Introduction

The United Nations succinctly summarizes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as follows: “… The blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” (U.N. SDGs website; Figure 9.1) (Video 9.1).

The SDGs were preceded by a similar U.N. backed global effort known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which provided policymakers with important lessons and experience to begin work on the SDGs. Reducing extreme poverty rates by more than 50% was a key objective of the MDGs. While we have not achieved the eradication of poverty, nor have we approached anything remotely close to ecological sustainability, we are nonetheless learning from past efforts to do so.

Millions, if not billions, of people around the world live lives that most of us in the developed world would find unacceptable. The SDGs are a collective commitment to the challenge of ending hunger, achieving full gender equality, improving health services, and having all children receive more than a primary education. The SDGs are also an urgent call to shift the world onto a more sustainable path. The SDGs are not explicit about what a sustainable path means, nor do they address specific questions about population or carrying capacity directly; however, if all the SDGs are achieved, we will have made significant and profound progress toward a broad host of social, economic, and environmental challenges afflicting billions of people in the world today.

The SDGs represent a bold commitment to finish what the MDGs started and to address urgent challenges facing the world today. The objectives of the SDGs are stated in surprisingly strong language for a U.N. document, which is quite startling when one considers that they represent what was distilled from and survived passage through numerous scientific panels and government agency approvals. All 17 Goals have feedbacks between them, which often means that success in one enhances success in others. For example, effective policies to deal with the threat of climate change will positively impact how we manage our ecosystems; and, achieving gender equality and improving health will simultaneously help eradicate poverty.

[figure number=Figure 9.1 caption=The Sustainable Development Goals filename=Fig_9.1.jpg]

This chapter covers some of the global efforts aimed at improving human development prior to the adoption of the SDGs. In addition, we will describe the 17 SDGs in more depth with some critical thinking about the validity and measurability of the targets and indicators. We will explore some of the ideas about using Earth Observation (EO) data to support the measurement of progress toward achievement of the SDGs and provide some critical evaluation of some of the assumptions implicit in the SDGs. We will also explore a couple of “context sensitive” indicators that utilize spatially explicit data that hopefully enables more effective monitoring and enforcement to achieve the SDGs. Lastly, we will examine how population and population distribution is relevant to achieving the SDGs.

Guiding Questions

What measurements of sustainability and development came before the SDGs?

What are the SDGs?

What are the “Targets” and “Indicators” related to the SDGs?

How can EO Data support the SDGs?

What are criticisms of the SDGs?

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will get a relatively exhaustive description of the United Nations SDGs. These consist of 17 Goals, 169 targets, and 252 indicators. They were preceded by the MDGs. These goals represent international agreement about problems we face as a global civilization and what we hope to achieve. The SDGs have advocates and critics and it is worthwhile hearing some of their positions. Measurement of these goals, targets, and indicators can be challenging and raises many questions. EO data is proposed by many to provide valid and objective measures of some of the indicators.

Key Terms and Definitions

SDGs 1-17, SDG targets, SDG indicators, EO data supporting the SDGs, “Apples to Apples to Apples” comparability, Context Sensitive Performance Indicators for the SDGs, Sustainable Development

9.1 Precursors to the SDGs

An important precursor to the SDGs was the MDGs (Figure 9.2). After over a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits (e.g., The Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992), world gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in September 2000 to adopt the U.N. Millennium Declaration. The Declaration expressed a consensus dedication of 189 of the world’s nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty. There were eight MDGs associated with this objective (Figure 9.2).

[figure number=Figure 9.2 caption=The Millennium Development Goals filename=Fig_9.2.jpg]

The aspiration was to achieve the MDGs in 15 years (i.e., by 2015). The MDGs consisted of eight goals measured by 14 targets that can be assessed quantitatively.

Researchers at “Our World in Data” have provided this assessment of our collective performance on achieving the MDGs (for which they do acknowledge significant failure; Ritchie & Moser, 2018).

So how did the world do? Did we actually achieve the MDGs that we set for ourselves?

The MDGs comprised of 8 Goals, measured by 18 Targets; the table here summarizes the track-record of the 14 Targets which can be assessed quantitatively—highlighted in green are those which the world has achieved and in red those where the world fell short.

