UN Sustainable Development Goals
Developed from a holistic perspective and prepared as a global call to action, the UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals consist of seventeen interrelated goals. These goals, which focus on international problems, include social, environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and complement each other.
1. Ending Poverty
Poverty is one of the biggest obstacles to a decent life because of people’s inability to meet their most basic needs. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2023 report states that the number of people living in extreme poverty increased to 724 million in 2020. This number continues to increase every day due to wars, natural disasters, international crises, climate change, and especially the ongoing effects of the pandemic.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals include the goal of ending all forms of poverty so that all people can meet their most basic human needs, such as health, nutrition, and shelter. The primary goal is to end extreme poverty globally by 2030. According to the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Goals Atlas for 2023, the international poverty line is $2.15. In other words, individuals with a daily income below 2.15 dollars are struggling with extreme poverty.
2. Ending Hunger
Hunger, which increases in parallel with poverty, is among the world’s biggest problems. The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2023 report states that in 2019, about 7.9% of the world’s population faced chronic hunger. By 2022, this figure will rise to 9.2%, affecting approximately 735 million people.
The goal of ending hunger, which is a global problem, includes priorities such as ensuring food security and making adequate and good nutrition accessible. Increasing access to healthy, safe, and sufficient food, especially for more vulnerable groups such as infants, the elderly, and the poor, is among the priority targets. At the core of this Development Goal is the promotion of sustainable agriculture to ensure nutritional security for all.
3. Building a Healthy and Quality Life for All
The third of the development goals envisages making a healthy and quality life possible for all. It aims to secure the right to life for people of all ages, for example by increasing access to childhood immunizations, reducing maternal mortality from pregnancy or childbirth, and reducing neonatal and child mortality.
It aims to combat tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, waterborne diseases, and infectious diseases to promote well-being as well as healthy living. Minimizing such threats to human health and well-being is aimed to improve mental health as well as physical health.
4. Providing Inclusive and Quality Education Opportunities
Education is one of the most important parameters of individual, social, and global progress. In regions where quality education is not provided, poverty, hunger, and health problems tend to increase. By expanding quality education opportunities for all, all these problems that trigger each other can be reduced.
According to the 2023 report published by the UN, it is estimated that 300 million children and young people will still lack basic math, reading, and writing skills by 2030. To remove this barrier to universal and meaningful communication, the fourth goal of the development goals is to ensure that children have access to free and quality education without discrimination. By supporting inclusive education models, it is aimed to promote lifelong educational opportunities for all.
5. Ensuring Gender Equality
Ending gender-based discrimination and empowering girls and all women is one of the important objectives of the development goals to support society. Ending gender inequality also aims to end all forms of abuse and violence and to prevent negative situations such as child marriage and forced marriage.
It is aimed to empower women to take more part in decision-making mechanisms in social, political, and economic life and to prevent inequality of opportunity in these processes. However, data on the future of gender equality around the world reveals that there is still a long way to go. For example, according to the United Nations, despite all progress, it will take an estimated 300 years to end child marriages and 140 years for women to hold positions such as leadership in the workplace on an equal basis with men.
6. Increasing Accessibility to Clean Water
Water is vital for human beings and the use of clean water is indispensable for human health. Yet not all parts of the world have adequate access to clean water, leading to serious health problems. Since the 1960s, water shortage levels have increased in about two-thirds of the world.
To minimize these identified problems, the goal of making clean water and wastewater services accessible and sustainable for all has been set. To protect human health, it is aimed at reducing pollution and improving water quality worldwide.
7. Ensuring Access to Accessible and Clean Energy
For daily life to continue without interruption, everyone should have access to clean energy sources at affordable prices. The goal of making sustainable, clean energy accessible has been set to support people to continue their lives healthily. Increasing energy resources and efficiency through clean energy research and international cooperation and using environmentally friendly resources are also within the scope of this goal.
8. Economic Growth and Increasing Decent Work Opportunities
Successive crises such as pandemics, wars, and migrations threaten the global economy, slowing economic growth. They also lead to fewer employment opportunities, causing more people to work informally due to tough economic conditions. To mitigate such causes, the goal of promoting decent work for all and ensuring sustainable and stable economic growth has been set. In this way, it is aimed to maintain life under fairer conditions.
