Paper Example on Achieving a Sustainable Future: 17 Goals to Address Global Challenges

Introduction

Development is a major concept which is utilised around the contemporary world to ensure better living conditions are obtained. As such SDGs are defined as blueprints which are required to ensure that a future that can sustain all the population in the globe is achieved. Several challenges that are addressed by sustainable development goals include inequality, poverty, environmental degradation, climatic change, justice and peace (Ladan, 2016). All the seventeen goals were established in a Conference in Rio De Janeiro by the United Nations, in the year 2012 (Ladan, 2016). The goals are as follows:

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• No poverty- aims at eliminating poverty everywhere
• Zero hunger- achieving improved nutrition and food security
• Well-being and good health-promoting healthy lives and well-being of all ages involved
• Quality education- equitable and inclusive education to all
• Gender equality- empowering girls and women and ensuring gender equity
• Sanitization and clean water-ensuring proper hygiene and sanitisation for all. Availability of water for all is as well covered in this goal
• Clean and affordable energy- ensuring reliable, affordable and sustainable energy for all societal members
• Economic growth and decent work- ensuring decent working conditions are attained for all
• Infrastructure, innovation and industry- the establishment of resilient transportation systems and championing innovation
• Reduced inequalities- ensure equality is achieved within countries
• Sustainable communities and cities- ensuring resilient, safe and sustainable human settlements are accessed by people worldwide
• Production and responsible consumption- maintaining sustainable patterns of consumption and production
• Climate action- taking preventive actions to maintain a healthy climate
• Life below water- sustainable conserving the oceans in addition to marine resources
• Life on land- restore terrestrial ecosystems and combat desertification
• Strong institutions for peace and justice- attaining inclusiveness and promote peaceful correlation between societies
• Partnerships for the goals- strengthening implementation means and revitalisation of worldwide partnerships to ensure sustainable development is achieved.

Three SDGs have been found to correlate, from the three main layers, that is, the social layers, economic and biosphere layers. They include no hunger, economic growth & decent work, and life below water.

The spread of information regarding food nutrition has been very effective in the elimination of hunger worldwide. Even though a significant number of countries has achieved the latter, nearly 800 million people globally still suffer from undernourishment ((Ladan, 2016). This therefore, shows the importance of food quantity and quality and how both can be addressed to ensure that food security is greatly improved. As a result, by 2030, it is expected that people should have access to food in the bid to eliminate hunger, especially by poor people. A majority of the malnourished people depend on agriculture and fishing for food. As such, the agricultural sector needs to be boosted to ensure that this goal is accomplished within the stipulated time frame.

Life below water is an SDG that aims at the conservation and effective use of seas and oceans, and the efficient utilisation of marine resources to achieve sustainable development. Several human-made activities have posed a significant threat to oceans through acidification, pollution, and the increased disposal of plastics into seas. Reducing this kind of activities would ensure that marine life is supported, which contributes positively to the growing human population, in terms of food. As such, this SDG aims at sustainably managing coastal and marine ecosystems by the year 2020.

Finally, the economic growth and decent work SDG sheds light on the promotion of sustained economic growth which will foster decent work for all the parties involved. Currently, over 200 million young people globally suffer unemployment, which leads to poverty and undernourishment (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2018). Modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking are the key issues that are aimed at by this SDG to end by the year 2030. However, economic growth should not be dependent on environmental degradation, but rather an exploitation of the natural resources in an effective manner. Sustained economic growth leads to poverty eradication and promotes the consumption of healthy food and good nutrition habits as will be seen.

It is vivid that the previously discussed SDGs are strongly correlated with each other. For instance, when the biodiversity found in nations is exploited by people successfully, employment can be created in the process as the fisheries would hire men for fishing. In doing so, unemployment would be solved which would eradicate poverty, and lead to a sustained economic growth pattern. As such, societies would be able to provide jobs to the previously mentioned unemployed young people, leading to increased standards of living. The fisheries would later than process the fish extracted from the oceans and hence feed the ever-increasing human population (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2018). In doing the latter, food security would be established, which will ensure the eradication of hunger.

Overfishing and pollution are the main examples of situations that show how the three discussed SDGs interrelate. In the modern world, overfishing has been rising at an alarming rate. The latter can be attributed to the rising population in the globe. The rising population leads to increased food demands across all regions. Overfishing depletes the number of living organisms in oceans, that is, fish, which will directly affect the employment opportunities of the people employed by fisheries (Tandon, 2013). This, in turn, shows the interdependencies that these three SDGs have. However, the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) has been contributed heavily in controlling the overfishing action. The main aim of MPAs is to protect the life of aquatic species from human action. Basically, human activities are being restricted by MPA's policy so that the natural environment can be protected and controlled. The MPAs are not only used in marine protection but also marine biodiversity. Thereby, the tool plays a huge role in controlling ocean activities especially overfishing which remains to be a challenge in SDGs. Thus, indicating how the three layers of SDG depend on each other.

Environment pollution can also illustrate how the three layers mentioned above rely on each other. Manufacturing industries are the causal factors of air pollution as well as water pollution. When air is polluted, it means that humans and animals are affected since there will be no good to breathe and therefore, illness such as respiratory complications will rise and thus affect economic growth. Agriculture sector, on the other hand, will be affected since the emission of gases in the atmospheres will lead to acid rains which destroy plants. Eventually, it will reduce food production and employments and thus three layers go hand in hand (Tandon, 2013). Therefore, elimination of hunger means that the economy must stables as well as social and biosphere.

Though it has seemed that goals that have been set by SDGs will not be met by 2030, there has been a significant impact on the establishment of SDGs. For illustrations, since the adoption of sustainable development Goals, the developments of a couple of nations have been seen. Most if not all nations have started to implement the SDGs in the government strategies and plans. The statics reveals that at least 35 nations have mentioned the link on SDGs on their coming growth on budgets (Tandon, 2013). Also, it has been noted a big change in an environment where land use, ocean and climate have been protected. This has been established through the mobilization of non-governmental organisations and society to adopt sustainable development. By 2030, the well being of transforming societal health, economy and environment is considering to be the main objective. These transformations can be enhanced, via finance, governance, sciences and technology. Government is a key factor that can determine these discussed goals of SDGs will be met or not. Global, regional and local can describes as basics parameters of SDGs. Pollution, food shortage and health are experienced globally. Therefore, SDGs should seek regions that are most vulnerable to such conditions. This will help SDG to meet their goals by coming 2030 and which will be adopted every nation.

References

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