SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG)

1. Why in News?

2. About

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
• The 17 SDGs are integrated—they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.
• Countries have committed to prioritizing progress for those who are furthest behind. The SDGs are designed to end poverty, hunger, AIDS, and discrimination against women and girls.
• The creativity, know-how, technology and financial resources from all of society are necessary to achieve the SDGs in every context.

3. Background

• The global community is at a critical moment in its pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
• More than a year into the global pandemic, millions of lives have been lost, the human and economic toll has been unprecedented, and recovery efforts so far have been uneven, inequitable and insufficiently geared towards achieving sustainable development. 
• The current crisis is threatening decades of development gains, further delaying the urgent transition to a greener, more inclusive economy, and throwing progress on the SDGs even further off track. Had the paradigm shift envisioned by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development been fully embraced over the past six years, the world would have been better prepared to face this crisis – with stronger health systems, expanded social protection coverage, and the resilience that comes from more equal societies, and a healthier natural environment. 
• Regrettably, the SDGs were already off track even before COVID-19 emerged. Progress has been made in poverty reduction, maternal and child health, access to electricity, and gender equality, but not enough to achieve the Goals by 2030. 
• In other vital areas, including reducing inequality, lowering carbon emissions and tackling hunger, progress had either stalled or reversed

3. Impact of COVID-19 on SDG Goals

• As the pandemic continues to unfold, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021 outlines some significant impacts in many areas that are already apparent. 
• The global extreme poverty rate rose for the first time in over 20 years, and 119 to 124 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020. 
• There is a risk of a generational catastrophe regarding schooling, where an additional 101 million children have fallen below the minimum reading proficiency level, potentially wiping out two decades of education gains. 
• Women have faced increased domestic violence, child marriage is projected to rise after a decline in recent years, and unpaid and underpaid care work is increasingly and disproportionately falling on the shoulders of women and girls, impacting educational and income opportunities and health. 
• Notwithstanding the global economic slowdown, concentrations of major greenhouse gasses continue to increase. 
• With the global average temperature reaching about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels, the climate crisis has well and truly arrived, and its impacts are being felt across the world. 
• The pandemic has also brought immense financial challenges, especially for developing countries – with a significant rise in debt distress and dramatic decreases in foreign direct investment and trade.

4. Challenges in the attainment of sustainable development goals

• The United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are in danger of slipping away from reach and along with their years of progress in eradicating poverty, hunger and ignorance.
• Urgent action is needed if the SDGs, which come with a 2030 deadline, are to be rescued, according to the SDG Report 2022, released July 7.
• All 17 SDGs, set at the UN General Assembly in 2015, are in jeopardy due to the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in the number of conflicts across the world.
• The “cascading and intersecting” issues impact the environment, food and nutrition, health, peace and security as well as education, according to a UN statement on the report.
• Greenhouse gas emissions are set to rise 14 per cent over a decade, the statement noted, antithetical to the Paris Agreement plan — a 2025 peak followed by a 43 per cent decline by 2030 and Net 2050. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions shot up 6 per cent, taking down gains due to COVID-19.
• The pandemic itself has emerged as one of the biggest threats to several SDGs, the statement said, pointing at 15 million “excess deaths” directly or indirectly due to the novel coronavirus by 2021.
• Economic shocks due to the worldwide health emergency pushed 93 million into poverty in 2020 alone, undoing “more than four years” work at alleviating poverty. It also affected the education and healthcare services for millions. 
• Immunization, for example, has dropped for the first time in a decade even as deaths from malaria and TB have risen.

• The pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have already led to a lowering of global economic growth projections by 0.9 percentage points, the statement highlighted, flagging the conflict for harming in more ways than one:

• Raising food and fuel prices
• Hampering global supplies and trade
• Roiling financial markets
• The report also flagged threats to food security and aids, rising unemployment (especially among women) and increases in child labour as well as child marriages. 
• The burden was greater on least developed countries and vulnerable population groups.                                                        

5. The impact of COVID-19 on SDGs

• The challenges are immense, but there are also reasons for hope. 
• The COVID-19 crisis demonstrated inspiring community resilience, highlighted the Herculean work by essential workers in myriad fields and facilitated the rapid expansion of social protection, the acceleration of digital transformation and unprecedented worldwide collaboration on the development of vaccines. 
• A brighter future is possible. 
• We must use the crisis to transform our world, deliver on the 2030 Agenda and keep our promise to current and future generations.

6. The infographics