Goal 1 No poverty

Why is there so much poverty

Poverty has many dimensions, but its causes include unemployment, social exclusion, and high
vulnerability of certain populations to disasters, diseases and other phenomena which prevent them
from being productive.

What can I do about it?

Your active engagement in policymaking can make a difference in addressing poverty. It ensures that
your rights are promoted and that your voice is heard, that inter-generational knowledge is shared, and
that innovation and critical thinking are encouraged at all ages to support transformational change in
people’s lives and communities. Governments can help create an enabling environment to generate pro-
productive employment and job opportunities for the poor and the marginalized. The private sector has
a major role to play in determining whether the growth it creates is inclusive and contributes to poverty
reduction. It can promote economic opportunities for the poor.

Goal 2 Zero hunger

How many people are hungry?

It is projected that more than 600 million people worldwide will be facing hunger in 2030, highlighting
the immense challenge of achieving the zero hunger target.

People experiencing moderate food insecurity are typically unable to eat a healthy, balanced diet on a
regular basis because of income or other resource constraints.

Why are there so many hungry people?

Shockingly, the world is back at hunger levels not seen since 2005, and food prices remain higher in
more countries than in the period 2015–2019. Along with conflict, climate shocks, and rising cost of
living, civil insecurity and declining food production have all contributed to food scarcity and high food
prices.

Investment in the agriculture sector is critical for reducing hunger and poverty, improving food security,
creating employment and building resilience to disasters and shocks.

Why should I care?

We all want our families to have enough food to eat what is safe and nutritious. A world with zero
hunger can positively impact our economies, health, education, equality and social development.
It’s a key piece of building a better future for everyone. Additionally, with hunger limiting human
development, we will not be able to achieve the other sustainable development goals such as education,
health and gender equality.

How can we achieve Zero Hunger?

Food security requires a multi-dimensional approach – from social protection to safeguard safe and
nutritious food especially for children to transforming food systems to achieve a more inclusive and
sustainable world. There will need to be investments in rural and urban areas and in social protection so
poor people have access to food and can improve their livelihoods.

What can we do to help?

You can make changes in your own life—at home, at work and in the community—by supporting local
farmers or markets and making sustainable food choices, supporting good nutrition for all, and fighting
food waste.

You can also use your power as a consumer and voter, demanding businesses and governments make
the choices and changes that will make Zero Hunger a reality. Join the conversation, whether on social
media platforms or in your local communities.

Goal 3 Good health and well-being

Access to essential health services

A significant portion of the global population still lacks access to vital healthcare services. To bridge this
gap and ensure equitable healthcare provision, addressing disparities is critical. Various determinants of
health, including environmental and commercial factors, need attention to pave the way for achieving
our common objective of Health for All and achieving the Sustainable Development Goal targets.

How can we achieve these targets?

Ensuring healthy lives for all requires a strong commitment, but the benefits outweigh the cost. Healthy
people are the foundation for healthy economies. Countries worldwide are urged to take immediate and
decisive actions to predict and counteract health challenges.

This becomes especially critical in safeguarding vulnerable population groups and individuals residing in
regions burdened by high disease prevalence. By doing so, we can strengthen health systems and foster
resilience in the face of health adversities.

Immunization is one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions. However,
the alarming decline in childhood vaccination – the largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in
approximately 30 years – is leaving millions of children at risk from devastating but preventable
diseases.
Does everyone have access to healthcare?

Universal health coverage (UHC) aims to ensure that everyone can access quality health services without
facing financial hardship. While efforts to combat infectious diseases like HIV, TB and malaria led to
significant expansions in service coverage between 2000 and 2015, progress has since slowed.

Inequalities continue to be a fundamental challenge for UHC. Coverage of reproductive, maternal, child
and adolescent health services tends to be higher among those whoare richer, more educated, and
living in urban areas, especially in low-income countries.

What can I do to help?

You can start by promoting and protecting your own health and the health of those around you, by
making well-informed choices, practicing safe sex and vaccinating your children.

You can raise awareness in your community about the importance of good health, healthy lifestyles as
well as people’s right to quality health care services, especially for the most vulnerable such as women
and children.

You can also hold your government, local leaders and other decision-makers accountable to their
commitments to improve people access to health and health care.

Goal 4 Quality Education

What progress have we made so far?

