Towards 2030 Goals - Making The Decade Count

In this article, Shailly Kedia, Swati Ganeshan, and Dr Manish Anand discuss the three critical aspects: science, technology and innovation in ensuring sustainable development, role of partnerships and the significance of international cooperation for achieving Agenda 2030. The article elucidates some of the major concerns, challenges and opportunities in these three areas that would be critical to push the faster implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

- Shailly Kedia, Swati Ganeshan, And Dr Manish Anand

The year 2020 marks the beginning of a crucial decade wherein collective global action will determine the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Progress on SDGs So Far and Implications for the Present Decade

The latest progress chart on SDGs by the United Nations gives a global picture in terms of the progress of the SDGs (UN 2019a; UN 2019b). According to the progress chart, at the global level, all environment-related goals on sustainable consumption and production (Goal 12), climate change (Goal 13), aquatic ecosystems (Goal 14), and terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15) are likely to be derailed and will not meet the 2030 Agenda if no substantive efforts are made in the present decade. Moreover, Goal 2 on zero hunger is also likely to be derailed if there are no significant efforts by governments in terms of investment in agriculture. Figure 1 presents a picture of the major areas according to the status of progress and efforts needed in the present decade to meet the 2030 goals. Only Goal 8 which is on economic growth is on track to meet the set target by 2030. It is essential to address the environment-related goals to address the vulnerability in developing countries.