Our discussion about transforming the world
We looked at how the Sustainable Development Goals might transform the world and our local area.
Recently as part of the ACF Brisbane Northside Community Conversations series, I shared what I know and led a lively discussion about the Sustainable Development Goals and how they apply to our community and to us as individuals. Here’s a summary.
Introducing Agenda 2030 - the ambitious plan to transform the world
We started with an introduction to Agenda 2030, an audacious plan to end poverty and hunger, fight inequality and save the planet from climate change. It includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to create a better and more sustainable future for all. Although it is a plan to “save the world”, we aren’t looking for superheroes; we need people like you and me as well as governments, community groups, scientists, universities, schools, and business to work towards sustainable development. Find out more about Agenda 2030.
But what is sustainable development?
It is important to have a shared understanding of what we are talking about, so we looked at one of the most widely used definitions of sustainable development. It was developed in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. The Commission which was established by the United Nations released a report called Our Common Future which put forward this definition of sustainable development.
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Although it is not the only definition of sustainable development, we agreed it has stood the test of time quite well. Essentially, a sustainable future is one where our society can exist and develop without depleting all the natural resources needed to live in the future. We considered how it is important to meet the needs of ALL current people AND all future people. It is critical that no one is left behind.
The SDGs aim to transform our world.
In 2015, all the countries in the United Nations (including Australia) signed up to Agenda 2030 and the 17 SDGs. The Goals aim to stimulate action over the fifteen years from 2015-230 in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet. We watched this short video which runs through the 17 Goals.
The SDGs were developed over 3 years through the world’s largest consultation process involving more than 10 million people, from all walks of life. The ambitious goals include 169 targets and all of them have indicators to measure progress. You can explore the 17 Goals in more detail.
The goals are highly interlinked.
We undertook an exercise to group the goals into 5 categories – people, planet, prosperity, peace, or partnerships and found they don’t fit neatly into the categories. This is because they are highly interconnected. Understanding the linkages is essential for achieving the full extent of the sustainable development Agenda. Actions or projects that address more than one goal to give the biggest “bang for buck”. See my earlier post on verge gardens.
Australia (and the world) is making progress but there is still more to do.
The SDGs have global application, and the UN tracks overall progress reporting regularly. Read the 2023 report. (#spoileralert We have made progress but there is still much to do.) Although they are global, the SDGs apply differently to each nation – so countries are customising what they measure. Monash University has been working on identifying a range of measures for Australia. For example, in our conversation we considered SDG 7 – Ensure access to affordable reliable sustainable and modern energy for all.
Almost everyone is Australia has access to modern, reliable electricity. But is it affordable and sustainable? We didn’t think so and the data shows it is not. The average weekly expenditure on electricity as a share of household disposable income has been increasing and is above the benchmark of 3%. The poorest 20% of households pay around 8.8%. This is a significant burden for meeting a basic need. We are also not meeting our targets for renewable energy share of electricity. You can explore the Monash University data on all 17 SDGs.
Australian businesses are getting on board with the SDGs.
We talked about the growing trend for companies to report progress against SDGs. In 2020, 103 of ASX200 companies aligned their sustainability reporting with the SDGs, compared with 45 in 2018. Sustainability reports are nothing new, but investors and the community are calling for more transparency and rigour. We talked about the importance of having independent third-party checks as the businesses are self-reporting. If you are interested in trends on how companies report check out this short guide.
How our community addresses the SDGs
As promoting the benefits of verge gardens is a key focus for ACF Brisbane Northside, we discussed which SDGs are most relevant to verge gardens. We found waterwise native verge gardens established with a collaborative approach address most SDGs. Find out more in my earlier post on this topic. We realised that a single community project can have impacts that ripple out to all the interconnected Goals. We then touched on the SDGs’ potential to guide community action, both globally and locally.
Everyone is part of the solution.
We discovered the SDGs aren’t just for government, businesses, and community groups they are for you and me. Everyone is part of the solution. Luckily, there are super easy things we can do that will make a big difference.
So, which SDG do you want to focus on? Not sure yet? Take the quiz to find out. Already know what matters to you. Check out the Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World, or the Good Life Goals for simple ideas for each goal.
Hope is not a strategy, but it is essential.
To wrap up the conversation, we talked about the importance of hope and reasons to be hopeful about the future. We reflected on three reasons to be hopeful.
The world has a plan for a better and more sustainable future for all. The plan has targets and a monitoring framework. It is quite ambitious and most countries have signed up to take action. It is not perfect, but a good plan being executed now is better than a perfect plan executed later (to paraphrase General Patton).
The data shows we are making progress in some key areas. Yes, we still have more to do, but we can learn from the data what to focus on and what works. Want to know more? Check out this Ted Talk by Hans Rosling or any of his other talks. You've never seen data presented the way Hans Rosling does it. Or upgrade your worldview at Gapminder.
Tens of millions of people care enough to make change. According to Paul Hawken who has spent years researching this phenomenon, there are over one—and maybe even two—million organisations working toward ecological sustainability and social justice. Most are self-organized community level organisations, working away independently, locally often on a specific issue. We’re talking about tens of millions of people dedicated to change, quietly working to re-imagine our relationship to the environment and one another. Listen to Paul Hawken talk about this inspiring movement which you may be part of and not even know it.
Finally, we talked about the importance of hope. We discussed how some of us feel despairing about the future of our world, but despair is paralysing at a time when we need action. We also talked about how the media has given us a pessimistic view of the world, not supported by the data of incremental progress. More than 60% of people think the proportion of the world population living in poverty has doubled in the last 20 years, when in fact it has at least halved. Can’t believe it? See it with your own eyes at Our World in Data. Looking for more balance in your inbox with stories of progress? Sign up for Future Crunch.
If we want to get serious about tackling sustainable development, we need to believe that it is possible to make a better world. We may be living through times of unprecedented change, but in uncertainty lies the power to influence the future. The kind of hope we talked about doesn’t mean denying the realities. It means facing them and addressing them. Hope is just the beginning; it’s not a substitute for action. It is rooted in a belief that another world is possible – not promised, not guaranteed. It requires action, it requires risk. This is radical hope.
Love that last paragraph.