What are the SDGs and what are the goals of the 2030 Agenda?

As a follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) were created as an initiative to end global poverty and protect the environment from harmful human actions. Here we will talk a little more about what the SDGs are.

The agreement that makes up the 2030 Agenda has 17 goals and 169 targets to accompany the evolution of each country’s individual achievements and, despite being challenging for the vast majority of nations, some positive results have already been recorded, keeping the general expectation optimistic for the future of the plan.

Do you want to know what the SDGs are and what their real importance for sustainable development in the coming years in Brazil and in the world? Check out our content below.

What are SDGs?

The SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals are, as the UN itself calls them, “a global call to action to end poverty, protect the environment, and protect the climate,” with the purpose of ensuring that all people everywhere enjoy peace and prosperity.

In other words, SDGs are sustainable goals that aim to promote quality of life for all people, regardless of their current conditions.

This mapping is part of the global planning created by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to eradicate poverty and promote dignity of life for individuals of all nations by 2030.

The agreement signed by 193 countries in September 2015, including Brazil, belongs to UNGA Resolution 70/1, named “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” In it, each state took responsibility for taking individual actions to fulfill the 17 macro goals on its list of sustainable development.

In total, there are 169 universal goals divided among objectives that cover four main categories: Social, Environmental, Economic, and Institutional. In turn, the sub-themes address spheres such as social development, hunger, global warming, health, drinking water distribution, sanitation, energy awareness, urbanization, social justice, and the environment.

Both the themes and the goals that make up the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were based on extensive public consultations that identified the aspects of greatest global vulnerability, according to the principles determined by the resolution proposed at the Rio+20 Conference, called “The Future We Want”.

Therefore, all countries that have committed to the SDGs would have 15 years to make progress towards achieving the goals and promote sustainable development in their country.

Despite recognizing how difficult it would be to achieve this goal, the first positive results began to be noticed in 2018. Therefore, the expectation of registering significant advances in most nations is still positive.

17 Sustainable Development Goals – What are the SDGs and what are they.

Now that we understand what the SDGs are and how they were classified, we need to understand what these goals actually are.

It is important to remember that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals count with smaller targets that help in the metrification of the countries’ evolution. So, it may be that a particular nation has not yet reached the main goal, but in the goals checklist, its evolution is in progress.

Anyway, the goals are:

  1. Poverty Eradication: Er adicate poverty in all its forms and from all places by 2030.
  2. Zero Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture: End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
  3. Health and Well-Being: Ensuring access to quality health care and promoting well-being for all.
  4. Quality Education: Ensure access to inclusive, quality, and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
  5. Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
  6. Drinking Water and Sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of drinking water and sanitation for all. To reach this goal
  7. Clean and Affordable Energy: Ensuring access to viable, sustainable, and modern energy sources for all.
  8. Decent Work and Economic Growth: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
  9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
  10. Reducing Inequalities: Reduce inequalities within and between countries.
  11. Sustainable Cities and Communities: Making cities and communities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
  12. Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
  13. Action Against Global Climate Change: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
  14. Life on Water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
  15. Terrestrial Life: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.
  16. Peace, Justice, and Effective Institutions: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.
  17. Partnerships and Means of Implementation: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

To check out each of the 169 goals in detail, go to the UN’s website on what is SDG and select the goal you want to highlight.

It is worth noting that the goals are like the indicators of success of the objectives. In other words, the more goals states achieve, the higher their percentage of success in completing the goal.

what is un agenda 2030 - Diagram illustrating the 17 SDGs
Image with the 17 UN SDGs

Who is part of the SDGs?

During the process to define what the SDGs are and what the targets would be, leaders from governments and private sectors represented their respective nations on the council.

For example, in the case of Brazil, representatives of the federal, state and municipal governments, plus eight civil society representatives, formed the National Commission for the Sustainable Development Goals – now responsible for carrying out the planned actions.

All 193 UN member countries participated in the decision and committed to the SDGs and targets set for Agenda 2030, aiming for global sustainable development.

As I said before, in annual reports made available by the UN they had shown some progress on certain issues. However, the 2022 Sustainable Development Goals report highlighted a huge possibility of regression in global performance.

Impacts such as the global pandemic of COVID-19 and the War in Ukraine were highlighted by pointing out problems in the areas of “food security, health, education, environment, and peace and security” , which could affect between 75 to 95 million people living in extreme poverty by 2022(via The United Nations).

