A Quick Overview of the
Quick Overview of the Goals Critical to Our Future
Source: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Between 2015 and 2018, global poverty continued its historical decline, with the global poverty rate falling from 10.1 per cent in 2015 to 8.6 per cent in 2018.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global poverty rate increased sharply from 8.3 per cent in 2019 to 9.2 per cent in 2020, rewinding progress by about three years.
This unprecedented reversal is being further exacerbated by rising inflation and the impacts of the war in Ukraine. It is estimated that these combined crises will lead to an additional 75–95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared with pre-pandemic projections.
The losses have been much higher for low-income countries, where poverty reduction has been set back by between eight and nine years. Although the poverty rate is projected to decrease to 8.7 per cent in 2021, it was still higher than the pre-pandemic level.
For the first time in two decades, the world’s share of workers living with their families below the international poverty line increased from 6.7 per cent in 2019 to 7.2 per cent in 2020, meaning that an additional 8 million workers were pushed into poverty.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
In 2020, between 720 million and 811 million persons worldwide were suffering from hunger, roughly 161 million more than in 2019.
Also in 2020, a staggering 2.4 billion people, or above 30 per cent of the world’s population, were moderately or severely food-insecure, lacking regular access to adequate food.
Globally, 149.2 million children under 5 years of age, or 22.0 per cent, were suffering from stunting (low height for their age) in 2020, down from 24.4 per cent in 2015.
To achieve the target of a 5 per cent reduction in the number of stunted children by 2025, the current rate of yearly decline –2.1 per cent – must double to 3.9 per cent.
In 2020, wasting (low weight for height) affected 45.4 million or 6.7 per cent of children under 5 years of age.
The share of countries burdened by high food prices, which had been r elatively stable since 2016, rose sharply from 16 per cent in 2019 to 47 per cent in 2020.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
In 2020 and 2021, 14.9 million people were estimated to have died due to COVID-19 and its impact on health systems and society.
Interruptions in essential health services were reported in 92 per cent of 129 countries surveyed at the end of 2021.
As of May 2022, more than 80 per cent of people had received at least one dose of a vaccine in high-income countries but the proportion is only about 17 per cent in low-income countries.
Between January 2020 and May 2021, the pandemic may have claimed the lives of 115,500 health and care workers worldwide.
In 2020, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by an estimated 25 per cent, with young people and women most affected.
In 2015–2021, an estimated 84 per cent of births were assisted by skilled health professionals, an increase from 77 per cent in 2008–2014.
The global mortality rate of children under age 5 fell by 14 per cent from 2015 to 2020.5 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday in 2020 alone, down from 5.9 million in 2015.
From 2010 to 2020, the adolescent birth rate dropped from 47.9 births t o 41.2 births per 1,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
147 million children are estimated to have missed more than half of their in-class instruction over the past two years due to school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This generation of children could lose a combined total of $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value.
The proportion of young people completing upper secondary school increased from 54 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2020, with progress slowing from the preceding five-year period.
Data from 73 countries, mostly in the low- and middle-income bracket, indicate that between 2013 and 2021, about 7 in 10 children who were 3 and 4 years old are developmentally on track.
The participation rate in organized pre-school learning rose steadily in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, from 69 per cent in 2010 to 75 per cent in 2020 but with considerable variation between countries.
Only 20 per cent of countries undertook significant measures to provide additional mental health and psychosocial support for students after school reopening.
Most countries have not achieved gender parity in the proportion of children meeting minimum learning proficiency standards in reading, and in the lower secondary completion rate.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Globally, 26 per cent of ever-partnered women aged 15 and older (641 million) have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a husband or Intimate partner at least once in their lifetime.
In a 2021 survey in 13 countries, 45 per cent of women reported that they or a woman they know has experienced some form of violence since COVID-19.
In 2021, nearly one in five young women were married before the age of 18. 35 per cent and 28 per cent of young women were married in childhood, respectively in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia,
The global prevalence of child marriage has declined by about 10 per cent in the past five years.
Up to 10 million more girls are likely to become child brides by 2030 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the 100 million girls projected to be at risk before the pandemic.
At least 200 million girls and women today have been subjected to female genital mutilation, mainly in 31 countries.
As of 1 January 2022, the global share of women in lower and single houses of national parliaments reached 26.2 per cent, up from 22.4 per cent in 2015.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
In 2020, 74 per cent of the global population had access to safely managed drinking water services, up from 70 per cent in 2015. Still, two billion people live without safely managed drinking water services, including 1.2 billion people lacking even a basic level of service, in 2020.
