Sustainable development refers to an economic system which fosters sustainable and inclusive economic growth, full employment and decent work conditions while protecting the environment, eradicating poverty and hunger and providing social inclusion.
To reach these objectives, countries must adopt sustainable production and consumption patterns and eco-friendly land-use practices.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The SDGs offer a roadmap towards a sustainable future, yet we face significant global obstacles to reaching their goal of sustainability. Rising inequality, climate change and biodiversity loss threaten the 17 goals. In response to such obstacles, prioritizing environmental sustainability and understanding the interdependence of SDGs must become top priorities.
As well as 17 main goals, there are also 169 targets and 223 indicators which target cross-cutting issues like poverty, education, health, gender equality, clean energy usage and climate action. Such issues require a holistic approach which accounts for the various interests and interconnections within human development.
This paper employs systems approaches to identify and prioritise key SDGs whose implementation will have a feedback effect on other goals. Analysis focused on finding leverage points to mitigate global catastrophic risk and existential risk, drawing from literature review. SDG 1 includes No Poverty; Zero Hunger targets 2; Quality Education target 4 are among these.
Sustainable Development Reports (SDRs)
The Sustainable Development Report (SDR) is an assessment of countries’ progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It complements official SDG indicators and voluntary national reviews; including both country-level data as well as “smart” indicators which use geographic information systems for maximum accuracy and availability.
The 2018 SDR illustrates that, despite some progress being made towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, we are falling behind schedule in reaching key goals such as zero hunger, quality education, climate action, reduced inequality and gender equality.
The SDR provides businesses with a powerful way of demonstrating their commitment to sustainability, encouraging investors, regulators, governments and other stakeholders to hold them accountable. All listed issuers trading funds on UK regulated markets are required to follow this document ensuring their reporting of environmental, social and governance impacts is transparently reported on regulated markets in UK.
OECD
The OECD is an international organization dedicated to economic growth and prosperity. Its membership adheres to democratic market economies. As an authoritative source of data, research, analysis and policy recommendations that assist policy makers with making more informed decisions, the OECD also serves as a clearinghouse of vast amounts of information.
The OCDE strives to shape policies that promote prosperity, opportunity and well-being for all by working to build better institutions, enhance lives and strengthen global governance. Their work is guided by three core values – human rights respecting, rule of law enforcement and private sector freedom – with respect for human rights being at its core.
Though OECD countries made commitments to sustainable development at Rio Earth Summit, their actual progress toward sustainability has been limited and frustrating. Their over-consumption is contributing to natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. Therefore, Sustainable Consumption Goals (SCGs) need to be established so as to reduce per capita consumption – thus helping prevent resource shortages or climate change in future.
UN
The United Nations (UN) is an international network of people dedicated to creating a more sustainable world. Their goal is to address its most pressing problems, such as climate change, food insecurity and poverty. Their work is guided by values, principles and goals which business plays an integral part in meeting. By adopting the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into their business models and systems they can ensure their activities do not harm anyone or anything.
Sustainability has many definitions, but most agree on one principle – ecological integrity. This can be accomplished using social, economic, and environmental models tailored to human carrying capacities of environments as well as intergenerational equity considerations. Achieve these goals requires collaboration among governments, private sectors and civil societies and developing feedback loops between entities to hold everyone accountable for their actions.