2019 was a crucial year for sustainable development, marking the halfway point to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was a period of both significant progress in some areas and alarming setbacks in others, particularly concerning climate change and inequality.
The year was largely framed by the SDG Summit and the Climate Action Summit held at the United Nations in New York in September 2019, which aimed to galvanize greater ambition and action from world leaders.
Here's a breakdown of the key sustainable development efforts and findings in 2019:
1. Progress and Challenges on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019 by the UN Statistics Division highlighted mixed progress:
Areas of Progress:
Extreme Poverty Reduction: Extreme poverty continued to decline, with considerable progress made globally, though the pace was slowing, making the 2030 eradication target challenging.
Child Mortality: The under-5 mortality rate fell significantly (49% between 2000 and 2017), and immunizations saved millions of lives.
Access to Electricity: The vast majority of the world's population gained access to electricity, with significant increases in the poorest countries.
Marine Protected Areas: Marine protected areas doubled since 2010, and efforts to address illegal fishing intensified.
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis: Progress was made in combating diseases like HIV/AIDS and reducing new chronic hepatitis B virus infections.
Gender Equality: Some targets related to gender equality, such as the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting, saw progress.
Slum Population: The proportion of the urban population living in slums continued to fall.
Labor Productivity: Globally, labor productivity increased, and unemployment rates returned to pre-financial crisis levels.
Paris Agreement Ratification: 186 parties had ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, and almost all had communicated their first Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Areas of Major Concern/Challenges:
Climate Change (SDG 13): This was highlighted as the most urgent area for action. Greenhouse gas emissions continued to reach record highs, and trends were alarming, moving in the wrong direction. There was a strong call to cut emissions immediately to keep global warming below 1.5°C.
Increasing Inequality (SDG 10): Inequality among and within countries was identified as a defining issue. Poverty, hunger, and disease remained concentrated in the poorest and most vulnerable groups and countries. Gender pay gaps and widespread discrimination against women persisted globally.
Hunger (SDG 2): Hunger was on the rise for the third consecutive year, and little progress was being made in countering child overweight and obesity.
Education Quality (SDG 4): More than half of the world's children did not meet standards in reading and mathematics, indicating a major challenge in achieving quality education for all.
3 Biodiversity Loss (SDG 14 & 15): Trends on threatened species were moving in the wrong direction, and no country achieved a "green rating" for SDG 14 (Life Below Water), indicating severe challenges in protecting oceans and land biodiversity.
Social Protection (SDG 1): Only 28% of persons with severe disabilities received cash benefits, highlighting inadequate social protection systems for vulnerable groups.
Water and Sanitation (SDG 6): People in fragile states were significantly more likely to lack basic sanitation and drinking water services.
Economic Vulnerabilities: Global economic growth remained slow and uneven, with lingering trade tensions and unsustainable levels of debt, especially in low-income countries. Rising income inequality risked undermining social cohesion and security.
2. The UN Climate Action Summit 2019 (September 23, New York):
This summit, convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, aimed to boost ambition and accelerate action on the climate crisis.
Net-Zero Pledges: 65 countries and the European Union pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (later reaching 77 countries). Many small island developing states committed to 100% renewables by 2030 and zero-carbon economies by 2050.
Enhanced NDCs: 70 countries announced their intention to submit more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020.
Phasing Out Coal: The Powering Past Coal Alliance expanded, with more countries, states, and corporations committing to stop building new coal power plants and transition to renewable energy. Greece and Hungary, for example, pledged to close their coal-fired power plants by 2028 and 2030, respectively.
Nature-Based Solutions: More than 40 countries, 150 organizations, and 50 private companies joined the "Nature-Based Solutions Coalition," making commitments to cut carbon emissions through nature-based approaches.
7 Pakistan pledged to plant over 10 billion trees.8 Ocean Protection: The "High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy" was created, involving 14 countries focused on protecting oceans and creating marine protected areas.
Cities and Infrastructure: Over 100 cities pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, and initiatives like "Zero Carbon Building For All" aimed for all new buildings to be zero carbon by 2030.
Climate Finance: The European Union promised to allocate a quarter of its budget to climate action. Discussions emphasized the need for developed countries to direct US$100 billion in climate finance to developing nations by 2020.
Russia's Ratification: Russia officially ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change during the summit, increasing the number of signatories to 187.
India's Renewable Energy Ambitions: India reiterated its commitment to 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 450 GW thereafter, also promoting e-mobility and biofuel use.
3. Other Notable Efforts:
Circular Economy: Companies like Unilever pledged to make 100% of their plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, and Adidas committed to eliminating "virgin" plastic in its products by 2024, driving the circular economy concept.
Supply Chain Engagement: Organizations increasingly engaged suppliers to collect environmental performance data and set goals to reduce value chain emissions.
Technological Innovations: The integration of data-driven analytics, blockchain for supply chain tracking, and advancements in energy storage technologies (especially battery costs dropping) were seen as crucial for improving sustainability performance.
Biodiversity Conservation: Rediscoveries of species like the silver-backed chevrotain offered hope for biodiversity.
9 Efforts to ban plastic packaging (e.g., Thailand using banana leaves) and improve recycling (e.g., Rome swapping plastic bottles for subway fare) gained traction.10 Canada passed Bill S-203 banning the captivity of whales and dolphins.
In conclusion, 2019 was a year that underscored the urgency of sustainable development, especially in the face of escalating climate change and persistent inequalities. While progress was evident in some areas, the UN summits served as a critical wake-up call for accelerated action and greater political commitment to achieve the ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda.
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