Between 2015 and 2020, the population with safely managed sanitation increased from 47 per cent to 54 per cent and the population with access to handwashing facilities with soap and water in the home increased from 67 per cent to 71 per cent. Rates of progress for these basic services would need to quadruple for universal coverage to be reached by 2030.
At the current rates of progress, 1.6 billion people will lack safely managed drinking water, 2.8 billion people will lack safely managed sanitation, and 1.9 billion people will lack basic hand hygiene facilities in 2030.
Eight out of 10 people who lack even basic drinking water service live in rural areas, and about half of them live in least developed countries (LDCs).
Water use efficiency worldwide rose from $17.4 per cubic metre in 2015 to $19.4 per cubic metre in 2019, a 12 per cent efficiency increase.
Assessment of rivers, lakes and aquifers in 97 countries in 2020 shows that 60 per cent of water bodies have good water quality. For at least 3 billion people, the quality of the water they rely upon is unknown owing to a lack of monitoring.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
The global electricity access rate increased from 83 per cent in 2010 to 91 per cent in 2020. Over this period, the number of people without electricity shrank from 1.2 billion to 733 million.
From 2018 to 2020, the electricity access rate rose by an average of 0.5 percentage points annually, compared to 0.8 percentage points between 2010 and 2018.
At the current pace, only 92 per cent of the world’s population would have access to electricity in 2030, leaving 670 million people unserved.
Due to economic pressures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 90 million people connected to electricity in Africa and developing countries In Asia could not afford to have an extended bundle of services in 2020.
Between 2010 and 2020, the proportion of people with access to clean cooking fuels and technologies increased from 57 per cent to 69 per cent.
4 billion people still relied on inefficient and polluting cooking systems in 2020. The share of renewables in total final energy consumption reached 17.7 per cent in 2019, 1.6 percentage points higher than in 2010.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
The global unemployment rate in 2017 was 5.6 per cent, down from 6.4 per cent in 2000.
Globally, 61 per cent of all workers were engaged in informal employment in 2016.
Excluding the agricultural sector, 51 per cent of all workers fell into this employment category.
Men earn 12.5 per cent more than women in 40 out of 45 countries with data.
The global gender pay gap stands at 23 per cent globally and without decisive action, it will take another 68 years to achieve equal pay.
Women’s labour force participation rate is 63 per cent while that of men is 94 per cent.
Despite their increasing presence in public life, women continue to do 2.6 times the unpaid care and domestic work that men do.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
In 2018, 96 per cent of the world’s population lived within reach of a mobilecellular signal, and 90 per cent of people could access the Internet through a third generation (3G) or higher-quality network.
16 per cent of the global population does not have access to mobile broadband networks.
The global share of manufacturing value added in GDP increased from 15.2 per cent in 2005 to 16.3 per cent in 2017, driven by the fast growth of manufacturing in Asia.
Least developed countries have immense potential for industrialization in food and beverages (agro-industry), and textiles and garments, with good prospects for sustained employment generation and higher productivity
In 2019, the amount of new renewable power capacity added (excluding large hydro) was the highest ever, at 184 gigawatts, 20GW more than in 2018. This included 118GW of new solar systems, and 61GW of wind turbines.
Capacity investment in solar slipped 3 per cent to $131.1 billion in 2019, while that in wind climbed 6 per cent to $138.2 billion – the first time that wind has outweighed solar in terms of dollars committed since 2010.
Developing countries continued to outpace developed economies in renewables investment. In 2019, they committed $152.2 billion, compared to $130 billion for developed countries.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
The effects of the pandemic have intensified social exclusion. Among the 18 countries which have data for 2020, two thirds saw rates of relative low income increase in 2020.
Projections suggest that between-country inequality rose by 1.2 per cent between 2017 and 2021, the first such increase in a generation. Before the pandemic, inequality was expected to have fallen by 2.6 per cent over the same period.
Income inequality within countries will also have increased around 1 per cent, on average, in emerging market and developing countries, halting the steady decline seen in these countries since the start of the millennium.
Roughly one in five people have experienced discrimination on at least one of the grounds prohibited under international human rights law, such as ethnicity, age, sex, disability, religion and sexual orientation.
In some countries, women are more than twice as likely as men to experience discrimination on the grounds of sex. One third of persons with disabilities experience discrimination.
A decline in the labour share of income from 2014 to 2019 ‐ from 54.1 per cent to 52.6 per cent ‐ represents upward pressure on inequality.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today and 5 billion people are projected to live in cities by 2030.