Among the positive highlights is Greece, thanks to its Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is being guided and structured based on the SDG principles and has been promoting environmental and social transformation, jobs, and people empowerment.

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, was a global mainstay in the distribution/sale of medical supplies to 136 countries, and in Lesotho the economy grew by 3.6% in 2020.

How is Brazil doing in relation to the SDGs ? (What are the SDGs)

After the first years of understanding what SDGs are and adjusting its public policies to start executing actions beneficial to the fulfillment of the goals and targets, Brazil managed to advance a little in its contribution.

In the 2021 report it was pointed out that Brazil was one of the countries that had moved furthest away from fulfilling the 2030 Agenda in recent years. The data pointed out that there were setbacks in 82.8% of public policies, most of them related to poverty – including the return to the hunger map and the registration of previously eradicated diseases, which continue to advance in a negative way.

However, in the 2022 report the country was cited on two positive points. The first was about efforts to boost access to clean cooking fuels, being part of the 12% increase in global numbers.

In addition, it was also mentioned by reducing the number of people living on an average income from 24.1% to 18.3%. This means that, despite still having an alarming number of people living in poverty, there has been an improvement in the actions aimed at eradicating this condition.

Of course, the numbers are positive and show the country’s commitment to accelerate its sustainable development. However, we must remember that this is just the beginning and there is a lot of work to be done.

A commitment that requires the contribution of all the Powers of the Federative Republic of Brazil, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), and even of companies (aligned with the ESG) and individuals.

Sustainable Development impacts on technology

The impacts of Sustainable Development on technology encompass several aspects and segments that permeate all 17 goals defined in the SDGs.

In other words, we can say that poverty eradication is only one of the many consequences of investing in the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Investing in the SDGs guarantees positive impacts on the economy, education, health, and industry, since the advances contribute to more investments being made in this field and, consequently, the adoption of new technologies, the development of quality infrastructure, and the training of people to assume these responsibilities.

A practical example in the socio-environmental field can be seen with the work that kanna will promote through its sustainable DAO. Based on blockchain technology and the KNN ESG Token, our decentralized organization will promote the recovery of the soil and the atmosphere by planting cannabis.

With the use of technology we will generate environmental impact, move the economy, and promote awareness about offsetting damage to the environment.

To learn more about our work and how you can join us by investing in a billion-dollar market and bringing real action to the world, visit our website and secure your KNN Token on pre-sale.

What is the cost of implementing the SDGs?

The cost for implementing the SDGs are very variable, depending on the instance we are considering.

When we talk about countries adopting the goals, the idea is that their cost should not be too high, since, in theory, governments should have enough resources to invest for the benefit of society.

As such, its greatest impact is on the management of the government, which must study how the resources should be used and which areas they will invest in over the next few years (health, education, security, etc.).

Now, when we talk about implementing the SDGs in companies, this cost can be high if the company is not aligned with sustainability principles.

To align with the SDGs the company must consider ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance), become a company that works for society and not just for profits. This may require a redesign of culture, values, and actions – and may require an investment to accomplish.

However, this point can be a great opportunity for corporations that are not yet aligned with sustainable development. There are many ways to use the SDGs as a cost-cutting tool, whether by adopting new technologies, investing in infrastructure, establishing partnerships, or even encouraging other companies to do more for society.

How can I help with the SDGs?

As an individual you can adopt the principles of the SDGs in your life and implement them whenever possible, taking ideals to your company, participating in social actions with non-profit organizations or even investing in responsible companies that can help in a more expressive way – as in the case of Kanna Coin.

Why invest in Kanna?

Here at Kanna we develop our global positioning considering the ESG and the UN SDGs. With a technology company culture and vision, we believe that information engages and involves the community.

So we made our values clear and reinforced the validation of acting on all 17 goals, 15 of which are directly impacted by cannabis use. In addition, we are directly active in 4 SDGs and 31 individual targets: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Responsible Consumption and Production; Life on Water; and Life on Land.

And with the expanding market Kanna is in, its socio-environmental impact is quite promising, as accelerated growth on all its fronts (ESG, cannabis and crypto) is predicted.

Do you want to know how to participate in this transformation and still invest your money in a conscious way, bringing social impact and profitability to funds? Meet Kanna!

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