Wednesday
September 30
2020

Analysis: Building Forward From COVID-19 Towards the Ambition of the 2030 Agenda

By Laurel Patterson

The title of the 2030 Agenda is often overlooked: transforming our world. This was the vision for the agenda agreed on this day five years ago. Never before had world leaders pledged common action and endeavour across such a broad and universal policy agenda.

In the midst of a global pandemic, it’s clear that we are up against enormous challenges, and progress in key areas is slow or regressing, as the recent Sustainable Development Goals report shows. Global Human development, measured as a combination of the world’s education, health and living standards, is set to decline this year for the first time since our measurements began in 1990. Lockdowns are leading to spikes in violence against women and girls. And the number of people facing acute food insecurity will rise to 265 million this year.

In some ways, the 2030 Agenda was made for a challenge like COVID-19: universal and indivisible, it’s a systems approach to the complexity of human development that puts the most vulnerable at its centre. There is however a profound need to rethink the ‘how’ of achieving the SDGs and building forward from COVID-19.

Photo courtesy of coyot.

Source: United Nations Development Program (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Coronavirus, Energy
Tags
global development, renewable energy, SDGs