There is clearly more red than green, but let’s look at the good news first. Overall, the world achieved 3 and a half targets: MDG Target 1.A—halving the share of the world population living in extreme poverty—is a particularly important one and while most people are not aware of it, the world has actually achieved this goal. The achievement of MDG 3 meant that the gender disparity in education was closed at the global level. And MDG Target 6.C on malaria and tuberculosis was achieved as the world was able to reduce the global rate of new infections. For MDG 7 the world achieved half of this goal—while the goal for sanitation was missed, the world did reach the goal on providing access to safe drinking water.

What is clear however, is that most of the UN’s development goals were missed. 12 of the targets are shown in red.

The degree to which they were missed varies between several near misses and a few very clear and alarming failures. The MDG targets on which the world failed most miserably were the environmental targets in MDG 7 which called for a “reversal of the loss of environmental resources” and a “reduction of biodiversity loss.” While there were certainly some important successes—very positive trends in the decline of substances which deplete the ozone layer for example—the global evidence shows that most environmental indicators regressed; global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions increased approximately 50%; global forest area continued its decline; overexploitation of fish stocks increased; and the Red List Index concluded that “a substantial proportion of species in all taxonomic groups examined to date are declining overall in population and distribution”.

[figure number=Figure 9.3 caption=Did we achieve the Millennium Development Goals? filename=Fig_9.3.jpg]

This narrative is not uniformly agreed upon. There is some debate as to how many of the MDGs were actually achieved and whether or not the indicators used to measure progress do so accurately and also if the indicators even have construct validity for measuring the goals (Hickel, 2019). Hickel raises questions about the validity of using GDP data stretching far into the past with respect to touting the “success” we have been making with respect to eradicating poverty. This passage from Hickel’s article addresses one facet of concern about the “Audit Culture” much of the neoliberal world seems to be embracing:

In other words, Roser’s graph illustrates a story of coerced proletarianization. It is not at all clear that this represents an improvement in people’s lives, as in most cases we know that the new income people earned from wages didn’t come anywhere close to compensating for their loss of land and resources, which were of course gobbled up by colonizers. Gates’s favorite infographic takes the violence of colonization and repackages it as a happy story of progress. (Jason Hickel article in The Guardian)

In any case, there is a growing consensus that we have social justice problems, inequitable distribution of income and wealth problems, intergenerational equity problems, and environmental sustainability challenges. The MDGs and the SDGs are laudatory yet imperfect attempts by certain sectors of the global community to address these challenges. Understanding more about the motivations, mechanics, mathematics, and mobilization behind addressing these challenges informs your ability to critically think about and participate in the process of achieving these goals. .

9.2 The Sustainable Development Goals

The SDGs were embraced and adopted by all 193 member states of the United Nations in 2015. There are 17 SDGs that consist of 169 targets, which are assessed via 232 indicators (including over 650 indicators if all the subdivisions are included; Kubiszewski et al., 2022). The numbered goals are referred to as “Outcome Targets” and the lettered goals are referred to as “Implementation Targets” and there is criticism that there is only weak linkage between the “Means of Implementation” goals and the “Outcome Targets” (Bartram et al., 2018). There are also several significant problems with respect to monitoring and tracking the SDGs that include the facts that many indicators are not measured in many countries, others can be difficult to measure, the cost of measurement is unclear, and some measurements are so spatially aggregated that they are of limited use for policy intervention (Diaz-Sarachaga et al., 2018). In any case, the SDGs appear to be gaining traction as the international standard.

The following is a summary of the 17 SDGs with a very brief description of their associated targets and indicators. These descriptions have been adapted from this United Nations website (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/). Most of the numbers presented here will be numbers that the U.N. are reporting. Reading the following section on the SDG goals, targets, and indicators is a long slog. We seek your indulgence in this long read to enable you to participate in informed critical thinking about them. As you read through the Goals and their associated targets and metrics, bring your critical perspective to the following: (1) The viability of measuring and monitoring these indicators, (2) the validity of the indicators relative to the targets, (3) the validity of the targets relative to the goals, and (4) the usefulness of measuring these indicators for monitoring the effectiveness of policies aimed at achieving the goals. To what extent will measuring and monitoring these goals be designated to demographers, economists, geographers, farmers, or people with other areas of expertise? How might the answer to that question inform the overall effectiveness of the SDGs? Section 9.4 will address some criticism of the accuracy and validity of these numbers.

