Module 1: Caring about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development -> Section 2: How to meet the SDGs by 2030
The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030.
In 2022, the Global Week to #Act4SDGs mobilized 142 million SDG actions from all over the world. 142 million actions that had a positive impact on efforts to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals and make a difference for both people and planet.
The 2023 Global Week to Act4SDGs
In September 2023, the UN SDG Action Campaign and its global partners tried to scale up engagement and action across the world on themes spanning from climate action and peace to inclusion, sustainable food systems, and gender equality, mobilizing international organizations, local governments, youth movements, and millions of individuals to ensure a more sustainable future for all.
All actions were captured and visualized on the Global Map of SDG Action, which can be filtered down by country, region, SDG, and sector allowing us to report back at key UN milestone moments to show how collective action can lead to great change around the world. Watch the 2023 Global Week to #Act4SDGs Highlights Video to see How global partners came together and united to act for a better, more equitable, and more sustainable future for all.
The SDGs at halftime
We’re at halftime and only 15% of the Global Goals are on track. According to Nature Editors: Of the 36 SDG targets reviewed in the GSDR to provide a snapshot of progress, only two were on track as of 2023, namely access to mobile networks and internet usage. And computational science with its methods, tools and technology can contribute to addressing challenges related to several other SDGs. However, for all other monitored targets the results are unsatisfactory. The fight against poverty initially had good results, but the progress was partially erased by the Covid-19 pandemic. And if the current trends continue, the goals will not be met even in 2050. This report identified the inactivity of governments, lack of finance and inefficient administration in many countries as the culprit of the unhappy state. It raises the question of whether more can be done in the next seven years.
Read the article by the team around Shirin Malekpour published in Nature on Why the UN Sustainable Development Goals are so hard to achieve, and showing policymakers pathways to follow, will help the planet and save lives (What scientists need to do to accelerate progress on the SDGs).
Let’s test your knowledge on how much do you know so far about SDGs. Take a Kahoot Quiz on Sustainable Development Goals (How much do you know about SDGs?).
What needs to change
COVID-19, the cost of living, conflicts, the climate crisis – such as floods, heatwaves, wildfires – have set us back, but hope remains. The United Nations has launched the critical SDG Halftime Campaign, because any match is won in the second half. Let’s regroup, re-energize and win together. Find out how you get involved at The Global Goals – Halftime or explore more about each of the Global Goals here.
Watch this data-packed TED talk by Michael Green sharing his analysis on the steps each country has (or hasn’t) made toward these Sustainable Development Goals – and offering new ideas on what needs to change so we can achieve them (The global goals we’ve made progress on – and the ones we haven’t).
It’s your turn
After reading the articles and watching the videos on What are the SDGs and How to meet them by 2030, think of some ways we all need to change to meet the SDGs by 2030 and share the following information / post your comment in the discussion forum below:
- What are main changes that private companies must embrace if the world is to meet the Global Goals by 2030?
- What are main changes that you as an individual must embrace towards the SDGs achievement?