While progress has been made towards the 2030 education targets set by the United Nations, continued
efforts are required to address persistent challenges and ensure that quality education is accessible to
all, leaving no one behind.

Between 2015 and 2021, there was an increase in worldwide primary school completion, lower
secondary completion, and upper secondary completion. Nevertheless, the progress made during this
period was notably slower compared to the 15 years prior.

What challenges remain?

According to national education targets, the percentage of students attaining basic reading skills by the
end of primary school is projected to rise from 51 per cent in 2015 to 67 per cent by 2030. However, an
estimated 300 million children and young people will still lack basic numeracy and literacy skills by 2030.
Economic constraints, coupled with issues of learning outcomes and dropout rates, persist in
marginalized areas, underscoring the need for continued global commitment to ensuring inclusive and
equitable education for all. Low levels of information and communications technology (ICT) skills are
also a major barrier to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity.

Where are people struggling the most to have access to education?

Sub-Saharan Africa faces the biggest challenges in providing schools with basic resources. The situation
is extreme at the primary and lower secondary levels, where less than one-half of schools in sub-
Saharan Africa have access to drinking water, electricity, computers and the Internet.

Inequalities will also worsen unless the digital divide – the gap between under-connected and highly
digitalized countries – is not addressed.

Are there groups that have more difficult access to education?

Yes, women and girls are one of these groups. About 40 per cent of countries have not achieved gender
parity in primary education. These disadvantages in education also translate into lack of access to skills
and limited opportunities in the labour market for young women.

What can we do?

Ask our governments to place education as a priority in both policy and practice. Lobby our governments
to make firm commitments to provide free primary school education to all, including vulnerable or
marginalized groups.

Group 5 Gender Equality

How much progress have we made?

International commitments to advance gender equality have brought about improvements in some
areas: child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) have declined in recent years, and women’s
representation in the political arena is higher than ever before. But the promise of a world in which
every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality, and where all legal, social and economic barriers to
their empowerment have been removed, remains unfulfilled. In fact, that goal is probably even more
distant than before, since women and girls are being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Are they any other gender-related challenges?

Yes. Worldwide, nearly half of married women lack decision-making power over their sexual and
reproductive health and rights. 35 per cent of women between 15-49 years of age have experienced
physical and/ or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.1 in 3 girls aged 15-19
have experienced some form of female genital mutilation/cutting in the 30 countries in Africa and the
Middle East, where the harmful practice is most common with a high risk of prolonged bleeding,
infection (including HIV), childbirth complications, infertility and death.

This type of violence doesn’t just harm individual women and girls; it also undermines their overall
quality of life and hinders their active involvement in society.

Why should gender equality matter to me?

Regardless of where you live in, gender equality is a fundamental human right. Advancing gender
equality is critical to all areas of a healthy society, from reducing poverty to promoting the health,
education, protection and the well-being of girls and boys.

What can we do?

If you are a girl, you can stay in school, help empower your female classmates to do the same and fight
for your right to access sexual and reproductive health services. If you are a woman, you can address
unconscious biases and implicit associations that form an unintended and often an invisible barrier to
equal opportunity.

If you are a man or a boy, you can work alongside women and girls to achieve gender equality and
embrace healthy, respectful relationships.

You can fund education campaigns to curb cultural practices like female genital mutilation and change
harmful laws that limit the rights of women and girls and prevent them from achieving their full
potential.

Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

Why?

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a human right. To get back on track, key strategies include
increasing sector-wide investment and capacity-building, promoting innovation and evidence-based
action, enhancing cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders, and adopting a
more integrated and holistic approach to water management.

Water is essential not only to health, but also to poverty reduction, food security, peace and human
rights, ecosystems and education.

Nevertheless, countries face growing challenges linked to water scarcity, water pollution, degraded
water-related ecosystems and cooperation over transboundary water basins.

What are the challenges?

In 2022, 2.2 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water, including 703 million without a
basic water service; 3.5 billion people lacked safely managed sanitation, including 1.5 billion without
basic sanitation services; and 2 billion lacked a basic handwashing facility, including 653 million with no
handwashing facility at all.

By managing our water sustainably, we are also able to better manage our production of food and
energy and contribute to decent work and economic growth. Moreover, we can preserve our water
ecosystems, their biodiversity, and take action on climate change.

Are water and climate change linked?

