We’re at the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda – so how far along are we with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
The ambition is there but the figures make for sobering reading: as things currently stand, the United Nations’ SDGs are being missed across the board. This means that there are still far too many people living in poverty, suffering from hunger or illness and being discriminated against or exploited. The commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ given with the adoption of the SDGs in 2015 has not yet been met. We are still leaving hundreds of millions of people behind.
Which SDGs will we achieve?
The United Nations’ calculations show that the world is on track to meet 15 per cent of the SDGs, including targets. For half of them, progress has been made but it is insufficient. And for almost a third of the SDGs, development gains have actually been reversed.
In particular, various crises have set back the world’s transition towards greater sustainability and equity. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the growing debt crisis, the significant increase in local and regional conflicts, and poor governance – all are having a negative effect on the achievement of the SDGs.
