Review SDGs: 1, 2, 8, 11, 12, 17

Miguel Angel Velasco cmf

Member of the cmf Team at the UN

The central theme of the first session on Wednesday, the 17th, was: How can we get on track to end poverty and hunger and transform ourselves towards inclusive and sustainable economies? The SDGs to work on were: 1, 2, 8, 17.

1. Eradicate poverty in all its forms worldwide.

2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

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

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revive the global partnership for sustainable development.

This session was addressed by: Ms. Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, UNDESA. Ms. Yongyi Min, Chief of the SDG Monitoring Section, Statistics Division, UNDESAon, progress in achieving the SDGs. Other speakers included: Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization; Mr. Aloysius Ordu, Head of Africa Growth Initiative, Brookings Institution, Former Vice President of the African Development Bank.

UNDESA’s presentation of the statistics was alarming: despite the 1,600 new social protection policies that governments worldwide have implemented, there are still 119-124 million people living in extreme poverty in the world. Regarding malnutrition: if in 2014 there were 620 million people and in 2019, 688 million, it is estimated to have been 771-828 million in 2020. Regarding work: it is estimated that 255 million people have lost their full-time jobs; with the aggravating factor, the more than 1.6 billion who earn their living from “informal work” (personally I think a few billion more) not had any kind of help or subsidy. Regarding the world Gross Domestic Product, if in 2017 it grew by 2.2, in 2020 it decreased by 4.6, taking into account the significant growth of China and the United States, we can get an idea of the global decrease. For more statistics, see: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/

In one way or another, everyone has agreed that it is a global crisis that affects health, the economy, and personal and social quality of life. On issues such as women’s rights, employment, hunger, poverty, education, on all the SDGs reviewed this year and some more, we are back to levels of many years ago. We can define the Pandemic as a disaster in the progress of Sustainable Human Development; of course, the most vulnerable groups and countries are suffering the most. Recovery paths have focused on multilateral collaboration, including the proposal for creating a Bank for Reconstruction, with a generous contribution from all countries. The participants stressed that the reconstruction of the many damaged fabrics of our world must take into account: the environment, social protection (work, health, education), technological innovation in all fields, and the resilience of all social structures.

Secondly, the program for accelerating the implementation of the SDGs was discussed through a selected group of “targets” contained in the SDGs. Unfortunately, none of them could be met due to the Pandemic.

The last part of the day focused on SDGs 12, 13, and, as always, 17:

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Regarding SDG 13. CO2 emission reductions, after the impossibility of reaching concrete agreements at COP-25, are pending the next COP-26 meeting in Glasgow. The commitment of the “European Green Deal” and the return of the United States to the Paris agreement give some hope of reaching compliance with the Paris Climate Accords. At this point, we are not, as a global community, 2019 was the second warmest year on record; if this continues, the temperature could rise by as much as 3.2 degrees by 2100. The 7.2% reduction in CO2 emissions has not been achieved. Investments in fossil fuels continue to outweigh investments in climate action. Fossil fuel subsidies were 318 billion in 2015 and 427 billion in 2018. 39 million people are considered to have been affected by climate change.

Regarding SDG 12. The world’s resources continue to be used in an increasingly unsustainable way. E-waste increased by 38%, and less than 20% enters the recycling process. In the supply chain, 18.8% of food is lost.

Not good news

Miguel Angel Velasco cmf

Member of the cmf Team at the UN