-level sustainability summit in New York next Monday, directly before the general debate at the UN General Assembly, the focus will be on whether the goals are still relevant, UNDP boss Achim Steiner told the German Press Agency. From the heads of state and government “we expect a signal of the continued relevance of the Sustainable Development Goals for today’s world and the commitment of their countries to work together within the framework of these goals.”
Goals virtually unattainable
The previous failures in achieving the 17 development goals, also due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, cannot be denied, said Steiner, the highest-ranking German UN official. Politicians inevitably did not want to be associated with failures and setbacks, but they needed to act with “greater wisdom”:
“If in 20 years we have not taken appropriate action on climate change and there is another global pandemic on the scale of three years ago, the world could be destroyed in more ways than one.”
The world’s heads of state and government decided on the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. A total of 17 goals are to be achieved by 2030, including ending extreme poverty and hunger and improving global education. It is also about the fight against the climate crisis and the wealth gap. Experts consider achieving the goals within seven years to be virtually unattainable.
Hardly any development to be seen
UNDP also published a new report on the poor development of dozens of countries: A study of 95 countries found that since 2019, only one in five countries have reduced poverty rates, while in 72 of the countries they have either remained the same or increased.
72 of 95 countries have also increased their CO2 emissions, 38 by more than ten percent. UNDP blames this on the pursuit of economic growth at all costs. This limits the financial scope for investment in development.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