Water availability is becoming less predictable in many places. In some regions, droughts are
exacerbating water scarcity and thereby negatively impacting people’s health and productivity and
threatening sustainable development and biodiversity worldwide.

Ensuring that everyone has access to sustainable water and sanitation services is a critical climate
change mitigation strategy for the years ahead.
Without better infrastructure and management, millions of people will continue to die every year from
water-related diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea, and there will be further losses in biodiversity and
ecosystem resilience, undermining prosperity and efforts towards a more sustainable

What can we do?

Civil society organizations should work to keep governments accountable, invest in water research and
development, and promote the inclusion of women, youth and indigenous communities in water
resources governance.

Generating awareness of these roles and turn- ing them into action will lead to win-win results and
increased sustainability and integrity for both human and ecological systems.

Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Why should I care about this goal?

A well-established energy system supports all sectors: from businesses, medicine and education to
agriculture, infrastructure, communications and high technology.

Access to electricity in poorer countries has begun to accelerate, energy efficiency continues to improve,
and renewable energy is making impressive gains. Nevertheless, more focused attention is needed to
improve access to clean and safe cooking fuels and technologies for 2.3 billion people.

For many decades, fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas have been major sources of electricity production,
but burning carbon fuels produces large amounts of greenhouse gases which cause climate change and
have harmful impacts on people’s well-being and the environment. This affects everyone, not just a few.
Moreover, global electricity use is rising rapidly. In a nutshell, without a stable electricity supply,
countries will not be able to power their economies.

Without electricity, women and girls have to spend hours fetching water, clinics cannot store vaccines
for children, many schoolchildren can not do homework at night, and people cannot run competitive
businesses. Slow progress towards clean cooking solutions is of grave global concern, affecting both
human health and the environment, and if we don’t meet our goal by 2030, nearly a third of the world’s
population – mostly women and children – will continue tobe exposed to harmful household air
pollution.

To ensure access to energy for all by 2030, we must accelerate electrification, increase investments in
renewable energy, improve energy efficiency and develop enabling policies and regulatory frameworks.

What are the consequences to lack of access to energy?

Energy services are key to preventing disease and fighting pandemics – from powering healthcare
facilities and supplying clean water for essential hygiene, to enabling water for essential hygiene, to
enabling communications and IT services that connect people while maintaining social distancing.

What can we do to fix these issues?

Countries can accelerate the transition to an affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy system by
investing in renewable energy resources, prioritizing energy efficient practices, and adopting clean
energy technologies and infrastructure.

Businesses can maintain and protect eco- systems and commit to sourcing 100% of operational
electricity needs from renewable sources.

Employers can reduce the internal demand for transport by prioritizing telecommunications and
incentivize less energy intensive modes such as train travel over auto and air travel.

Investors can invest more in sustainable energy services, bringing new technologies to the market
quickly from a diverse supplier base.

You can save electricity by plugging appliances into a power strip and turning them off completely when
not in use, including your computer. You can also bike, walk or take public transport to reduce carbon
emissions.

Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

What does “decent work” mean?

Decent work means opportunities for everyone to get work that is productive and delivers a fair income,
security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development
and social integration. A continued lack of decent work opportunities, insufficient investments and
under-consumption lead to an erosion of the basic social contract underlying democratic societies: that
all must share in progress.

What are the challenges?

A persistent lack of decent work opportunities, insufficient investments and under-consumption

contribute to the erosion of the basic social contract: that all must share in progress. The creation of
quality jobs remain a major challenge for almost all economies.

Achieving Goal 8 will require a wholesale reform of the financial system to tackle rising debts, economic
uncertainty and trade tensions, while promoting equitable pay and decent work for young people.

Sustained and inclusive economic growth can drive progress, create decent jobs for all and improve
living standards.

How many people are unemployed?

The estimated total global unemployment in 2022 was 192 million. Projections indicate that global
unemployment is expected to decrease further to 5.3 per cent in 2023, equivalent to 191 million people.

The pandemic disproportionately affected women and youth in labour markets. Women experienced a
stronger recovery in employment and labour force participation than men.

However, young people aged 15–24 continue to face severe difficulties in securing decent employment,
and the global youth in 2022, unemployment rate is much higher than the rate for adults aged 25 and
above. Globally, nearly 1 in 4 young people – 289 million – were not in education, employment or
training.

What can we do to fix these issues?

