Sustainable Development Goals

Also called: SDGs · Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"

Meaning

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 goals and 169 targets [4]. They form the core of Agenda 2030 ("Transforming our World"), which UN member countries adopted in September 2015. The goals run from 2015 to 2030. They are meant to end poverty and deprivation without harming the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• Why it matters: the SDGs take the Brundtland idea of sustainable development (1987) and turn it into goals with targets and indicators that can be measured.
• They apply to every country, rich or poor. So a government can be checked on its progress, and so can each Indian State.

Explanation

The three layers: goals, targets and indicators

• Goals (17): broad aims, such as ending poverty and hunger, health, education, gender equality, clean water, clean energy, climate action, oceans, land and peace.
• Targets (169): specific results to reach under each goal by 2030 [4].
• Indicators: the numbers used to check whether a target is being met.
• The UN's global indicator framework had 231 unique indicators [4].
• It was built by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs).
• It was agreed at the 48th UN Statistical Commission (March 2017) and adopted by the UN General Assembly on 6 July 2017 [4][5].
• After the 2020 Comprehensive Review, the UN Statistics Division lists 234 unique indicators, or 247 in total. The larger number counts indicators that appear under more than one target [5].

From MDGs to SDGs: what changed

• The SDGs replaced the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ran from 2000 to 2015.
• The MDGs were mainly for developing countries.
• Rich countries mostly acted as donors.

• Environmental goals had a small role.

• The SDGs are universal.

• Every country has to report on its own progress.

• They join three areas: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

• Link to the idea behind them:

• The Brundtland definition (WCED, Our Common Future, 1987) is about meeting "needs" (the basic needs of the poor) and about intergenerational equity (fairness between people alive now and people not yet born).
• The SDGs put both ideas into numbers: poverty and hunger targets cover "needs", and climate and resource targets protect future generations.

How progress is scored: the composite score

• Each goal gets a score on a 0-100 scale. 100 means the 2030 target has been met.
• A composite score is the average of the goal scores. It gives one overall number.
• Worked example: a State has 4 goal scores: 80, 60, 70 and 50.
• Composite score = (80 + 60 + 70 + 50) ÷ 4 = 65.

• This means the State is about two-thirds of the way to its 2030 targets.

• What makes the score go up or down:

• Up: less poverty, better health and schooling, more clean energy, better water and sanitation.
• Down: falling forests, more pollution, more inequality, or weak data that shows little progress.

In India

• MoSPI (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) keeps the National Indicator Framework (NIF). This is India's own list of indicators for tracking the SDGs.
• NITI Aayog publishes the SDG India Index and Dashboard, which ranks States and UTs.
• First edition: Baseline Report 2018 [6].
• The SDG India Index 2023-24 is the fourth edition. It uses 113 indicators aligned to MoSPI's NIF [2].

• The composite score is worked out across 16 SDGs [2].

• India's composite score:

Edition	India's score
2018-19	57 [3]
2019-20	60 [3]
2020-21	66 [3]
2023-24	71 [2]

• In 2020-21, 22 States and UTs were in the top "Front Runner" category [3].
• Policies that support the SDGs:
• "Green Growth" was one of the seven priorities (Saptarishi) of the Union Budget 2023-24.
• Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was launched at Kevadia, Gujarat, in October 2022, with the UN Secretary-General present [7]. It aims to get at least 1 billion people to take pro-environment action during 2022-2027 [8].

Don't confuse with

• Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): there were 8 of them, they ran from 2000 to 2015, and they were mainly for developing countries. There are 17 SDGs (2015-2030), and they apply to all countries.
• Agenda 21 (UNCED, Rio, 1992): an action plan for the 21st century that came out of the Rio Earth Summit. The SDGs are part of Agenda 2030, adopted in 2015.
• Sustainable development (Brundtland definition): this is the concept, defined by WCED in 1987. The SDGs are the goals and targets that put this concept into practice.
• SDG India Index (NITI Aayog) vs National Indicator Framework (MoSPI): the NIF is the list of indicators. The Index scores and ranks States using indicators drawn from that list [2].

Prelims Hooks

• The SDGs have 17 goals and 169 targets. They were adopted in September 2015 and run from 2015 to 2030 [4].
• The global indicator framework has 231 unique indicators. It was adopted by the UNGA on 6 July 2017 [4][5]. After the 2020 review there are 234 unique indicators (247 in total) [5].
• The SDGs replaced the 8 MDGs (2000-2015). The SDGs are universal, while the MDGs mainly covered developing countries.
• NITI Aayog publishes the SDG India Index (first edition in 2018) [6]. MoSPI maintains the NIF. This is a common "which institution" trap.
• SDG India Index 2023-24 (fourth edition): 113 indicators and a composite score across 16 SDGs, not 17 [2].
• India's score: 57 (2018-19) → 60 (2019-20) → 66 (2020-21) → 71 (2023-24) [2][3].

Mains Points

• Competitive and cooperative federalism: the SDG India Index ranks States, so they compete to improve. It also sets common goals for the Centre and the States. India's score rose from 57 to 71 between 2018-19 and 2023-24 [2][3].

• But gaps in indicators and data are still there. A State can score low simply because it has not collected good data.

• Equity and India's position: the SDGs join poverty removal with care for the environment. This matches NCERT's reading of "needs" as meeting the basic needs of the poor.

• For India, growth is still needed to end absolute poverty. So the aim is absolute decoupling, meaning emissions fall while GDP rises, and not degrowth.

• This supports India's stand on common but differentiated responsibilities (rich countries, which caused more of the damage, should do more) in climate talks.

• Supply-side plus demand-side tools: Green Growth (Budget 2023-24) and renewable energy are supply-side fixes, meaning they change how goods and energy are produced. Mission LiFE adds demand-side behaviour change, meaning mindful use instead of wasteful use, in line with Gandhi's "need, not greed" [8].

• Policy should also allow for the rebound effect: when efficiency makes something cheaper to use, people use more of it, so efficiency alone may not cut total resource use.

Related concepts

• Sustainable development
• Plimsoll line of the economy
• Weak and strong sustainability
• Environmental Kuznets curve
• Pollution haven hypothesis
• Environmental decoupling
• Rebound effect
• Green growth
• Green economy
• Degrowth

Read more

• Sustainable development: definitions, rules, SDGs and the growth debate