The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017 reviews progress made towards the 17 Goals in the second year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The reportis based on the latest available data. It highlights both gains and challenges as the international community moves towards full realization of the ambitions and principles espoused in the2030 Agenda

Sustainable development goals

It is incrеаsingly rеcognizеd thаt humаn rights plаy аn importаnt rolе in еnsuring sustаinаblе dеvеlopmеnt. Thе Millеnnium Dеvеlopmеnt Goаls (MDGs) sеrvеd аs vеhiclеs for somе еconomic аnd sociаl rights, but ignorеd othеr importаnt humаn rights issuеs. In contrаst, thе nеw аmbitious univеrsаl dеvеlopmеnt progrаm Thе Аgеndа for Sustаinаblе Dеvеlopmеnt until 2030 fully еmbodiеs thе principlеs аnd stаndаrds of humаn rights

Groundwater and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Groundwater is an important part of the water cycle, but this don’t reflects at all in the indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). Facing some logistical issues in what relates to data gathering and data treatment, the indicators, used to monitor objectives defined by UN for all the 17 SDGs, must be, for the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), reasonable maintained under 100 to be treatable and useful for all the UN member states. As always, groundwater, as the major part of the available freshwater resources on the world, but also as the less understood part of the same cycle, has been somehow forgotten. Our aim must be to turn groundwater a priority in the international decisions, documents and governance. An example is the SDGs, on its goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation, dedicated to the topic “Ensure access to water and sanitation for all”, the following targets related with clean water are appointed: by 2030 to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all, to improve water quality, to substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity, to implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation, to expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water-related activities; by 2020, to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including aquifers. There is also an indication to support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management. To accomplish these targets in what respects groundwater, more efforts must be done to indicate to the countries the kind of data that must be collected and analysed in order to inform better the state of our groundwater resources

Collaborative governance for the sustainable development goals

The advent of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals has refocused global attention on the roles of business and other nonstate actors in achieving global goals. Often, business involvement takes the form of collaborations with the more traditional actors—governments and non‐governmental organizations. Although such partnerships for development have been seen before, the scale and expectations are new. This paper explores how and why these cross‐sector collaborations are evolving, and what steps can or should be taken to ensure that partnerships create public and private value. The arguments are illustrated with reference to cases of market‐driven partnerships for agriculture in Southeast Asia that are intended to engage marginalized smallholder farmers in global value chains in agriculture. The aims of these cross‐sector collaborations coincide with several targets of the Sustainable Development Goals such as poverty alleviation, decreasing environmental impact, and achieving food security. This is a hard case for mechanisms intended to protect public interests, given that the target beneficiaries (low‐income smallholder farmers and the environment) are unable to speak effectively for themselves. We find that structures and processes to align interests in ways that protect the public interest are both necessary and feasible, though not easy to achieve

Millenium Development Goals/UN and Sustainable Development Goals/UN as Instruments for Realising Sustainable Development Concept in the Global Economy

This article presents the results of analysis and evaluation of the main effects of the implementation of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals, in force until 2015, and to demonstrate differences between and prospects for implementation of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, covering 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the international community for the next 15 years. The article also presents the contribution of the European Union as a key global donor of development aid for developing countries, especially for the least developed countries (LDCs), as well as plans for Poland’s implementation of the Post-2015 Agenda SDGs

Partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals 2016

This present document is the fourth edition of a report that has been prepared by the Division for Sustainable Development of UN-DESA as a follow up the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, as an effort to provide status of progress multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments have in realizing sustainable development. This current 2016 edition reviews a number of action networks and multi-stakeholder partnerships, with a particular focus on how they support the theme of the 2016 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) - "Ensuring that no one is left behind". Information in the report is largely based on submissions from the Partnerships for SDGs online platform, which was originally developed following the Rio+20 Conference in 201. The platform was recently redesigned ahead of the adoption of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015