Providing youth the best opportunity to transition to a decent job calls for investing in education and
training of the highest possible quality, providing youth with skills that match labour market demands,
giving them access to social protection and basic services regardless of their contract type, as well as
leveling the playing field so that all aspiring youth can attain productive employment regardless of their
gender, income level or socio-economic background.

Governments can work to build dynamic, sustainable, innovative and people-centred economies,
promoting youth employment and women’s economic empowerment, in particular, and decent work for
all.

Implementing adequate health and safety measures and promoting supportive working environments
are fundamental to protecting the safety of workers, especially relevant for health workers and those
providing essential services.

Goal 9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

How much progress have we made?

As of 2022, 95 per cent of the world’s population was within reach of a mobile broadband network, but
some areas remain underserved.

Investment in research and development globally – as well as financing for economic infrastructure in
developing countries – has increased, and impressive progress has been made in mobile connectivity
with almost the entire world population (97 per cent) living within reach of a mobile cellular signal.

What needs to be done?

Investments in infrastructure – transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication

technology – are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many
countries. To achieve Goal 9 by 2030, it is also essential to support LDCs, invest in advanced
technologies, lower carbon emissions and increase mobile broadband access.

Why should I care?

Inclusive and sustainable industrialization, together with innovation and infrastructure, can unleash
dynamic and competitive economic forces that generate employment and income. They play a key role
in introducing and promoting new technologies, facilitating international trade and enabling the efficient
use of resources.

The growth of new industries means improvement in the standard of living for many of us. If industries
pursue sustainability, this approach will have a positive effect on the environment.

What is the price of inaction?

The price is steep. Ending poverty would be more difficult, given the industry’s role as a core driver of
the global development agenda to eradicate poverty and advance sustainable development.
Additionally, failing to improve infrastructure and promote technological innovation could translate into
poor health care, inadequate sanitation and limited access to education.

How can we help?

Establish standards and promote regulations that ensure company projects and initiatives are
sustainably managed.

Collaborate with NGOs and the public sector to help promote sustainable growth within developing
countries.

Think about how industry impacts on your life and well-being and use social media to push for
policymakers to prioritize the SDGs.

Goal 10 Reduce Inequalities

Why do we need to reduce inequalities?

Inequalities based on income, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, class, ethnicity, religion and
opportunity continue to persist across the world. Inequality threatens long-term social and economic
development, harms poverty reduction and destroys people’s sense of fulfillment and self-worth. This,
in turn, can breed crime, disease and environmental degradation.
We cannot achieve sustainable development and make the planet better for all if people are excluded
from the chance for a better life.

What are some examples of inequality?

Women and children with lack of access to healthcare die each day from preventable diseases such as
measles and tuberculosis or in childbirth. Older persons, migrants and refugees face lack of
opportunities and discrimination – an issue that affects every country in the world. One in five persons
reported being discriminated on at least one ground of discrimination prohibited by international
human rights law.

One in six people worldwide has experienced discrimination in some form, with women and people with
disabilities disproportionately affected.

Discrimination has many intersecting forms, from religion, ethnicity to gender and sexual preference,
pointing to the urgent need for measures to tackle any kind of discriminatory practices and hate speech.

How do we tackle discrimination?

In today’s world, we are all interconnected. Problems and challenges like poverty, climate change,
migration or economic crises are never just confined to one country or region. Even the richest countries
still have communities living in abject poverty. The oldest democracies still wrestle with racism,
homophobia and transphobia, and religious intolerance. Global inequality affects us all, no matter who
we are or where we are from.

Can we achieve equality for everyone?

It can – and should be – achieved to ensure a life of dignity for all. Political, economic and social policies
need to be universal and pay particular attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized
communities.

What can we do?

Reducing inequality requires transformative change. Greater efforts are needed to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger, and invest more in health, education, social protection and decent jobs especially
for young people, migrants and refugees and other vulnerable communities.

Within countries, it is important to empower and promote inclusive social and economic growth. We
can ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of income if we eliminate discriminatory laws,
policies and practices.

Among countries, we need to ensure that developing countries are better represented in decision-
making on global issues so that solutions can be more effective, credible and accountable.

Governments and other stakeholders can also promote safe, regular and responsible migration,
including through planned and well-managed policies, for the millions of people who have left their
homes seeking better lives due to war, discrimination, poverty, lack of opportunity and other drivers of
migration.

Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Why are cities not future proof yet?

Most of the urban growth is taking place in small cities and intermediate towns, exacerbating
inequalities and urban poverty.

In 2020, an estimated 1.1 billion urban residents lived in slums or slum-like conditions, and over the next
30 years, an additional 2 billion people are expected to live in such settlements, mostly in developing
countries.

What are some of the most pressing challenges cities are facing?

Inequality and the levels of urban energy consumption and pollution are some of the challenges. Cities
occupy just 3 per cent of the Earth’s land, but account for 60-80 per cent of energy consumption and 75
per cent of carbon emissions.
Many cities are also more vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters due to their high
concentration of people and location so building urban resilience is crucial to avoid human, social and
economic losses.

How does it affect me?

All these issues will eventually affect every citizen. Inequality can lead to unrest and insecurity, pollution
deteriorates everyone’s health and affects workers’ productivity and therefore the economy, and
natural disasters have the potential to disrupt everyone’s lifestyles. Air pollution caused affecting the
health of millions is not only an urban problem, but is also affecting towns and rural areas.

What happens if cities are just left to grow organically?

The cost of poorly planned urbanization can be seen in some of the huge slums, tangled traffic,
greenhouse gas emissions and sprawling suburbs all over the world.

By choosing to act sustainably we choose to build cities where all citizens live a decent quality of life,
and form a part of the city’s productive dynamic, creating shared prosperity and social stability without
harming the environment.

Is it expensive to put sustainable practices in place?

The cost is minimal in comparison with the benefits. For example, there is a cost to creating a functional
public transport network, but the benefits are huge in terms of economic activity, quality of life, the
environment, and the overall success of a networked city.

What can I do to help achieve this goal?

Take an active interest in the governance and management of your city. Advocate for the kind of city
you believe you need.

Develop a vision for your building, street, and neighbourhood, and act on that vision. Are there enough
jobs? Can your children walk to school safely? Can you walk with your family at night? How far is the
nearest public transport? What’s the air quality like? What are your shared public spaces like? The
better the conditions you create in your community, the greater the effect on quality of life.
Good progress has been made since the implementation of the SDGs in 2015, and now the number of
countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies has doubled. But issues still remain
and in 2022, only half of the urban population had convenient access to public transport.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way urban spaces
are built and managed.

Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Why do we need to change the way we consume?

Economic and social progress over the last century has been accompanied by environmental
degradation that is endangering the very systems on which our future development and very survival
depend.

A successful transition will mean improvements in resource efficiency, consideration of the entire life
cycle of economic activities, and active engagement in multilateral environmental agreements.

What needs to change?

There are many aspects of consumption that with simple changes can have a big impact on society as a
whole.

Governments need to implement and enforce policies and regulations that include measures such as
setting targets for reducing waste generation, promoting circular economy practices, and supporting
sustainable procurement policies

Transitioning to a circular economy involves designing products for longevity, repairability, and
recyclability. It also involves promoting practices such as reusing, refurbishing, and recycling products to
minimize waste and resource depletion.
Individuals can also adopt more sustainable lifestyles – this can involve consuming less, choosing
products with lower environmental impacts, and reducing the carbon footprint of day-to-day activities.

How can I help as a business?

It’s in businesses’ interest to find new solutions that enable sustainable consumption and production
patterns. A better understanding of environmental and social impacts of products and services is
needed, both of product life cycles and how these are affected by use within lifestyles.

Innovation and design solutions can both enable and inspire individuals to lead more sustainable
lifestyles, reducing impacts and improving well-being.

How can I help as a consumer?

There are two main ways to help:

Reducing your waste and

Being thoughtful about what you buy and choosing a sustainable option whenever possible.

Ensure you don’t throw away food, and reduce your consumption of plastic—one of the main pollutants
of the ocean. Carrying a reusable bag, refusing to use plastic straws, and recycling plastic bottles are
good ways to do your part every day.

Making informed purchases also helps. By buying from sustainable and local sources you can make a
difference as well as exercising pressure on businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

Goal 13 Climate Action

What happens if you don’t take action?

