Sustainable Development Goals

Leaders from different countries around the world have promised that after 15 years, the lives of the
people in the world will be better and no one will be left behind- this program is what they called the
“Sustainable Development Goals”. These goals are universal in the sense that it applies to all nations
regardless of their tradition or any situation. According to Green (2018), given that there is progress in
achieving these goals, there are still aspects where the leaders are having a hard time addressing
different issues such as issues concerning personal rights and inclusiveness. The response of the
countries- poorer nor richer are responding very badly. Most countries are static and a lot of countries
are going backward.

It seems impossible to achieve these 17 goals in a span of 15 years considering that our world is going
backward. However, a program that is similar to the SDGs was implemented in the year 2001 and,
surprisingly, countries have exceeded their expectations. Different from the Sustainable Development
Goals, the Millennium Development Goals are not as universal as the latter. The countries have
exceeded their goals through the means of economic growth.

Considering what happened in the achievement of the goals in the MDG, is it possible to achieve the
goals that were set on the SDG? Michael Green claimed that economic growth is not enough for the
countries to achieve the 17 goals that were set. Achieving economic growth alone is different from
achieving the 17 goals as a whole- if we choose to focus on economic growth alone, then we miss the
essence of Sustainable Development Growth. However, achieving economic growth is not that
important. In fact, there are countries that have a high GDP yet consist of various social problems. On
the other hand, there are countries that prioritize the well-being of their citizens, their education,
health, and sustainability yet have a low GDP. Considering these factors, it is possible to get high social
progress even If you don’t have a high percentage of GDP.

I agreed with Green (2018), that to be able to achieve the global goals, we have to do things differently.
We have to prioritize social progress and found a solution that will cater to the needs of the majority.
However, considering our situation in the present, I think it is impossible for us to achieve these goals in
the year 2030.