All SDGs (sustainable development goals) most recent developments

The SDGs are used worldwide by many stakeholders in order to guide their development.

Since 2015, for the 17 goals, 169 targets had been set up, 3119 events took place, 1317 publications had been written and 5503 actions had been undertaken.

SDGs most recent developments

During the 2019 SDG Summit, it was highlighted that progress is being made in many places, but, overall, action to meet the Goals in 2030 is not yet advancing at the speed or scale required.

It needs now the mobilization of everyone, everywhere, grounded on a level of ambition and a sense of urgency that supercharges ideas into concrete, bold and implementable solutions.‍

Therefore, the UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a “Decade of action” on three levels:

• ‍Global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals
• Local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities
• People action, including youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations

It led the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) to set up an online platform to inspire and mobilize new and ambitious SDG Acceleration Actions and track their progress: The SDG Acceleration Actions online database.

Today, it is a relevant tool to build resilience and bring an inclusive recovery in the context of new realities post COVID-19, so that the global economy, planet and people we serve could emerge stronger together from the crisis.

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SDGs achievements

According to the 2021 edition of Reporting Matters, published every year by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), among 168 leading global companies (all members of the WBCSD), 90% of them acknowledged the SDGs in some way in their Corporate sustainability reporting.

35% of them prioritize from 5 to 8 Goals to focus on, and 10% reference 12 or more goals (out of 17 goals).

The most commonly referenced Goals are 13: Climate Action (85%), 12: Sustainable Cities and Communities (73%) and 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth (67%).

Goals 1: No Poverty (23%), 14: Life Under Water (23%) and 2: Zero Hunger (30%) are the least likely to be prioritized.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has halted or reversed years of progress on poverty, health, and education.

COVID-19 has led to the first rise in extreme poverty in a generation. An additional 119 to 124 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that what began as a health crisis has quickly become a human and socio-economic crisis.

It makes the 17 SDGs achievements more urgent and necessary. It is essential that recent gains are protected as much as possible.

A transformative recovery from COVID- 19 should be pursued, one that addresses this crisis, reduces risks from future potential crises and relaunches the implementation efforts to deliver the 2030 Agenda and SDGs during the Decade of Action.

On a positive note, the progress made should be highlighted. Below are a few, and there are much more detailed, for each goal, on the SDGs’ website.

Goal 1: No poverty

As of April 2021, 118 countries reported national and local disaster risk reduction strategies, up from 45 in 2015.

Goal 2: Zero hunger

The proportion of children under age 5 who are affected by stunting was 33% worldwide in 2000 and is 22% in 2020.

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Support for mental health is being recognized by the vast majority of countries in their COVID-19 response plans.

The global suicide death rate declined by 36% between 2000 and 2019, from 14 to 9 deaths per 100,000 people.

Goal 4: Quality education

Children's participation in organized pre-primary learning increased from 65% in 2010 to 73% in 2019.

Goal 13: Climate action

Total climate finance increased to $48.7 billion in 2017-2018.

Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

The annual number of civilian deaths globally actually decreased by 61% between 2015 and 2020.

To conclude...

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