95 per cent of urban expansion in the next decades will take place in developing world.
828 million people live in slums today and most them are found in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.
The world’s cities occupy just 3 per cent of the Earth’s land, but account for 60-80 per cent of energy consumption and 75 per cent of carbon emissions.
Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure on fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment, and public health.
Cities account for between 60 and 80 per cent of energy consumption and generate as much as 70per cent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions
90 per cent of urban growth is forecasted to happen in Asia and Africa in the next 30 years.
By 2050 70 per cent of the world population is predicted to live in urban settlements.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Less than 3 per cent of the world’s water is fresh (drinkable), of which 2.5 per cent is frozen in the Antarctica, Arctic and glaciers. Humanity must therefore rely on 0.5 per cent for all of man’s ecosystem’s and freshwater needs.
Humankind is polluting water in rivers and lakes faster than nature can recycle and purify.
More than 1 billion people still do not have access to fresh water.
Excessive use of water contributes to the global water stress.
Water is free from nature, but the infrastructure needed to deliver it is expensive.
Water use has been increasing worldwide by about 1 per cent per year since the 1980s.
Agriculture (including irrigation, livestock and aquaculture) is by far the largest water consumer, accounting for 69 per cent of annual water withdrawals globally. Industry (including power generation) accounts for 19 per cent and households for 12 per cent.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
In 2021, the global mean temperature was about 1.1°C above the pre-industrial level (from 1850 to 1900). The years from 2015 to 2021 were the seven warmest on record.
The global annual mean temperature is projected to rise beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in at least one of the next five years.
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions declined by 5.2 per cent in 2020 due to lowered energy demand caused by COVID-19-induced social and economic disruptions. But with the phasing out of COVID-related restrictions, energy-related CO2 emissions for 2021 rose by 6 per cent, reaching their highest level ever.
Climate finance provided and mobilized by developed countries totalled $79.6 billion in 2019, up from $78.3 billion in 2018. It is estimated that $1.6 trillion to $3.8 trillion will be needed each year through 2050 for the world to transition to a low-carbon future and avoid warming exceeding 1.5 °.
About one third of global land areas will suffer at least moderate drought by 2100. See report for more
Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Oceans cover three quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97 per cent of the Earth’s water, and represent 99 per cent of the living space on the planet by volume.
Oceans absorb about 30 per cent of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.
Carbon emissions from human activities are causing ocean warming, acidification and oxygen loss.
The ocean has also absorbed more than 90 per cent of the excess heat in the climate system.
Ocean heat is at record levels, causing widespread marine heatwaves.
Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.
Globally, the market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year or about 5 per cent of global GDP.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Human activity has altered almost 75 per cent of the earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife and nature into an ever-smaller corner of the planet and increasing risks of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19.
Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood, including 70 million indigenous people.
Forests are home to more than 80 per cent of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects.
Between 2010 and 2015, the world lost 3.3 million hectares of forest areas. Poor rural women depend on common pool resources and are especially affected by their depletion.
Currently, land degradation has reduced productivity in 23 per cent of the global terrestrial area, and between $235 billion and $577 billion in annual global crop output is at risk as a result of pollinator loss.
Arable land loss is estimated at 30 to 35 times the historical rate.
Due to drought and desertification, 12 million hectares are lost each year (23 hectares per minute). Within one year, 20 million tons of grain could have been grown.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Among the institutions most affected by corruption are the judiciary and police.
Corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion cost some US $1.26 trillion for developing countries per year; this amount of money could be used to lift those who are living on less than $1.25 a day, above $1.25 a day for at least six years
Birth registration has occurred for 73 per cent of children under 5, but only 46per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa have had their births registered.
Approximately 28.5 million primary school age who are out of school live in conflict-affected areas.
The rule of law and development have a significant interrelation and are mutually reinforcing, making it essential for sustainable development at the national and international level.
The proportion of prisoners held in detention without sentencing has remained almost constant in the last decade, at 31per cent of all prisoners.
The number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018, the highest level recorded by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in almost 70 years.
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Source:
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
Net Official Development Assistance flows by member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development totaled $147.4 billion in 2019
79 per cent of imports from developing countries enter developed countries duty-free.
The debt burden on developing countries remains stable at about 3 per cent of export revenue.
Trade, foreign direct investment and remittances all projected to decline by up to 40 per cent in 2020.
Almost half of the world’s population is not connected to the internet, particularly in poor countries.
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Prepared by:
All information gathered from UN website: Sustainable Development
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
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