Sept. 6, 2024
UN Sustainable Development Report 2024
Source: DTE
Context: Recently, the 9th edition of the Sustainable Development Report highlighted that the world is significantly behind schedule in achieving the SDGs set in 2015.
Key Findings of the Sustainable Development Report 2024
Global SDG Progress:
• Only 16% of SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030
• Stagnated goals since 2020: SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 11 (Sustainable Cities), 14 (Life Below Water), 15 (Life on Land), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).
• Reversed progress in obesity rates (SDG 2), press freedom (SDG 16), red list index (SDG 15), sustainable nitrogen management (SDG 2), and life expectancy at birth (SDG 3).
• Slight positive trend in SDG9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure)
Food and Land Systems:
• Globally 600 million people will still suffer from hunger by 2030
• Greenhouse gas emissions from Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) represent almost a quarter of annual global GHG emissions.
Regional and Country Group Variations:
• Finland (score 86.4) ranked first, followed by Sweden (85.7), Denmark (85.0), Germany (83.4), and France.
• Bottom 3 Countries: South Sudan, Central African Republic and Chad.
Investment Challenges:
World Bank: Only 43% of adults in low-income countries (LICs) have access to formal financial services, limiting their ability to invest and save for the future.
Global Education Monitoring Report: 262 million children and youth are out of school
International Labour Organization (ILO): 152 million children are involved in child labour
Global Cooperation:
• The report has introduced a new Index, UN-based multilateralism (UN-Mi) rank based on their engagement with the UN system, Barbados has topped the Un-Miindex.
• This index takes into account factors such as treaty ratification, votes at the UNGA, membership in UN organizations, participation in conflicts and militarisation, use of unilateral sanctions, and financial contributions to the UN.
Performance of India in SDG Index
Ranking: India secured 109th rank with the overall score of 64.0.
Status of SDG Targets: 30% on track, limited progress in 40% and in around 30% of targets the situation is worsening.
Highest performance observed in achieving SDG 1, SDG 4, SDG 12 and SDG 13.
India scored 74.5 in the Statistical Performance Index(the strength of a country's statistical system)
Key Recommendations
➢ Strengthen Global Cooperation and Multilateralism: Sharing resources, preventing duplication of efforts, and developing fair solutions for global issues.Examples such as the Paris Agreement and the Montreal Protocol illustrate the power of collaboration.
➢ Addressing Financing Gaps: implementation of innovative global taxation mechanisms to generate additional resources for sustainable development, shift in investment priorities towards funding public goods, such as quality education (SDG 4),
➢ "FABLE" Pathways: (Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy) pathways should be implemented to address the challenges in the food and land systems.
• Reducing overconsumption and limiting the intake of animal-based protein
• Targeted investments to enhance agricultural productivity
• Establishment of inclusive and transparent monitoring systems