Using the sustainable development goals towards a better understanding of sustainability challenges

Abstract

The United Nations General Assembly agreed and approved in September 2015 the document "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", which contains a set of measures aiming to balance economic progress and protection of the environment, whilst at the same time remain aware of the need to address the many disparities still seen between industrialised and developing countries. The Agenda document consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which among many other tasks, intend to eradicate poverty and create better health conditions in both developed and developing countries. But despite the need for and the relevance of the SDGs, it is unclear how they may help to address present and future sustainability challenges. Based on the need to shed some light on such a relationship, this paper describes each of the SDGs, and offers an analysis of the extent to which their implementation may offer support to ongoing attempts to handle some of the pressing problems seen in pursuing sustainable development. Three case studies are presented to show in practice how best the SDGs can be handled. The paper concludes that the process of implementing the SDGs offers unrivalled opportunities to advance equal opportunity and foster economic empowerment, helping countries to promote the cause of sustainable development in their territories, hence benefitting their populations. .

The Intertwined Relationship Between Malnutrition and Poverty

“…A recent analysis based on data from 49 low- and middle-income countries assessing the relationship between gender equity and malnutrition and health suggests that gender equity in education and employment decreases child malnutrition and is an important determinant in nutrition and access to health care ( 33 ). Therefore, any attempt to improve global nutritional status and to achieve the targets set by the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” requires a focus on alleviating poverty and simultaneously focusing on agriculture, social safety nets, early child development, education, and strengthening women's position in society ( 34 – 37 ).…”

Tracking the Interlinkages across SDGs: The Case of Hill Centered Education Network in Bogota, Colombia

“…Education is a flexible tool that can involve a wide range of sustainability topics (e.g., water, air, equality, social development) and the achievements in every one of them will be able to generate spillover effects across all the other Goals [56]. In addition, the SDGs have been crucial in the active engagement of students in education for sustainable development [57] possibly as the SDGs present a tangible framework to support the understanding of the complexities around sustainable development. For these reasons, education for sustainable development is one of the most powerful tools for the implementation of the integrated partnership auspicated by the SDG17.…”

Concerns of developing countries and the sustainable development goals: case for India

“…SDGs also represented a better framework with broader scope than the Millennium Development Goals (Sachs et al 2018;Vandemoortele 2018) as it treated all the countries: developed and developing alike, with countries free to adopt and implement it considering national circumstances and priorities (UN 2015b, p. 13). Additionally, SDGs created a level playing field for developing countries in global development agenda (Leal Filho et al 2018) and offered a unique opportunity to revive global sustainability research (Leal Filho et al 2017).…”