Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Report 2022

Content

About SDG’s

• Sustainable development- Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (UN).
• The United Nations Document “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
  • This agenda contains 17 goals and 169 targets. 
• The agenda is built on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted in 2000 and were to be achieved by 2015.
• SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.  
• 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.
• The SDG Report is made by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with the UN Statistical System.

Global progress made towards achieving SDG’s

• For the second year in a row, the world is no longer making progress on the SDGs. A global plan to finance the SDGs is urgently needed. 
• The 2022 SDG Index is topped by Finland, followed by three Nordic countries –Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
• East and South Asia is the region that progressed most on the SDGs since their adoption in 2015.
• Bangladesh and Cambodia are the two countries that progressed most on the SDGs since 2015.
• By contrast Venezuela has declined the most on the SDG Index since their adoption in 2015.
• SDG 1 (No Poverty): Between 657 and 676 million people are currently projected to live in extreme poverty in 2022, compared to the pre-pandemic projection of 581 million. 
• SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): About 1 in 10 people are suffering from hunger worldwide, with 161 million additional people having slid into chronic hunger in 2020 alone.
  • Ukraine crisis triggered food shortages for the world’s poorest people.
• SDG 3 (Good Health and Well being): The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening decades of progress in global health, decreasing global life expectancy and basic immunisation coverage. The pandemic also increased the prevalence of anxiety and depression among people.
  • Infected more than 500 million people worldwide leading to 15 million deaths.
• SDG 4 (Quality Education): 147 million children have missed over half of in-person instruction in 2020-2021, and 24 million learners may never return to school. 
  • Entrenched inequities in education have only worsened during the pandemic.
• SDG 5 (Gender Equality): Women accounted for 39% of total employment in 2019 but 45% of global employment losses in 2020. Many women are increasingly burdened with unpaid care work. Domestic violence has also intensified.
  • It would take another 40 years for men and women to be represented equally in national political leadership.Women’s share in national parliaments increase from 22.4% in 2015 to 26.2% in 2022.
  • More than 1 in 4 women have been subjected to intimate partner violence (641 million) at least once in their lifetime.
• SDG 6 (Clear Water and Sanitation): Meeting drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene targets by 2030 requires a 4-fold increase in the pace of progress.
  • The world’s water-related ecosystems are being degraded at an alarming rate.
  • Over the past 300 years, over 85% of the planet’s wetlands have been lost.
  • At current rates, in 2030 1.6 billion people will lack safely managed drinking water.
  • For at least 3 billion people the quality of the water they depend on is unknown due to a lack of monitoring.
• SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy): Progress on electrification has slowed, with 679 million projected to have no electricity access in 2030.
  • Progress in energy efficiency needs to speed up to achieve global climate goals.
• SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic Growth): 1 in 10 children are engaged in child labor worldwide – a total of 160 million in 2020.
  • Worker productivity has rebounded, but not in LDCs.
  • Global economic recovery is further set back by the Ukraine crisis.
  • Annual growth rate of Global real GDP per capita 2.1% (2022) and 2.5 %(2023).
• SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure): Global manufacturing has rebounded from the pandemic but least developed countries (LDCs) are left behind.
  • Higher-technology industries are far more resilient in crises than their lower-tech counterparts.
  • 1 in 3 manufacturing jobs are negatively affected by crisis.
  • Small scale industry lack access to financial support for recovery.Only 1 in 3 small manufacturers are benefiting from a loan or line of credit.
• SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): The pandemic has intensified income inequalities between countries and people.
  • Number of refugees outside their country of origin increased by 44% between 2015 and 2021.
  • The deadliest year since 2017 for migrants.
• SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): Leaving no one behind will require an intensified focus on 1 billion slum dwellers.
  • Number of countries with local disaster risk reduction strategies nearly doubled between 2015 and 2021.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 1/3 of city dwellers have convenient access to public transportation.
  • As cities grow, municipal solid waste problems mounting
• SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): 13.3% of the world’s food is lost after harvesting and before reaching retail markets, and 17% of total food is wasted at the consumer level.
  • Our reliance on natural resources is increasing rising over 65% globally from 2000 to 2019.
  • Vast majority of the world’s electronic waste is not being safely managed.
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased 6% in 2021 reaching their highest level ever, taking down gains due to the COVID-19. 
  • Rising global temperatures continue unabated, leading to more extreme weather
  • Climate finance falls short of $100 billion yearly commitment
  • Sea level will rise 30-60 cm by 2100,drought estimated to displace 700 million people by 2030.
  • Medium- to large-scale disasters will increase 40% from 2015 to 2030.
• SDG 14 (Life Below Water): In 2021, more than 17 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean – a number projected to double or triple by 2040.
  • Increasing acidification is threatening marine life and limiting the ocean’s capacity to moderate climate change.
  • 90% of the world’s fishers are employed in small-scale fisheries who need accelerated support due to the our ocean pandemic.
• SDG 15 (Life on Land): The report found that 23 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have also shown ‘stagnant progress’ under the goal. The proportion of forests fell from 31.9% of total land area in 2000 to 31.2% in 2020, representing a net loss of almost 100 million hectares.
  • Almost 90% of global deforestation is due to agricultural expansion.
  • Around 40000 species are documented to be at risk of extinction over the coming decades.
  • Nearly half of freshwater, terrestrial and mountain key biodiversity area are protected.
• SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): While the global homicide rate declined 5.2% between 2015-2020, a quarter of the global population lives in conflict-affected countries.
  • A record 100 million people had been forcefully displaced worldwide
  • Corruption is found in every region, almost 1 in 6 businesses have received bribe requests from public officials.
• SDG 17 (Partnership for Goals): Net official direct assistance (ODA) reached a new high of USD 177.6 billion, largely due to COVID-19-related aid, but ODA for SDG data declined by more than 18% (2020).
  • Rising debt burdens threaten developing countries’ pandemic recovery.

