SDGs by 2030 – are we on track?

End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed the progress of poverty reduction in the past 25 years leading to an additional 75 – 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022. Many countries have introduced short-term social protection measures to help the poor and protect people’s health, jobs and income. If these measures continue, they will provide the needed assistance for the poor and help them move out of poverty.

End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed the progress of poverty reduction in the past 25 years leading to an additional 75 – 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022. Many countries have introduced short-term social protection measures to help the poor and protect people’s health, jobs and income. If these measures continue, they will provide the needed assistance for the poor and help them move out of poverty.

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global health, disrupting essential services and exacerbating health inequality. Other areas of healthcare, such as maternal and child health, have also been impacted as well as efforts to combat infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Human beings are entitled to a healthy and productive life, and efforts should promote immunisation, preventative healthcare, and equal access.

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Access to high quality education is important for building capabilities, equality, and economic mobility around the world. Education is also fundamental for individuals to live a happy and satisfying life. While education alone cannot solve economic problems caused by shortcomings in other policy areas, it is an essential part of a comprehensive approach to addressing these issues and requires well-supported and adequately funded educational institutions and systems.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Discrimination against women remains prevalent in laws, policies, and institutions. Violence against women and girls is widespread, with over a quarter of women worldwide experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by a husband or intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. Efforts must be strengthened to address these issues to ensure that gender equality is advanced. Achieving gender equality by empowering women and girls will build a better economy and better society for all.

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is basic for human health and wellbeing, and billions of people will lack access to these basic services in 2030 unless progress quadruples. The demand for water is rising due to rapid population growth, urbanisation, and increasing water needs from agriculture, industry, and energy sectors. Decades of poor management, over extraction of groundwater, and contamination of freshwater supplies have exacerbated water stress.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Despite progress, there are still 733 million people globally living without access to electricity, and 2.4 billion cooking with harmful and polluting fuels. Although the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency have improved, rising global energy prices are increasing energy insecurity. Countries need to speed up the transition to renewable energy and increase investments in renewables and energy efficiency.

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

It is important that countries build inclusive growth by focusing on job creation, by investing in and developing sound, effective and efficient economic and social infrastructure as well as the need for workers to have access to education, skills, health care, social security and fundamental rights at work.

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation notes the mutually reinforcing relationship between social and industrial development. Industrialisation and innovation have the potential to promote, directly and indirectly, a variety of social objectives such as employment creation, poverty eradication, gender equality, labour standards, and greater access to education and healthcare.

Reduce inequality within and among countries.

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated global income inequality, partly reversing the decline of the previous two decades. Weak recoveries in emerging markets and developing economies are expected to raise between-country inequality. Globally, the absolute number of refugees in 2021 was the highest on record. The war in Ukraine is creating one of the largest refugee crises of modern times. Countries need to work together to address global inequality.

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

More than half of the world’s population live in urban settings. Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social, human and economic development. Urban planning, transport systems, water, sanitation, waste management, disaster risk reduction, access to information, education and capacity-building are all relevant issues to sustainable urban development.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Developing countries bear a large part of the climate, biodiversity and pollution impacts of resource-intensive production processes, without reaping their benefits. This situation has been made worse by the impacts of the pandemic. As part of sustainable global pandemic recovery strategies, the implementation of sustainable consumption and production will maximise the socioeconomic benefits of resource use while minimising the impacts.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

In order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, scientists recommend that by 2030 global emissions should be cut by 4 percent compared with 2010 levels. According to current national commitments, however, global emissions are set to increase by almost 14 percent during the rest of the decade. Climate change is an urgent economic, environmental, and moral challenge for the world to address.

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Ocean ecosystems form the basis for global economies, local livelihoods, food security, nutrition, and climate adaptation and mitigation. As highlighted in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, harnessing the potential of the ocean by developing sustainable blue economies can build prosperity and improve the lives of all, including the most disenfranchised and marginalised communities.

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Ongoing issues like global deforestation, land and ecosystem damage, and loss of biodiversity present significant challenges for sustainable development. While work is being done to manage forests and resources sustainably, it’s crucial that measures to safeguard, rejuvenate, and sustainably utilise forests and biodiversity are put into action quickly.

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Building strong, transparent and inclusive institutions can reduce crime, corruption, and expand social freedoms. Making progress on global peace and human rights can help reduce the prevalence of exploitation, including human trafficking, incarceration rates, and violence against children.

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Achieving the SDGs will require building multi-stakeholder partnerships and strengthening capacity and capabilities across sectors. Revitalising the Partnership will bring organisations from civil society, business, and government together to maximise SDG impact.