India is progressively taking steps towards building a resilient and sustainable socio-economic infrastructure to reduce carbon footprint along with the efforts to uplift millions of citizens from poverty.
India, world’s second most populous country and home to one-sixth of all humanity, in the hollow of its hand is holding the key to the success of the 2030 Agenda. In its second VNR, India has successfully made a paradigm shift to a “whole-of-society” approach. With this approach the Government of India engaging in sub-national and local governments, civil society organizations, local communities, people in vulnerable situations and the private sector to bring and establish sustainable changes and development.
India is committed to the SDGs and the same is reflected in its convergence with the national development agenda. The motto of which is Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas (i.e. collective efforts for inclusive growth). Predicated on the evidence from the SDG India Index i.e. the standard to measure progress at the subnational level, it is evident that India has developed a robust SDG localization model centered on adoption, implementation and monitoring at the State and district levels.
What is Sustainable Development?
The term ‘sustainability’ refers to humanity’s target goal of the human-ecosystem equilibrium while the term ‘sustainable development’ refers to the holistic approach and temporal processes that lead us and our society to the end point of achieving sustainability.
Sustainable development can be defined as an approach and an organizing principle that satisfies all the needs of the present generation while conserving them for future generations.
The concept of sustainable development has been and still is, subject to criticism and debate. It also includes a major question of what is to be sustained in sustainable development and often at times, it has been argued that there is no such thing as sustainable use of a non-renewable resource since any positive rate of exploitation will eventually lead to the exhaustion of earth’s finite stock.
17 Goals of Sustainable Development Goals towards a healthy world-
Sustainable development of environment focuses on minimizing the problems and conserving the future generations –There are overall 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to promote environmental and substantial development to help transform the world into a better place:
#Goal 1: No Poverty – The first SDG is to eradicate poverty and its roots from everywhere by 2030 by all means. The five outcome targets of this goal are:
- eradication of extreme poverty;
- reduction of all poverty by half;
- implementation of social protection systems; ensuring equal rights to ownership,
- basic services, technology and economic resources; and
- the building of resilience to environmental, economic and social disasters
#Goal 2: Zero Hunger – As per reports, globally, 1 in 9 people are undernourished, and this condition keeps on worsening. The second SDG is to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition while promoting sustainable agriculture.
#Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being – The main motive of this SDG is to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. Significant efforts are made towards reducing maternal mortality rate, promoting mental health, treating and fighting communicable and uncommunicable diseases and preventing and treating substance abuse.
#Goal 4: Quality Education – SDG 4 aims at “ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all”
Free primary and secondary education, increasing literacy and reducing inequality and discrimination, promote higher education.
#Goal 5: Gender Equality – SDG 5’s target is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. It grants women and girls equal rights, and opportunities to live free without discrimination including workplace discrimination or any violence and get empowered.
#Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – This goal aims at “ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. The major “outcome-oriented targets” include –
- Safe and affordable drinking water;
- end open defecation and provide access to sanitation and hygiene,
- improve water quality,
- wastewater treatment and safe reuse,
- increase water-use efficiency and ensure freshwater supplies,
- implement IWRM, protect and restore water-related ecosystems
#Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy – SDG 7 aims at “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. The goal includes access to affordable and reliable energy while increasing the share of renewable energy. It ultimately involves improving energy efficiency and enhancing international cooperation to facilitate more open access to clean energy technology, furthermore investment in clean energy infrastructure.
#Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – SDG 8’s aim is to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. Even the least developed countries have witnessed economic growth leading to an increase at an average rate of 4.3 per cent over the past five years.
Addressing youth employment ultimately means coming up with solutions for young people who are seeking decent and productive jobs. Such solutions should address both supply, i.e. education, skills development and training, and demand.
#Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure –
SDG 9 aims at “building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation”. It mainly aims at achieving the goal by developing sustainable, resilient and inclusive infrastructures; promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization; increasing access to financial services and markets; upgrading all industries and infrastructures for sustainability; enhancing research and upgrading industrial technologies.
#Goal 10: Reduced Inequality – SDG 10 focuses on “reducing income inequality within and among countries”. The goal targets putting an end to discrimination, providing equal opportunities, reducing income inequalities, promoting universal social, economic and political inclusion and encouraging development assistance and investment in the least developed countries.
#Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – This goal significantly aims at “making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable”
SDG 11 aims at offering adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrading slums while providing safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems, thus strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”
#Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – SDG 12 works for achieving the sustainable management and efficient utilisation of natural resources; reducing by half the per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and the reduction of food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.
The motto is to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”.
