Sustainable Development Goals and UN SDG Action Awards – A Dog-eared Map for a Better Future
Defined as the ‘blueprint’ for a better and more equitable future, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an amalgamation of 17 inter-linked goals formulated in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly. The SDGs were constituted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2012. The core purpose was to sculpt a set of universal goals and targets that would combat the world's citizens' urgent ecological, political, and economic challenges.
A precursor to the Millennium Development Goals, what sets the SDGs apart from the former is the explicit call made to private enterprises to apply their creativity and innovation to solve sustainable development challenges. The projected time frame of achieving the set goals is 2030. Furthermore, various campaigns and action plans such as the UN SDG awards are fostered by the UN to implement the SDGs worldwide.
The beauty of the SDGs lies in the fact that everyone can pitch in, and every contribution, big or small, will make a substantial contribution in the world.
Before getting into the Nitty-gritty of this pioneering vision, let us first underline the 17 SDGs and what they entail.
SDG 1 – No poverty
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 3 – Good Health and Well Being
SDG 4 – Quality Education
SDG 5 – Gender Equality
SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 10 – Reducing Inequality
SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 13 – Climate Action
SDG 14 – Life Below Water
SDG 15 – Life On Land
SDG 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
The Astute Significance of SDGs
Owing to the global nature and universal approach of the 2030 Agenda, different national realities, areas of development, and national policies and priorities are encompassed. The shared plan requires a collective effort with nations tracking their trajectories to reach national targets.
The crux is that the essentiality of the SDGs lies in the strengthening of governing practices and institutions through working on plans to achieve the desired goals. Integration is another entry point that makes the SDGs vital. Sustainability is not unidirectional, and it must embrace wider social, environmental, and economic dimensions, and the SDGs are a pioneering attempt at holistic and multidimensional development.
Capacity building, a prerequisite for a sound socio-economic context, forms the backbone of the Global Goals. More equitable redistribution of wealth and resources (between countries and within countries) ensures just access to opportunities to attain essential goods and services for all. These novel approaches build and strengthen capacities at a multifarious niche become imperative. Lastly, innovation is the foundational base= that makes the Sustainable Development Goals a harbinger for equality and sustainability.
The UN SDGs envision innovative pathways to allow nations to leap forward. The escalation and transfer of technological innovations is a common concern, and concerted efforts are made to disseminate the same across all regions, especially those suffering from an intrinsic technical lack.
The UN SDG Awards – A Revolutionary Stratagem
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards (UN SDG Awards) is a global sustainability competition that reveres the outstanding and phenomenal contributions to the UN SDGs and Global Goals. The award celebrates and cherishes the best corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives, programs, and business models from all over the globe. There are 17 annual sustainability awards to provide a stamp of credibility and a push of encouragement to socially conscious companies making a change in this world. The UN SDG awards were engineered to support the next epoch of sustainability leadership. The mission is to invigorate private sector engagement in SDGs through competition.
We can safely assert that the SDGs sketches contours for businesses to take stringent actions and initiations on some of the most pressing and confronting issues the world faces in the 21st century. The idea is to effectively utilize the competency of private players and public players to harbor more prosperity, inclusivity, and peace.
The UN SDG Awards were incepted to act as a catalyst for positive change. By tweaking sustainability into a competitive race to the top, the awards hope to elevate the rate of SDG adoption, foster the inclusion of new metrics based on SDG indicators, and create a platform to recognize magnanimous corporate efforts.
Estimates suggest that achieving the SDG targets will require an annual incremental investment between USD 5 trillion to 7 trillion. Such colossal additions can be handled with better precision with the roping in of private sector leaders. A recent study by WBCSB survey revealed that 78 percent of Fortune 500 companies have already identified their top SDG priorities.
Thus, the Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards condition a space wherein we can learn from and celebrate some of the greatest innovators, visionaries, and storytellers across the globe.