No countries are currently on track to achieve all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with progress impacted by geographical, cultural and socioeconomic factors, a new study published in the PLOS One journal has suggested.
Researchers from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México used machine learning to examine more than 20 years of data from 107 countries, revealing ‘strong positive and negative correlations between certain SDGs’.
For example, it suggested that SDGs related to climate action and responsible consumption reinforce each other, but are in conflict with other targets, indicating that obstacles to progress may be interlinked.
Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations was established in 2015, outlining 17 SDGs, 169 targets and 231 globally comparable indicators.
‘Since then, the world has faced several setbacks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, acceleration of climate change, and serious armed conflicts that have slowed down this process,’ the researchers stated. ‘For these reasons and because the SDGs are variably interlinked or interrelated with each other, it seems difficult or even unlikely for countries to achieve the SDGs by 2030.’
While some goals, such as SDG 9, relating to industry, innovation and infrastructure, have ‘demonstrated a consistent increase over time’, progress in others have remained relatively static, the study found, most notably in SDGs 12, 13 and 16 (relating to responsible production and consumption; climate action; and peace, justice, and strong institutions, respectively).
‘This result may be attributed to socio-economic circumstances,’ the researchers said.
Regional challenges have played a role, too, with wealthier countries making ‘faster progress’ than those in emerging regions.
Re-evaluation of strategy
The study calls for a re-evaluation of the strategies being used to pursue the SDGs, suggesting that ‘individual approaches currently being used to achieve the SDGs are not working well for most countries’.
It recommends a new, systemic approach, which could involve establishing new SDGs that ‘depend not just on individual countries but on a diverse group of countries working together to form a support network’. Read more here.