If left unchecked, climate change will cause average global temperatures to increase beyond 3°C, and
will adversely affect every ecosystem. Already, we are seeing how climate change can exacerbate storms
and disasters, and threats such as food and water scarcity, which can lead to conflict. Doing nothing will
end up costing us a lot more than if we take action now.
Solving the problem

To address climate change, we have to vastly raise our ambition at all levels. Much is happening around
the world – investments in renewable energy have soared. But more needs to be done. The world must
transform its energy, industry, transport, food, agriculture and forestry systems to ensure that we can
limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C, maybe even 1.5°C. In December 2015, the world took a
significant first step by adopting the Paris Agreement, in which all countries committed to take action to
address climate change. However, more actions are critically needed in order to meet the targets.

Businesses and investors need to ensure emissions are lowered, not just because it is the right thing to
do, but because it makes economic and business sense as well.

Are we investing enough to combat climate change?

According to the UNFCCC, global climate finance flows reached an annual average of $803 billion in
2019–2020, a 12 per cent increase compared to prior years. However, this still falls short of the levels
needed to limit warming, and fossil-fuel-related flows exceeded climate financing for adaptation and
mitigation in 2020.

In 2019, at least 120 of the 153 developing countries had undertaken activities to formulate and
implement National Adaptation Plans to enhance climate adaptation and resilience, an increase of 29
countries over the previous year. Furthermore, progress in meeting the 2020 disaster risk reduction
target has been slow.

Goal 14 Life under the water

Why?

The ocean is our planet’s life support and regulate the global climate system. It is the world’s largest
ecosystem, home to nearly a million known species and containing vast untapped potential for scientific
discovery.

Oceans and fisheries continue to support the global population’s economic, social and environmental
needs. Despite the critical importance of conserving oceans, decades of irresponsible exploitation have
led to an alarming level of degradation.
So what’s the problem?

The ocean absorbs around 23 per cent of annual CO2 emissions generated by human activity and helps
mitigate the impacts of climate change. The ocean has also absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat
in the climate system. Ocean heat is at record levels, causing widespread marine heatwaves, threatening
its rich eco-systems and killing coral reefs around the world.

Increasing levels of debris in the world’s oceans are also having a major environmental and economic
impact. Every year, an estimated 5 to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic enters the ocean, costing
roughly $13 billion per year – including clean-up costs and financial losses in fisheries and other
industries. About 89% of plastic litter found on the ocean floor are single-use items like plastic bags.

About 80% of all tourism takes place in coastal areas. The ocean-related tourism industry grows an
estimated US$ 134 billion per year and in some countries, the industry already supports over a third of
the labour force.

Unless carefully managed, tourism can pose a major threat to the natural resources on which it
depends, and to local culture and industry.

How is the ocean connected to our health?

The health of the ocean is intimately tied to our health. The diversity of species found in the ocean offers
great promise for pharmaceuticals.

Furthermore, marine fisheries provide 57 million jobs globally and provide the primary source of protein
to over 50% of the population in least developed countries.

So, what can we do?

For open ocean and deep sea areas, sustainability can be achieved only through increased international
cooperation to protect vulnerable habitats. Establishing complete, effective and equitably managed
systems of government-protected areas should be pursued to conserve bio-diversity and ensure a
sustainable future for the fishing industry. One example is the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction
Agreement in 2023 that provides a legal framework for all activities in the ocean and seas.

On a local level, we should make ocean- friendly choices when buying products or eating food derived
from oceans and consume only what we need. Reducing our plastic use is critical.

Goal 15 Life on Land

Why should we care?

Forests cover nearly 31 per cent of the world and are home to more than 80 per cent of all terrestrial
species of animals, plants and insects. However, biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in
human history.

Globally, one fifth of the Earth’s land area are degraded, an area nearly the size of India and the Russian
Federation combined. Land degradation drive species to extinction and intensifies climate change,
biodiversity and the ecosystem services it underpins can also be the basis for climate change adaptation
and disaster risk reduction strategies as they can deliver benefits that will increase the resilience of
people.

What does loss of forests mean?

Lost forests mean the disappearance of livelihoods in rural communities, increased carbon emissions,
diminished biodiversity and the degradation of land. While forest loss remains high, 2020 data show that
the proportion of forests in protected areas and under long-term management plans increased or
remained stable at the global level and in most regions of the world.

An irreversible effect of human activity on the environment is species extinction, which upsets the
balance of nature and makes ecosystems more fragile and less resistant to disruptions. A recent UN
report on biodiversity found that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with
extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.

How does it affect our health?

