United Nations Agenda 2030 Goals
The Histories
Since past few years, “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” has been the talk of the town. It has become so significant, along with SDGs, ESGs and Green Technologies, and everybody want to, or perhaps being forced, to know about what’s going on, and nobody wants to be left behind.
This was when, in year 2015, all United Nations Member States adopted the “2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development” and together they provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The heart of it is the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is an urgent call for action by all developed and developing countries. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
But do you know when “sustainability” term first appeared?
Alright, let us share some fun fact here. It seems incredible but the 'sustainability' concept appeared for the first time in 1987 in the famous Brundtland Report (also entitled 'Our Common Future') produced by several countries for the UN. In the report, Sustainable Development was defined as meeting 'the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. It came about due to the overriding needs to study and identify the impact human activity has on the environment. And that was 35 years ago!
However, 18 years earlier, the term 'sustainable development' had already appeared in an official document signed by thirty-three African countries in 1969, under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In the same year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up in the United States, which guidelines have had a huge impact on developing theories and practice in global environmental policies. Sustainable development as defined in the NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act from 1969), is 'economic development that may have benefits for current and future generations without harming the planet's resources or biological organisms'.
But we haven’t done with the most shocking facts yet.
224 years ago, in 1798 Thomas Malthus published his “An Essay on the Principle of Population” where he set out his famous “Malthusian Theory”, also known as “theory of population”. This theory state that the population tends to grow quicker than resources and that means, the planet has no time to regenerate!
The Worries
No doubt, since over 200 years ago, the world is facing serious environmental challenges including climate change, freshwater depletion, ocean over-fishing, deforestation, water and air pollution, and hunger. Sustainable development is crucial, and it is the solution, to improve human-environment interaction by prioritizing the management and protection of the earth’s natural resources for future generations, as well as for the millions of other species who live on our planet. By promoting stable economic growth, conservation of natural resources, environmental protection and social progress and equality, we can conserve and enhance our natural resources so that all countries can meet basic needs of employment, food, energy, water, and sanitation.
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Now, come to the long list of Queries:
With another 8 years left, are we able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by year 2030? Is the world population united enough to fight the climate change? Or are we only join the crowd without the intention to adopt sustainability as our lifestyle? What measures can we take to change this situation? More meetings, seminars, global conferences and agreements? More demands to the governments?
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In Clouston, we pledge to change. We pledge to live the sustainable way of life. We believe in taking baby steps rather than not doing anything at all. We are all in this journey together.
In the coming post, we will share the baby steps we took towards the sustainable way of life, hoping to inspire the others and hoping to spread the awareness.
Remember, our Earth does not have too much time left.
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