The Future of the Sustainable Development Goals Relies on Climate Action
Martha Molfetas points to the elephant in the room holding back the SDGs.
Right now, only 17% of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be achieved by 2030. Climate goals are presently unlikely to be achieved by 2030. Dramatic changes will need to happen if there’s any shot at achieving most or all of the seventeen SDGs by 2030. Ultimately, failing on climate will mean failing on the SDGs.
The sustainable development goals are at a unique crossroads. After a decade of climate records on heat, storms, and drought; new and renewed conflicts; and following the impacts of Covid-19; developing nations are feeling squeezed by the polycrises of the moment. The world of today looks far different from the world of 2016—when the goals were launched.
The High Level Political Forum, or HLPF, just wrapped up at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Over a two-week period, delegates and envoys hashed out the details of a sustainable future and the future of the SDGs. This year the focus was on goals relating to: SDG 1 on poverty, SDG 2 on hunger, SDG 13 on climate, SDG 16 on peace and inclusion, and SDG 17 on strengthening implementation of the goals. During the convenings, 36 nations submitted their Voluntary National Reviews, or VNRs. These reviews inform how to address gaps and opportunities towards achieving the SDGs, while taking into account unique national challenges. These outcomes will inform action-oriented dialogues this September during the UN General Assembly’s Summit of the Future, where next steps for the SDGs will be decided.
Reviews showed that progress on some but not all the goals had been made within the contexts of individual countries. Each nation faces their own limitations and challenges related to conflict, climate, and/or economic shocks. Many nations have not recovered from the health, social, and economic impacts of Covid-19. Others noted conflict and climate events as holding them back from achieving the goals. These impacts affect progress on the goals, while informing the gaps that need to be addressed and better incorporated into the action-oriented agenda that will unfold at UNGA.
Climate Crisis, Climate Opportunity
The expectations of the past will not be indicative of the future. This means more must be done to address the SDGs and climate in tandem, so communities can better weather future insecurities. June 21st was the hottest day ever recorded. The world just experienced twelve consecutive months at or above 1.5°C. Increased and historic storms, like hurricane Beryl; illustrate how much more uncertain a climate-changed future will be. In 2023, a record 26.4 million people were displaced by climate-fuelled events.
A recent assessment of the SDGs highlighted how climate is negatively impacting progress across the goals. It called for efforts to align climate mitigation and adaptation within and across sustainable development programs. Effectively, a call to imbed climate responses into each SDG. It also called for increased collaboration across UN-fora, like the UN climate conveenings.
The climate crisis is fuelling increasing livelihood insecurities, like added pressure to agricultural yields and increasing food costs. It is impacting poverty and increased inflation today, perpetuating a cost of living crises for many.
Developing countries could require $160 billion to $340 billion to adapt to climate change. If current emissions continue, the World Meteorological Organization estimates up to 1.2 quadrillion in global damages by 2100. For comparison, a netzero economy would cost $9.2 trillion annually by 2050, a $3.5 trillion increase on annual spending today—all while averting these climate impacts and supporting other co-benefits.
Monetarily Missing the Mark
During the HLPF, many developing nations noted that poverty must be addressed before other SDGs can be achieved. To address just poverty, it would cost about $14 billion to uplift all people in poverty. Today, the total sustainable development financing gap is estimated to be $4.2 trillion a year.
It’s not just about deficits, debts are also holding back the SDGs. From 2020-2023, 165 million people fell into poverty while debt payments took the lion’s share of national resources. According to the World Bank, in 2022 developing countries paid $443.5 billion in public debts. These are resources not spent on: roads, schools, climate resilience, clean energy, or other social benefits. Recent events that unfolded in Kenya illustrate how debt burdens place undue pressure on developing economies. Often nations must pay their debt payments before directing resources towards social benefits, like those associated with the SDGs.
Addressing the climate crisis means achieving the sustainable development goals. COP29 could open an opportunity to see increased climate finance, and potentially expand on renewable technology transfers. The New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG, will be a focal point of COP29. It could help generate targeted climate finance progress on the sustainable development goals this November. It’s possible increased synergy across the SDGs is pushed forward at UNGA, particularly on climate. It’s also possible there will be increased actions and new mechanisms launched to help achieve the SDGs by 2030.
The HLPF capitalized on the need for better synergy across the goals, but also across these different convenings and global political forums. While these processes may be different, the goal is the same—to leave future generations a sustainable, habitable future. All that is missing is the political will to make it happen.
Photo by ABHIJEET DEV