The Sustainable Development Goals: One-Health in the World’s Development Agenda

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, embody a One-Health strategy—healthy people living on a habitable planet. Extending beyond the social development emphasis of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which accelerated progress globally, though unequally, the SDGs also encompass a range of environmental and economic goals, with a health goal that is far more comprehensive than the infectious diseases and maternal/child health focus of the MDGs. To be achieved, the SDGs require resources and political commitment that is yet to be demonstrated. With a cost that could reach $5 trillion for the SDGs overall, achieving health targets will require a mix of increase domestic resources, including taxes on unhealthy foods and products, international assistance, and innovative financing. Annual reviews should identify and monitor threats to the SDGs, both internal contradictions and contradictory government policies such as discriminatory laws, and the necessary rights-based pathways forward. To improve accountability, health information systems with disaggregated data should be prioritized, along with independent monitoring and key governance indicators. Ambitious national benchmarks, drawing on WHO strategies and action plans, could provide markers of success for presently vague health targets. Three early indicators of progress on the health SDGs could be: 1) whether countries establish clear policies on universality, encompassing all people without discrimination, identifying and prioritizing populations with the least access; 2) whether universal health coverage fully incorporates population health; and 3) whether countries provide rapid and sustained increased funding for such necessities as adequate sanitation and nutritious food. A Framework Convention on Global Health, a global health treaty based in the right to health, could fill in critical gaps in the SDGs, creating accountability through capacity-building and compliance-enhancing mechanisms, establishing a financing framework, and ensuring right to health assessments and health in all policies. It could help establish a path forward based on equity and the right to health that would be truly transformative

Sustainability appraisal: Jack of all trades, master of none?

Sustainable development is a commonly quoted goal for decision making and supports a large number of other discourses. Sustainability appraisal has a stated goal of supporting decision making for sustainable development. We suggest that the inherent flexibility of sustainability appraisal facilitates outcomes that often do not adhere to the three goals enshrined in most definitions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection and enhancement, and the wellbeing of the human population. Current practice is for sustainable development to be disenfranchised through the interpretation of sustainability, whereby the best alternative is good enough even when unsustainable. Practitioners must carefully and transparently review the frameworks applied during sustainability appraisal to ensure that outcomes will meet the three goals, rather than focusing on a discourse that emphasises one or more goals at the expense of the other(s)

Competitiviness and Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN Member States, have been specifically proposed to address some of the main socio-environmental and economic problems affecting developed and developing countries. Based on and expanding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were established in 2001 and expired at the end of 2015, the SDGs will be used to frame the political agenda over the next 15 years. Composed of 17 goals and 169 targets, and selected by a participative and diplomatic process of stakeholder consultation, the SDGs aim to improve the lives of present and future generations within a framework of equity, inclusion and sustainability. By identifying a set of priorities and establishing time-bound and measurable objectives, the goals and targets aim to establish specific political agendas and increase global awareness of the socio-economic and environmental issues. Within this context, the multidimensional framework that characterises the SDGs aims to address a large set of interrelated objectives. Synergies and trade-offs can, however, exist and policies that are oriented to address a specific problem can result in consequences for other sustainability dimensions. An example of this is competitiveness: this is generally defined by economic variables and can be described as a productivity increase or an improvement in the market share of a particular company or nation. Competitiveness, however, is also related to socio-environmental variables and a specific socio- environmental context or regulation can influence competitiveness both in the short term and in the long term. By addressing a large set of socio-environmental and economic problems, the SDGs are expected to have impacts on the competitiveness of companies and nations. Within this context, the main objective of this report is to identify the links between the concept of competitiveness and the goals and targets established in the SDGs. The analysis of the possible connections and the identification of indicators that can track the impacts that sustainability strategies could have on competitiveness will be useful to increase the effectiveness of the SDGs and to reduce the costs of policies.JRC.D.6 - Knowledge for Sustainable Development and Food Securit

Biofloc technology application in aquaculture to support sustainable development goals

Biofloc technology (BFT) application offers benefits in improving aquaculture production that could contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals. This technology could result in higher productivity with less impact to the environment. Furthermore, biofloc systems may be developed and performed in integration with other food production, thus promoting productive integrated systems, aiming at producing more food and feed from the same area of land with fewer input. The biofloc technology is still in its infant stage. A lot more research is needed to optimise the system (in relation to operational parameters) e.g. in relation to nutrient recycling, MAMP production, immunological effects. In addition research findings will need to be communicated to farmers as the implementation of biofloc technology will require upgrading their skills