9. Building Resilient Infrastructure and Sustainable Industrialization
Aiming at social development and economic growth, this goal aims to build resilient infrastructures, promote innovation, and support a sustainable industry. With all these developments, it is envisaged to achieve various goals such as increasing human welfare and reducing inequalities.
It is aimed to increase the access of small-scale industrial enterprises and other enterprises in developing countries to financial services, including loans with favorable conditions, and their integration into global markets.
10. Reducing Inequalities Locally and Globally
Global crises, wars, and complicated economic and geographical conditions lead to an increase in all kinds of inequalities between countries and people. This goal aims to reduce inequalities both within and between countries.
It aims to empower everyone politically, socially, and economically, regardless of gender, religion, language, race, age, ethnicity, disability, or economic status. Equality of opportunity is envisaged through the elimination of laws and practices that cause discrimination.
By 2030, 40% of the population will have incomes higher than the national average, continuously increasing and sustainable.
11. Building Sustainable Cities and Communities
The goal is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable housing and basic services, improve public transportation systems, and ensure safety. By developing the concept of sustainable cities in a lasting way, a favorable environment is created for the protection of natural resources.
For the increasing urban population to live in a prosperous, healthy, and qualified environment, cities should have a more sustainable structure. According to the United Nations, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and this rate is expected to reach 70% by 2050.
12. Adoption of Responsible Production and Consumption
It includes the development of all production and consumption areas with sustainable qualities and a sense of responsibility. It aims to leave a healthy environment for future generations through goals such as preventing food waste, using natural resources efficiently, reducing waste generation and establishing effective waste management, managing damage to nature, and raising awareness on lifestyles in harmony with nature.
13. Combating Climate Change and its Impacts
Within the scope of this goal, which is referred to as climate action, it is aimed to combat the climate crisis, i.e., climate change, which is seen as a global problem, and the effects of this change. It is aimed that national and international actors work together to prepare adaptation policies and take necessary measures against natural disasters that may be caused by climate change.
14. Protection of Aquatic Life
The continuity of human life is closely related to the healthy existence of all other living things. For example, the cleanliness of water is crucial for the survival of aquatic life. From this point of view, another of the UN Sustainable Development Goals covers the protection of seas, oceans, and marine resources.
It is aimed to reduce marine pollution, to use marine resources with sustainable targets, as well as to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity. Within the scope of the goal, sustainable development is evaluated with a holistic approach, and it is aimed to protect natural water resources.
15. Protection of Terrestrial Habitats
Terrestrial ecosystems are vital for sustaining human life, encompass diverse cultural and economic values, and harbor a rich biodiversity. To protect this richness, the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems needs to be supported and improved.
The goal aims to combat drought, establish an effective forest management policy, and prevent desertification. It also includes efforts to increase the capacity of local communities to have sustainable livelihoods and to combat illegal hunting and trafficking.
16. Ensuring Peace and Justice, Strengthening Relevant Institutions
The economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development can be complemented by improvements in its social dimension. Developing a peaceful environment worldwide and ensuring justice for all are the most important stages of the social dimension of sustainability.
The goal aims to create societies where inclusion, peace, and justice are prioritized by reducing all forms of violence and abuse. It also supports the creation of accountable and effective institutions to protect these values.
17. Establishing Partnerships for the Realization of Goals
The last of the UN Sustainable Development Goals aims to build national and international partnerships to achieve all other goals. Sustaining a clean, fair, equitable, and peaceful world can only be possible if international actors find common ground to achieve all these goals. Global partnerships can be revitalized through areas such as trade, technology, and finance, and national goals that align with the objectives can be supported.
Adhering to these goals set by the UN at both individual and institutional levels is critical to making the world a better place to live. Businesses can take important steps to achieve goals related to the environmental dimension of sustainability.
If you want to take these steps and make your business more sustainable, thanks to the software we offer as OuickCarbon, you can access calculations and reports made according to ISO 14064-1:2018 Standard and GHG Protocol without needing any consultancy service. Thanks to the data you obtain, you can plan what you can do to make your business more sustainable.