Increased demand for animal protein, a rise in intense and unsustainable farming, the increased use and
exploitation of wildlife, and the climate crisis are all driving the increased emergence of zoonotic
diseases – diseases transmitted from wildlife to people – like COVID-19.

Every year, some two million people, mostly in low and middle-income countries, die from neglected
zoonotic diseases. The same outbreaks can cause severe illness, deaths, and productivity losses among
livestock populations in the developing world, a major problem that keeps hundreds of millions of small-
scale farmers in severe poverty. In the last two decades alone, zoonotic diseases have caused economic
losses of more than $100 billion, not including the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What can we do?

Some things we can do to help include recycling, eating a locally-based diet that is sustainably sourced,
and consuming only what we need.

We must be respectful toward wildlife and only take part in ecotourism opportunities that are
responsibly and ethically run in order to prevent wildlife disturbance. Well-managed protected areas
support healthy ecosystems, which in turn keep people healthy. It is therefor critical to secure the
involvement of the local communities in the development and management of these protected areas.

Goal 16 Peace Justice And strong institution

Why should I care?

High levels of armed violence and insecurity have a destructive impact on a country’s development.
Sexual violence, crime, exploitation and torture are prevalent where there is conflict or no rule of law.

Governments, civil society and communities need to work together to find lasting solutions to conflict
and insecurity. Strengthening the rule of law and promoting human rights is key to this process, as is
reducing the flow of illicit arms, combating corruption, and ensuring inclusive participation at all times.

How does this apply to where I live?

Goal 16 aligns with the broader human rights framework by promoting societies that respect and uphold
individual rights, as well as the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information.
Peace is a fundamental precondition for social and economic development. Without peace, societies are
often plagued by conflict, violence, and instability, which can hinder progress and result in the loss of
lives and resources.

Equal access to justice is essential for protecting the rights of individuals, resolving disputes, and
ensuring that vulnerable populations are not marginalized or mistreated.

Crimes threatening peaceful societies, including homicides, trafficking and other organized crimes, as
well as discriminatory laws or practices, affect all countries.

What if we don’t take action?

Armed violence and insecurity have a destructive impact on a country’s development, affecting
economic growth and often resulting in long-standing grievances among communities.

Violence also affects children’s health, development and well-being, and their ability to thrive. It causes
trauma and weakens social inclusion.

Lack of access to justice means that conflicts remain unresolved and people cannot obtain protection
and redress. Institutions that do not function according to legitimate laws are prone to arbitrariness and
abuse of power, and less capable of delivering public service to everyone.

To exclude and to discriminate not only violates human rights, but also causes resentment and
animosity, and could give rise to violence.

What can we do?

Exercise your rights to hold your elected officials to account, to freedom of information and share your
opinion with your elected representatives. Promote inclusion and respect towards people of different
ethnic origins, religions, gender, sexual orientations or different opinions.
Goal 17 Partnership

Why?

In light of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen that strengthening
multilateralism and global partnerships are more important than ever if we are to solve the world’s
problems.

Why does this matter to me?

We are all in this together. The Agenda, with its 17 goals, is universal and calls for action by all countries,
both developed countries and developing countries, to ensure no one is left behind.

How much progress have we made?

Support for implementing the SDGs has been steady but fragile, with major and persistent challenges.

Financial resources remain scarce, trade tensions have been increasing, and crucial data are still lacking.

A growing share of the global population has access to the Internet, and a Technology Bank for Least
Developed Countries has been established, yet the digital divide persists.

As partners, what would we need to do to reach this?

We will need to mobilize both existing and additional resources— technology development, financial
resources, capacity building— and developed countries will need to fulfill their official development
assistance commitments.

Multistakeholder partnerships will be crucial to leverage the inter-linkages between the Sustainable
Development Goals to enhance their effectiveness and impact and accelerate progress in achieving the
Goals.

How can we ensure the resources needed are effectively mobilized?

This will be primarily the responsibility of countries. Reviews of progress will need to be undertaken
regularly in each country, involving civil society, business and representatives of various interest groups.
At the regional level, countries will share experiences and tackle common issues, while on an annual
basis, at the United Nations, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), they will
take stock of progress at the global level, identifying gaps and emerging issues, and recommending
corrective action.

What can we do to help?

Join/create a group in your local community that seeks to mobilize action on the implementation of the
SDGs.

Encourage your governments to partner with businesses for the implementation of the SDGs.