LAW SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS By Bojana Bogojevic
S
ustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a popular catchphrase in contemporary development discourse. And are important to humanity. Wherever we are there is always reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and everyone seems to have an opinion. As an educator it is only appropriate that we focus and learn the basics. History of sustainable development goals and Agenda 2030
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the centrepiece of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, were adopted by the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. In September 2015, all member states of the United Nations have agreed to adopt “Transforming the World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. 34 | eYs Magazine, Winter 2021
This Agenda is a plan of action for people, the planet, and prosperity. Agenda also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. The new goals and targets came into effect on 1 January 2016 and guide the decisions we take over the next fifteen years.
Definition of Sustainable Development
Challenges of SDGs
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, published in 1987, defined the term Sustainable development, “It is a development that meets the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Each country and every region face specific challenges in its pursuit of sustainable development. The most vulnerable countries are African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states that deserve special attention, as do countries in situations of conflict and post-conflict countries. Also, challenges within many middle-income countries are expected.
In the same reports, it is said: “Sustainable global development requires that those who are more affluent adept lifestyles within the planet’s ecological means - in their use of energy, for example. Further, growing populations can increase the pressure on resources and slow any rise in living standards; thus, sustainable development can only be pursued if population size and growth are in harmony with the changing productive potential of the ecosystem.”