9.2.1 SDG #1: End Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere

[figure number=Figure 9.4 caption=SDG 1 filename=Fig_9.4.jpg]

Understanding SDG #1 requires definitions. A person living in “extreme poverty” has recently been defined as someone living on less than US$1.90 per day (although the most recent version of the SDGs has moved that number down to $1.25 a day). Choosing that particular number (i.e., $1.90 vs. $2.00 vs. $1.25) has a dramatic impact on the size of the global population determined to be living in extreme poverty. According the U.N., roughly 10% of the world population lives in extreme poverty today. These people struggle to achieve the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation. Most people living on less than $1.90 a day live in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, the poverty rate in rural areas is 17.2%—more than 3 times higher than in urban areas. SDG #1 is the broad objective of the preceding MDGs. The goal of economic development is increasingly focusing on the eradication of poverty which is very different than raising average GDP per capita or median GDP per capita. The following is a summary of the targets and their related indicators for SDG #1.

Target 1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day

Indicator 1.1.1: Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)

Target 1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

Indicator 1.2.1: Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age

Indicator 1.2.2 Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

Target 1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable

Indicator 1.3.1: Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable

Target 1.4 By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance

Indicator 1.4.1: Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services

Indicator 1.4.2: Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, (a) with legally recognized documentation, and (b) who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and by type of tenure

Target 1.5 By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters

Indicator 1.5.1 Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

Indicator 1.5.2: Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP)

Indicator 1.5.3 Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Indicator 1.5.4: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies

Target 1.a Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programs and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions

Indicator 1.a.1:Total official development assistance grants from all donors that focus on poverty reduction as a share of the recipient country’s gross national income

Indicator 1.a.2: Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)

Target 1.b Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions

Indicator 1.b.1 Pro-poor public social spending

9.2.2 SDG #2: End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture

[figure number=Figure 9.5 caption=SDG 2 filename=Fig_9.5.jpg]

For most of us reading this book, hunger is usually a brief period of discomfort that we can easily eradicate by eating. This is not true for all people in the developed world; however, hunger is an acute reality for a large number of people in the developing world including for a surprising fraction of the world’s children. It is estimated that 22% of children under the age of 5 years worldwide have stunted growth due to insufficient food. The number of undernourished people in the world is growing and 2.37 billion of us are without food or unable to eat a healthy balanced diet on a regular basis. That is almost one third of the population. A lot more than the one twentieth that Bill Gates and other suggest is the fraction of the population in “extreme poverty.” Perhaps these facts contribute to the skepticism of Jason Hickel and others with respect to claims that less than 10% of the world lives in extreme poverty. Having insufficient caloric intake strikes many of us as representing extreme poverty.

Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round

Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of undernourishment

Indicator 2.1.2: Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)

Target 2.2: By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons

Indicator 2.2.1: Prevalence of stunting (height for age <−2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age

Indicator 2.2.2: Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <−2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)

Indicator 2.2.3: Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)

Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

Indicator 2.3.1: Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size

Indicator 2.3.2: Average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status

Target 2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

Target 2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed

Indicator 2.5.1: Number of (a) plant and (b) animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either medium- or long-term conservation facilities

Indicator 2.5.2: Proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk of extinction

Target 2.a Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries

Indicator 2.a.1: The agriculture orientation index for government expenditures

Indicator 2.a.2: Total official flows (official development assistance plus other official flows) to the agriculture sector

Target 2.b Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round

Indicator 2.b.1: Agricultural export subsidies

Target 2.c Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility

Indicator 2.c.1: Indicator of food price anomalies

9.2.3 SDG #3: Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-Being for All at All Ages

[figure number=Figure 9.6 caption=SDG 3 filename=Fig_9.6.jpg]

The aspiration of SDG 3 is to ensure health and well-being for all, including a commitment to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other communicable diseases by 2030. SDG #3 also aims to achieve universal health coverage and provide access to safe and effective medicines and vaccines for all. The COVID pandemic has shown us how far we are from achieving SDG #3. We lack death registration data in roughly one third of the countries of the world. Measuring the number of deaths is a fundamental and important mechanism for tracking success of SDG #3 and it is certainly relevant to other important metrics. The United States, arguably one of the wealthiest countries of the world, is failing to provide universal health coverage for its citizens. If it cannot be achieved in the United States, imagine how difficult it will be to achieve in countries with GDP/capita that is only a fraction of what it is in the United States. In the United States, achieving SDG #3 is a political problem, in many parts of the world it is an economic problem. Note how many of the indicators for SDG #3 are fundamental demographic statistics discussed in Chapter 3. Demographic information is a key element to monitoring the achievement of the SDGs.

