The 17 UN 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, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals interconnect and in order to leave no one behind, it ís important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030."
The SDGs provide a framework for an equitable development of the world within the limits of the planet. They should guide the economic and political agenda of all countries and corporations. SDG-compliance and accountability should be considered as a measure of progress beyond the GDP and profit.
Labels showing SDG-compliance could help rise consumer awareness and change behaviour.
System of fiscal incentives and penalities should help increase corporate social responsibility towards respect of the SDGs.
SDG Index and Dashboards
The SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2018 notes that although all countries are making progress, overall, no country is on track to achieve all the SDGs by 2030. Progress is slowest on some of the environmental goals, mainly in the poorer countries, which tend to lack adequate infrastructure and mechanisms to manage key environmental issues. The 2018 report is the first ever assessment of government efforts to achieve the SDGs. It found that of the G20 countries, Brazil, Mexico and Italy have taken the most significant steps to achieve the goals. No G20 country has fully aligned its national budget with the SDGs and only India and Germany have partially undertaken an assessment of investment needs. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland are best performers towards achieving the SDGs. USA ranks 35th, China ranks 54th, and the Russian Federation ranks 63rd in the Index.
The SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2017 shows that OECD countries face major challenges in meeting several SDGs, mostly on sustainable consumption and production (SDG12), climate change (SDG13), clean energy (SDG7), and ecosystem conservation (SDGs14 and 15); even top ranked countries have “red” score on climate change and other environmental SDGs; poorer countries tend to be closer to the bottom of the rankings, since they lack adequate infrastructure and the mechanisms needed to meet the SDGs; data on each spillover indicator show that high-income countries tend to generate negative SDG spillover effects for poorer developing countries (countries with larger spillover: Switzerland, Singapore, Luxemburg, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, USA, Belgium, UK).
| Related Megatrends: Natural resources; Consumerism; Inequalities
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