Sustainable development involves improving lives while protecting resources for future generations. This involves responsible forestry management, renewable energy sources and fair labor practices.

The UN has set 17 ambitious global development goals by 2030 known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but is the world on course to meet them?

Definition

Sustainability refers to people and their relationships with the environment. Its roots stretch back over millennia with ideas such as interdependence, self-sufficiency and celebrating unique skills that define a community’s culture.

At its core, creating an economy capable of sustainable growth while protecting decent work opportunities and environmental sustainability are of primary concern. Achieve this objective requires developing an economy where essential services can be afforded by all and everyone has access to food and clean water supplies – something which this approach ensures can occur.

The three core areas of sustainability, also referred to as pillars, domains or aspects, include economic, social and environmental considerations. Each area is interlinked and must be balanced to create a sustainable society; such a balance can be seen in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their targets; policies, regulations and business practices around the world have adopted these goals as guidelines to plan long-term strategies and account for climate impacts, resource security concerns and community stability when developing strategies.

Goals

Sustainable development can be traced back to modern natural resource management practices, 20th-century conservation movements, and progressive perspectives of economic development. Its intellectual roots lie with the 1972 United Nations Conference on Human Environment – popularly known as Stockholm Conference – which set forth its initial principles.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 with an aim of protecting people and the planet through seventeen goals covering global health, poverty, inequality, climate change and energy access. Progress toward these goals has been uneven; yet notable achievements can be found such as poverty reduction, malaria prevention and clean energy access.

But the global climate crisis, COVID-19 pandemic and major world conflicts threaten SDG progress. Furthermore, many nations’ consumption footprints exceed what’s necessary for sustainability, leading to wealthier nations scoring highly on the SDG Index while not meeting ecological sustainability targets of their goals.

Implementation

Sustainable development relies heavily on cooperation and partnership for success, especially at national, regional, and local levels where action must take place. Therefore, the SDGs place great emphasis on partnerships as an approach for combating conflict, insecurity and violence through targeting factors like poverty inequality corruption weak governance etc.

At the same time, the SDGs recognize that sustainable development can only be realized at an individual country’s own pace and according to their individual realities, capacities, policy space and priorities. There will be special consideration for least developed nations (LDNs), landlocked developing states (LDCs), small island developing states and those suffering high levels of environmental degradation.

Companies need to adopt an inclusive, long-term approach to sustainability that embraces five Ps – people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership – into their business strategy and will require leadership from management as well as engagement of all stakeholders.

Monitoring

The 2030 Agenda requires an effective monitoring and evaluation system in its implementation, to assess country progress and pinpoint any gaps or achievements while gathering lessons learned for improving future efforts.

Mexico has recently implemented a national platform for SDG monitoring through the Resident Coordinator Office and National Statistical Institute of Guatemala (INEGI), offering open data for an array of indicators.

This model uses an approach called Estimating Priority Selection Based on Similarity to an Ideal Solution and Social Network Analysis in order to uncover variations between developed and developing regions when prioritizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For instance, governments in developing areas pay greater attention to equality and the environment than governments in developed areas, possibly reflecting an urgency among developing nations to foster stable societies and preserve terrestrial ecosystems. Furthermore, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions should see increased attention both domestically and abroad.