Some areas of progress as per the SDG Report, 2022

• SDG 6: The proportion of the global population using safely managed drinking water services increased to 74% in 2020.
• SDG 15: Many countries are sustainably managing their forests, protecting sites critical to biodiversity, and enacting national conservation legislation and policies.
• SDG 17: There has been progress in implementing frameworks for the sustainable use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, especially the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
  •  It provides a transparent legal framework  for the implementation of fair and 
  • Equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources.

India’s progress towards SDG’s

• India has slipped  spots from last year’s 117 to rank 121 on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted as a part of the 2030 agenda by 192 United Nations member states
• India’s recent overall Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) score was 66 out of 100.
  • Comparing with South Asian Nations:With the latest rankings, India is now behind all south Asian nations except Pakistan. 
  • The south Asian countries ahead of India are Bhutan ranked 75, Sri Lanka at 87, Nepal at 96 and Bangladesh at 109.
• India’s rank dropped primarily because of major challenges in 11 SDGs including zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, gender equality and sustainable cities and communities.
  •  India also performed poorly in dealing with quality education and life on land aspect
• The previous year, India had suffered on the fronts of ending hunger and achieving food security, achieving gender equality and building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation
• Jharkhand and Bihar are the least prepared to meet the SDGs by the target year 2030. Kerala ranked first, followed by Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh in the second position. ( SDG India)

Reasons behind poor performance on the SDGs

• COVID-19: The pandemic put a severe brake on the progress. It pushed the countries to impose lockdowns that brought all progressive work towards SDG attainment to a standstill. 
• Climate Change: As per SDG 2022 report, global temperatures have been rising unabated. The world is facing a major climate catastrophe due to increased heatwaves, drought and apocalyptic wildfires and floods which are affecting billions of people around the globe
• Geopolitical Conflicts: The Russia-Ukraine crisis has caused food, fuel and fertilizer prices to skyrocket. It also disturbed global trade supplies and caused the financial markets to tumble
• Data Gaps: The Report also notes that despite some progress, serious data gaps exist in SDG monitoring. This includes data in terms of geographic coverage, timeliness and level of disaggregation. 

Way Forward

• All nations, and especially the developed countries, must fulfil their commitments under the Paris Agreement.
  • There is a need to enhance emission target cuts as well as improve climate finance and technology sharing to help the developing countries.
• Support the developing nations in terms of finance, technology and other key resources in order for timely attainment of SDGs.
• Science, technological innovations, and data systems can help identify solutions in times of crises and can provide decisive contributions to address the major challenges of our times.
• New partnerships and innovations that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, including in scientific cooperation and data, should be scaled-up to support the SDGs.
• End armed conflicts and embark on a path of diplomacy and peace.
• India’s progress towards achieving SDGs is both encouraging and challenging. 
  • India should continue its efforts toward achieving SDGs with the given resources and involving civil societies and people.