It is 2020: Are We Achieving the Global Goals?
Progress to Date and the Decade of Action
Written by Brady Press
As of January 1, the world is officially one decade away from the deadline set for achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed to by UN member states in 2015. The clock is ticking, igniting pressure around analyzing progress toward reaching the goals and scaling necessary action to engage crucial players to push the Global Goals forward.
Will the Global Agenda be met by 2030? We are introducing a four-part series that looks at what milestones have been achieved toward the SDGs to date, as well as what trends are emerging to progress the Goals over the next ten years. To learn about where the world stands on the SDGs as of 2019 and what 2020 has in store, read on for part one of our series:
An Overview of Global Progress
Measuring global progress on the SDGs is an incredibly complex task. Currently, reporting is inconsistent, posing a widely recognized challenge in tracking actual progress on desired outcomes. One of the most digestible sources for viewing the current status of all 17 goals is the 2019 Sustainable Development Goals Report. The report outlines several areas where progress is being made:
“Extreme poverty has declined considerably, the under-5 mortality rate fell by 49 percent between 2000 and 2017, immunizations have saved millions of lives, and the vast majority of the world’s population now has access to electricity. Countries are taking concrete actions to protect our planet: marine protected areas have doubled since 2010; countries are working concertedly to address illegal fishing; 186 parties have ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, and almost all have communicated their first nationally determined contributions. About 150 countries have developed national policies to respond to the challenges of rapid urbanization, and 71 countries and the European Union now have more than 300 policies and instruments supporting sustainable consumption and production.”
Recognizing progress, the report also emphasizes the need for action on many other crucial areas where we are not moving forward. Some issues, such as global hunger, have gotten worse:
“The natural environment is deteriorating at an alarming rate: sea levels are rising; ocean acidification is accelerating; the past four years have been the warmest on record; one million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction; and land degradation continues unchecked. We are also moving too slowly in our efforts to end human suffering and create opportunity for all: our goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 is being jeopardized as we struggle to respond to entrenched deprivation, violent conflicts and vulnerabilities to natural disasters. Global hunger is on the rise, and at least half of the world’s population lacks essential health services. More than half of the world’s children do not meet standards in reading and mathematics; only 28 per cent of persons with severe disabilities received cash benefits; and women in all parts of the world continue to face structural disadvantages and discrimination.”
Of the goals that show the most promising growth — Affordable & Clean Energy and Clean Water & Sanitation, for example — progress is still too slow. Additionally, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) argues in its 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity, increasing environmental threats are affecting progress toward the SDGs as a whole:
“Biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services directly underpin the achievement of several of the Sustainable Development Goals, including those on water and sanitation, climate action, life below water and life on land (Sustainable Development Goals 6, 13, 14 and 15). Nature also plays an important and complex role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty, hunger, health and well-being and sustainable cities (Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 3 and 11)… Nature and its contributions are also relevant to the Goals for education, gender equality, reducing inequalities and promoting peace, justice and strong institutions (Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, 10 and 16), but the current focus and wording of the related targets obscures or omits their relationship to nature.”
IPBES ties biodiversity and ecosystems to many SDGs and positions it as a crucial avenue through which to move many of the SDGs forward. Regardless of the starting point, if action toward achieving the SDGs is not accelerated, the Goals will not be met by 2030.
Fast Tracking Progress with the Decade of Action
As leader in establishing the SDGs, the UN serves as a powerful voice in shaping global priorities each year. In recognition that we are not moving at the speed needed to accomplish the goals by 2030, Secretary General António Guterres addressed the General Assembly in a speech that illustrated the strongest threats still facing society and called the next ten years a “Decade of Action”:
“We see concrete progress — from reducing child mortality to expanding education, from improving access to family planning to increasing access to the internet. But what we see is not enough. Indeed, we are off track. At present course, half a billion people will still be living in extreme poverty by 2030. And the gender gap in economic participation would have to wait 250 more years. That is unacceptable.
For all these reasons, we are launching a Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The Decade of Action is central to achieving a fair globalization, boosting economic growth and preventing conflict. We will leverage the reformed United Nations Development System to engage partners from the local to the global to mobilize a movement for the Sustainable Development Goals.
I will convene, on an annual basis, a platform for driving the Decade of Action. The first SDG Action Forum in September will highlight progress and set the trajectory for success. So, let us make the 2020s the Decade of Action and let us make 2020 the year of urgency.”
Secretary General Guterres’ declaration of urgency proves that progress toward the SDGs is not where anyone had hoped it would be at this time. However, the sense of immediacy opens an opportunity to inspire society to act further.
The Path Forward
It is evident that as a society we are falling behind and are not on a path to reach the goals at present. Much more work from both the public and private sectors is needed if we are going to reach the SDGs by 2030. As this “year of urgency” continues, we look to governments and the private sector to prioritize the SDGs in 2020 and throughout the decade.
In Case You Missed These Reports
Numerous reports were released in 2019 and early 2020 that provide a closer look at our progress on each Goal. Below are a few we found most noteworthy:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019
2019 Sustainable Development Report: Transformations do Achieve the SDGs
IPBES 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity
Foresight Africa 2020, Brookings Institution Report
Foresight Africa 2019, Brookings Institution Report
Safe Water, Better Health, World Health Organization Report 2029
SDG India Index and Dashboard 2019–2020
IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate
Leading the Charge: Best Practices for CEOs and Corporate Leaders
Want to Follow Our Series?
To keep up with our series: “It is 2020: Are We Achieving the Global Goals?”, stay tuned for articles on SDG data, engagement of the private sector, and noteworthy events to follow.
Brady Press is an Associate Director at Changing Our World, where she specializes in building strategic corporate citizenship programs. She is a consultant to SDGCounting and StartingUpGood, and is currently researching how COVID-19 is affecting the Sustainable Development Goals.