Target 3.1 By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births

Indicator 3.1.1: Maternal mortality ratio

Indicator 3.1.2 Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel

Target 3.2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births

Indicator 3.2.1: Under-five mortality rate

Indicator 3.22: Neonatal mortality rate

Target 3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases

Indicator 3.3.1: Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population, by sex, age and key populations

Indicator 3.3.2: Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population

Indicator 3.3.3: Malaria incidence per 1,000 population

Indicator 3.3.4: Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 population

Indicator 3.3.5: Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases

Target 3.4 By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being

Indicator 3.4.1: Mortality rate attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease

Indicator 3.4.2: Suicide mortality rate

Target 3.5 Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol

Indicator 3.5.1: Coverage of treatment interventions (pharmacological, psychosocial and rehabilitation and aftercare services) for substance use disorders

Indicator 3.5.2: Alcohol per capita consumption (aged 15 years and older) within a calendar year in litres of pure alcohol

Target 3.6 By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents

Indicator 3.6.1: Death rate due to road traffic injuries

Target 3.7 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs

Indicator 3.7.1: Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods

Indicator 3.7.2: Adolescent birth rate (aged 10-14 years; aged 15-19 years) per 1,000 women in that age group

Target 3.8 Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

Indicator 3.8.1: Coverage of essential health services

Indicator 3.8.2: Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health as a share of total household expenditure or income

Target 3.9 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination

Indicator 3.9.1: Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution

Indicator 3.9.2: Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)

Indicator 3.9.3: Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning

Target 3.a Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate

Indicator 3.a.1: Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older

Target 3.b Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all

Indicator 3.b.1: Proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national programme

Indicator 3.b.2: Total net official development assistance to medical research and basic health sectors

Indicator 3.b.3: Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis

Target 3.c Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States

Indicator 3.c.1: Health worker density and distribution

Target 3.d Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks

Indicator 3.d.1: International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness

Indicator 3.d.2: Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms

9.2.4 SDG #4: Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All

[figure number=Figure 9.7 caption=SDG 4 filename=Fig_9.7.jpg]

Education plays a key role in ensuring sustainable development. Failure to provide a basic education is not limited to developing regions but remains a significant problem for the world at large (Lane, 2017). The major aim of SDG #4 is to provide an inclusive and high-quality education that will improve the individual learner’s standard of living while also improving the quality and resilience of that individual’s broader community and the community’s future. Significant progress has been achieved in promoting access to education for boys and girls at the primary school level. However, increased access does not always translate to improved quality of education or even to completion of primary school. The MDGs aimed to improve educational opportunities for the same reasons SDG #4 does. During the implementation of the MDGs, there were increases in school enrolment rates that did not translate to improved educational outcomes. Evidence for this was documented in a UNICEF report that suggested as many as 1 out of 4 countries still failed to meet minimum math proficiency standards (UNICEF, 2018). Prior to the COVID pandemic, there were still millions of children not attending school. The COVID pandemic made the situation worse. The “digital divide” is also a significant obstacle for many children of the world. High-quality education is increasingly reliant on the internet and resources and communication technology that is only accessible via the internet. It is estimated that at least one third of the children worldwide do not have access to the technology they need for a high-quality modern education (UNICEF, 2020). Internet provision is still primarily provided by the private sector (although the infrastructure is subsidized by the government). There is increasing pressure to acknowledge that the internet is a vital public good that should be provided via the same institutional mechanisms as water and public transportation. The global numbers on primary and secondary completion rates are 82% (2010—primary) increasing to (85%—primary) in 2019 and 46% (2010—secondary) increasing to 53% (2019—secondary). Sadly, all of these gains have been erased by the effects of the COVID pandemic. Much of these losses are attributable to the fact that so many children lack access to the internet which is where so much education migrated to during the pandemic. Schools often provide food, mental health services, a safe place to be, and a sense of community in addition to raising the literacy and numeracy levels of their students. It is vital to have qualified and caring teaching and administrative staff at schools to achieve these important goals. There are many school districts in the United States today where a new elementary school teacher is paid less than a new Taco Bell or McDonald’s employee. This does not bode well for the future of civilization nor does it suggest that the “free market” of the United States is allocating resources wisely or humanely. The following are the laudable targets and indicators associated with SDG #4.

