In 2015 , the United Nations adopted a set of 17 goals, aimed at fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These well-crafted goals cover all areas of human development and interaction, and are geared towards creating a more equitable world, with an emphasis on healthcare, sanitation, food, education and justice for all. These goals also take into account the impact on the environment, and aim to protect it by championing the cause of balanced, sustainable development.
- SDGs came into effect in 2016. Its significance is as follows: –
- SDGs are multidimensional and interconnected
- These UN goals seek peace and prosperity for all
- With SDGs, UN seeks to repeat success of Millennium Development Goals
- “Poverty eradication” at heart of UN’s 2030 Agenda
- Goals aim to improve life in a sustainable way
- These goals make a universal call to end poverty
- They pay special attention to poorest, most excluded
- “Sustainable development that leaves no one behind” is the central idea
- It focuses on availability of resources for future generations
- World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 was held in Delhi and was inaugurated by PM Modi.
- Theme of the summit: “Partnerships for a resilient Planet.”
- India plays an important role in shaping SDGs: –
- “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” is a step towards SDGs.
- First of its kind – “SDG India Index” has been introduced
- India crosses halfway mark in meeting the SDGs
- India committed to clean water, sanitation goal
- India has a score of 58 on the whole
- Comprehensive Index to measure progress of states and UTs
- Index takes into account 13 out of 17 SDG goals specified in UN
- States monitored on real time basis across 62 of 306 indicators outlined by UN
- Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu emerge front runners
- Assam, Bihar, UP are the states that lag behind.
- Following statistics show the performance of various states in meeting the SDG “Zero Hunger”: –
| SDG Goal | Rank 1(State) | Rank 2(State) | Rank 3(State) | Rank 4(State) | Rank 5(State) | Rank 1(UT) |
| Zero Hunger | Goa | Kerala | Manipur | Mizoram | Nagaland | Chandigarh |
- Solar Alliance aims for large-scale development of solar energy
- First baseline Report for 2018 was prepared with UN support
- Part of Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by UNGA in 2015
India’s steps towards SDGs
- India has recently introduced BS-VI petrol and diesel
- Delhi will be the first city to leapfrog from Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel to Euro-VI
- 13 Major cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune have switched over to cleaner Euro-VI grade fuel from January 1st, 2020
- Rest of the country will follow this suit from April 2020
- SC has ruled that BS-IV vehicles will not be sold after March 31, 2020
- No Plastic: PM Modi has pledged to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022 with an immediate ban in Delhi
- International Solar alliance: A group of 121 solar resource rich countries with its headquarter in Gurugram in India
- It Aims to deploy over 1,000 Gigawatt of solar energy and mobilize more than 1,000 billion into solar power by 2030
- It was launched at 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris by PMs of India and France
Sustainable Development
- Needs of the future generation must be kept in mind
- Remove poverty, simplify daily chores, improve quality of life
- Use only as many resources as can be replenished
Why are these goals important?
A large population of India sleeps hungry, daily. Within this year, three underage girls in Delhi died of starvation. In the tribal belt of Jharkhand, a 40 year old man died of the lack of food. His wife further elaborated that the man was suffering from jaundice, and that the family was too poor to afford medicines, and there were no medical facilities available in their vicinity.
It is estimated that about 191 million Indians go to sleep on empty stomach daily, and the number of children succumbing to death (due to lack of food, basic medicine or exposure to unclean water) is 39 per 1000 children. Water borne diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid are the leading killers.
This stands in stark contrast to the life of excess of the middle class and upper middle- class segments of the country. About 40 percent of the food produced in the country is wasted, and about 21 million tonnes of wheat produced ever year rots. This is owing to inadequate infrastructure for storage and transport to areas of malnutrition.
It is also ironic that a large percentage of the Indian population does not have access to healthcare, even though India is a preferred medical tourism destination in Asia. As a country, we spend less than about 1% of our GDP on public healthcare, compared to the global average of 6% (for countries at similar or higher levels of development). This results in many deaths that could have been prevented by timely access to medicines or qualified doctors.
In addition to causing casualties, diseases also reduce productivity of the working population, resulting in loss of income, and thus poverty. SDGs can prove to be a boon for India’s present condition and help it come out of the misery and misfortune.
For some super inspiring stories that are a must watch for all of us, Do visit: https://www.thebetterindia.com/sustainable-development-goals/
