Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals

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. Think about how can we do and take action.

Goal 1: No Poverty

Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication.

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development.

Goal 4: Quality Education

Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development.

Goal 5: Gender Equality

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in.

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity.

• The world continues to advance towards sustainable energy targets – but not fast enough. At the current pace, about 660 million people will still lack access to electricity and close to 2 billion people will still rely on polluting fuels and technologies for cooking by 2030.
• Renewable sources power nearly 30 per cent of energy consumption in the electricity sector, but challenges remain in the heating and transport sectors. Developing countries experience 9.6 per cent annual growth in renewable energy installation, but despite enormous needs, international financial flows for clean energy continue to decline.
• To ensure access to energy for all by 2030, we must accelerate electrification, increase investments in renewable energy, improve energy efficiency and develop enabling policies and regulatory frameworks.
• 733 million people don’t have access to electricity. That’s about one in ten people worldwide. Energy Access | United Nations Development Programme
• Access to electricity went from 73% in 1998 to 90% in 2020.Access to electricity | United Nations Development Programme
• It’s estimated that between US$ 35 billion and 40 billion are needed annually to reach universal electricity access between 2021 and 2030 to reach universal access to electricity. Access to electricity | United Nations Development Programme
• The global electricity access has risen from 87% in 2015 to 91% in 2021, but 675 million people, primarily in LDCs and sub-Saharan Africa, remain without access.
• While progress has been made in improving access to electricity and clean cooking fuels globally, 675 million people remain unconnected to grids and 2.3 billion continue to rely on unsafe and polluting fuels for cooking.
• Renewable sources power nearly 30% of energy consumption in the electricity sector, but challenges remain in the heating and transport sectors.
• In 2021, 71% of the global population had access to clean cooking fuels and technologies, up from 64% in 2015. The region with the lowest access rates was sub-Saharan Africa, where progress towards clean cooking has failed to keep pace with growing populations, leaving a total of 0.9 billion people without access in 2021.

Source: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023

7.1 By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services

7.2 By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix

7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency

7.A By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology

7.B By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Sustainable economic growth will require societies to create the conditions that allow people to have quality jobs.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Investments in infrastructure are crucial to achieving sustainable development.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

12.1 Implement the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries

12.2 By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources

12.3 By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses

12.4 By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment

12.5 By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse

12.6 Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle

12.7 Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities

12.8 By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature

12.A Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production

12.B Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

12.C Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities

Goal 13: Climate Action

Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.

Every person, in every country in every continent will be impacted in some shape or form by climate change. There is a climate cataclysm looming, and we are underprepared for what this could mean.

Climate change is caused by human activities and threatens life on earth as we know it. With rising greenhouse gas emissions, climate change is occurring at rates much faster than anticipated. Its impacts can be devastating and include extreme and changing weather patterns and rising sea levels.

If left unchecked, climate change will undo a lot of the development progress made over the past years. It will also provoke mass migrations that will lead to instability and wars.

To limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre- industrial levels, emissions must already be decreasing and need to be cut by almost half by 2030, just seven years away. But, we are drastically off track from this target.

Urgent and transformative going beyond mere plans and promises are crucial. It requires raising ambition, covering entire economies and moving towards climate-resilient development, while outlining a clear path to achieve net-zero emissions. Immediate measures are necessary to avoid catastrophic consequences and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Act Now

The climate crisis continues unabated as the global community shies away from the full commitment required for its reversal. 2010 – 2019 was the warmest decade ever recorded, bringing with it massive wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, floods and other climate disasters across continents.

Climate change is disrupting national economies and affecting lives and livelihoods, especially for the most vulnerable.

Between 2010 and 2020, highly vulnerable regions, home to approximately 3.3–3.6 billion people, experienced 15 x higher human mortality rates from floods, droughts and storms compared to regions with very low vulnerability.

What happens if you don’t take action?

If left unchecked, climate change will cause average global temperatures to increase beyond 3°C, and will adversely affect every ecosystem. Already, we are seeing how climate change can exacerbate storms and disasters, and threats such as food and water scarcity, which can lead to conflict. Doing nothing will end up costing us a lot more than if we take action now.

Solving the problem

To address climate change, we have to vastly raise our ambition at all levels. Much is happening around the world – investments in renewable energy have soared. But more needs to be done. The world must transform its energy, industry, transport, food, agriculture and forestry systems to ensure that we can limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C, maybe even 1.5°C. In December 2015, the world took a significant first step by adopting the Paris Agreement, in which all countries committed to take action to address climate change. However, more actions are critically needed in order to meet the targets.

Businesses and investors need to ensure emissions are lowered, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes economic and business sense as well.

Are we investing enough to combat climate change?

According to the UNFCCC, global climate finance flows reached an annual average of $803 billion in 2019–2020, a 12 per cent increase compared to prior years. However, this still falls short of the levels needed to limit warming, and fossil-fuel-related flows exceeded climate financing for adaptation and mitigation in 2020.

In 2019, at least 120 of the 153 developing countries had undertaken activities to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans to enhance climate adaptation and resilience, an increase of 29 countries over the previous year. Furthermore, progress in meeting the 2020 disaster risk reduction target has been slow.

Think What can I do to help?

Goal 14: Life Below Water

Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.

Goal 15: Life on Land

Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

Goal 17: Partnerships

Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.