Our sustainable future is being lost

OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IS BEING LOST

Inaction means the world is on track to meet only 12% of its Sustainable Development targets by 2030, and a group of leading accountancy and finance bodies have banded together to urge the UK government to take ‘transformative action’.

There are 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which cover areas including social inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice. As is often pointed out, the goals

are interconnected, and often the key to success for one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.

In all, 11 accountancy and finance bodies, which include the ICAEW, CIPFA, AIA and ICAS, have written an open letter to the UK PM Rishi Sunak explaining we are currently on track to meet miss those 2030

targets by a very long way. The UK is on course to meet just 17% of targets, and the letter rightly points out that it is developing countries that are bearing the brunt of our collective failure.

The letter also stresses the importance of sticking to domestic net zero commitments,

with a clear policy framework to help businesses accelerate innovation and investment.

The bodies stressed: “The science shows us that, not only are we failing to collectively tackle the climate and nature crises, but inequalities are also growing at an alarming rate. This isn’t just a crisis of people and planet, it’s a crisis of our economies and global financial system.”

You can read more inside, including that letter in full.