The New Year has rolled around, coming along with new goals to score. While many efforts have been made ever since the global community adopted the sustainable development goals (SDGs) five years ago, 2021 presents a chance to move the sustainability needle farther.
The new year comes against a backdrop of triple challenges: global pandemic, climate change and deepening inequality. Yet the SDGs, whose overriding objective is to restore balance to the ecosystem and promote shared wealth and opportunities across households, are just nine years shy of their blinking 2030 deadline. Even before the pandemic struck, preliminary studies based on the recent trends had shown that it would be impossible to meet all the envisioned goals within the allocated timeframe.