#Goal 13: Climate Action – History recorded the warmest decade between 2010 –19 and unfortunately, the numbers keep going up. By 2018, the continuous climatic changes caused and increased the frequency of natural disasters, such as massive wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and floods.
SGD 13 is closely related and complementary to SDG 7 and works towards “taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy”.
#Goal 14: Life below Water – More than two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans and contains about 97% of the planet’s water which is essential for making the planet livable.
SDG 14 aims at “conserving and promoting sustainable use of the oceans seas and marine resources for sustainable development”
It mainly focuses on reducing marine pollution, protecting and restoring ecosystems, reducing ocean acidification; sustainable fishing; conserving coastal and marine areas; ending subsidies contributing to overfishing; increase the economic benefits from the sustainable use of marine resources.
#Goal 15: Life on Land – SDG15 is aimed at “protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, and halting and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss”.
The main target of this goal is to conserve and restore terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems; while stopping deforestation and restoring degraded forests. It also aims at ending desertification and restoring degraded land; ensuring conservation of mountain ecosystems, protecting biodiversity and natural habitats; protecting access to genetic resources and fair sharing of the benefits; eliminating poaching and trafficking of protected species, and integrating ecosystem and biodiversity in governmental planning.
#Goal 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions – SDG16 is aimed at “promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.
The ultimate target of this goal is to reduce violence; protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking and violence; promote the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice; combat organized crime and illicit financial and arms flows, and substantially reduce corruption and bribery. It wishes to develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions; ensure responsive, inclusive and representative decision-making; strengthen participation in global governance; provide universal legal identity; ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms.
#Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal – SDG 17 focuses on “strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development”
Goal 17 is included in the list of goals to assure that countries and organizations cooperate instead of competing in achieving all the other goals. Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships to share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial support is critical to the overall success of the SDGs.
Team SENSED NGO at Umariya
Sustainable development goals of India have been delineated and conscripted addressing and focusing on achieving the same with the following encapsulated narratives –
Sashakt Bharat – Sabal Bharat (Empowered and Resilient India) –
To drive poverty out through economic growth and empowerment this campaign was initiated. India has successfully lifted more than 271 million people with enhanced access to nutrition, child health, education, sanitation, drinking water, electricity and housing, eventually leading to reduced inequalities i.e., especially among people belonging to vulnerable sections.
Swachh Bharat – Swasth Bharat (Clean and Healthy India) –
India has achieved 100% rural sanitation and a sharp reduction in stunting and child and maternal mortality rates with the initiative of the nationwide Clean India Campaign along with the National Nutrition Mission. Ayushmaan Bharat, the world’s largest health protection scheme, is offering universal health coverage with its annual cover of USD 7,000 to 100 million families, covering nearly 500 million individuals.
Samagra Bharat – Saksham Bharat (Inclusive and Entrepreneurial India) –
Through universalising access to nutrition, health, education, and social protection, and developing capabilities for entrepreneurship and employment, India is promoting and pursuing social inclusion. Financial inclusion with the help of several schemes like; the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity aided by the Jan Dhan Yojana (National Financial Inclusion Scheme) with the help of Aadhaar card (National unique identity number) for over 90% of the population. It has allowed expansive access to mobile phones by propelling new avenues of credit, insurance, and Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) to the poor, comprising over 200 million women, thereby accelerating their economic empowerment.
Satat Bharat – Sanatan Bharat (Sustainable India) –
This scheme addresses India’s climate action strategies and calls for clean and efficient energy systems, disaster-resilient infrastructure, and planned eco-restoration.
India has successfully electrified 100% of its villages, by reducing 38 million tones of CO2 emissions annually through energy-efficient appliances, thus acting and offering on its nationally-determined contributions to development. Further, it has efficiently provided 80 million poor households with clean cooking fuel and has set a target to install 450GW of renewable energy and restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
On a global scale, India ranks third in renewable power, fourth in wind power, and fifth in solar power.
Sampana Bharat- Samriddh Bharat (Prosperous and Vibrant India) –
India, as one of the fastest growing emerging market economies, has a young population and burgeoning innovation and business ecosystem with a GDP of USD 2.72 trillion in 2018-19. Today, India strives to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025 and aims to pursue an inclusive and sustainable growth trajectory by stimulating manufacturing, building infrastructure, spurring investments, fostering technological innovation, and boosting entrepreneurship
Thus, being a multi-disciplinary nature, ideal-oriented goals, and prone to flexible interpretations sustainable development projects have the potential of being a groundbreaking concept which has an abstract power to revolutionize the way nations act on a national level, as well as on an international level.