Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda- Achievement made
The idea of sustainable development emerged both from science and the environmental movement in the 70s and 80s of the last century. Since then, a lot has been done in the field, sometimes without even naming it “sustainable development”, but a lot still remains to be done. Sustainable development Goals recognise that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, combating inequality within and among countries, preserving the planet, creating sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and fostering social inclusion are linked to each other and are interdependent. This paper is about United Nations' much acclaimed and highly ambitious Sustainable Developmental Goals ‘Agenda 2030’. There are different sections relating to the concept of sustainable development, historical perspective; detail of the 17 SDGs of Agenda 2030; the progress made globally as well as in India so far on all the agenda items; an overview of challenges being faced in respect of pandemic challenge of COVID 19; recommendations for overcoming these challenges and a revised roadmap and at the end some conclusive remarks.
) Concept of Sustainable Development
Sustainability can be defined as maintaining world productivity processes indefinitely—natural or human-made—by replacing resources used with resources of equal or greater value without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems. Sustainable development is the organising principle for meeting human development goals while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable Development was defined in the 1987 Brundtland Report as “Sustainable development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Broadly defined, sustainable development is a systems approach to growth and development and managing natural, produced, and social capital for the welfare of their own and future generations. As used by the United Nations, the term sustainable development incorporates issues associated with land development and broader human development issues such as education, public health, and standard of living. The concept and importance of Sustainable development are very concisely summarised in Agenda 21, adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, 1992, which states that