Target 4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex

Indicator 4.1.2: Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)

Target 4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex

Indicator 4.2.2: Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex

Target 4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

Indicator 4.2.1: Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex

Target 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

Indicator 4.4.1: Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill

Target 4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

Indicator 4.5.1: Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated

Target 4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

Indicator 4.6.1: Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex

Target 4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

Indicator 4.7.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment

Target 4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

Indicator 4.a.1: Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service

Target 4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries

Indicator 4.b.1: Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study

Target 4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

Indicator 4.c.1: Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level

9.2.5 SDG #5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls

[figure number=Figure 9.8 caption=SDG 5 filename=Fig_9.8.jpg]

We hope that contemporary evolution and controversy surrounding ideas of gender and gender identity do not impair progress toward SDG #5. Here are facts regarding the status of women that likely apply to people who identify as women or who may not identify as women but have the sex status of being a woman. One in three women have been a victim of physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime from the age of 15. Women constitute roughly half of the world’s population yet only 25.6% of members of national parliaments, 36.3% of local government officials, and only 28.2% of managerial positions. Prior to the COVID pandemic, 100 million girls were projected to become child brides and the pandemic exacerbated this situation. Women spend 2.5 times more time doing unpaid domestic work including caring for children, the sick, and the elderly. Many of the indicators look at domestic violence (1 in 7 women have been injured by an intimate partner relative to the lower level for men—1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner). These gender differences are staggering. We have a long way to go to achieve gender equality in terms of these outcomes.

Target 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex

Target 5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation

Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

Indicator 5.2.2 Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence

Target 5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation

Indicator 5.3.1: Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18

Indicator 5.3.2: Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age

Target 5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate

Indicator 5.4.1: Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location

Target 5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments

Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions

Target 5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences

Indicator 5.6.1: Proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care

Indicator 5.6.2: Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education

Target 5.a Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

Indicator 5.a.1: (a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure

Indicator 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control

Target 5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

Indicator 5.b.1: Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex

Target 5.c Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

Indicator 5.c.1: Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment

9.2.6 SDG #6: Ensure Availability and Sustainable Management of Water and Sanitation for All

[figure number=Figure 9.9 caption=SDG 6 filename=Fig_9.9.jpg]

Consider your own access to water. How difficult is it for you to get a clean, safe, and inexpensive glass of water? More developed countries of the world have established a significant (typically government funded) water supply for the majority of their populations. Try to imagine what it would be like if you had to walk 5 km to access not so clean water and had to carry what you needed on your back those 5 km. More than 3 million children and nearly 14 million women walk more than 30 minutes to collect water and often make that trip more than once a day (Graham et al., 2016). Two billion people (1 in 4) lack access to safely managed drinking water. Almost half the world’s population (3.6 billion people) lack access to safely managed sanitation. Almost one third of the world’s population (2.3 billion people) lack basic hygiene. Now, consider the fact that 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries. On top of that, the U.N. estimates that between 1970 and 2015 the areal extent of natural wetlands shrank by 35%, which is 3 times the rate of forest loss. More than 125 countries are NOT on track to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030. Current rates of progress need to double to achieve SDG #6 by 2030. SDG 6 aims to make sure all people have safe drinking water and sanitation. Management toward this goal focuses on the sustainable management of water resources, wastewater, ecosystems, and acknowledges the vital importance of an enabling social, economic, ecological, and political environment.

Target 6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

Indicator 6.1.1: Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services

Target 6.2 By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

Indicator 6.2.1: Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water

Target 6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

Indicator 6.3.1: Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated

Indicator 6.3.2: Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

Target 6.4 By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

Indicator 6.4.1: Change in water-use efficiency over time

Indicator 6.4.2: Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources

Target 6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

Indicator 6.5.1: Degree of integrated water resources management

Indicator 6.5.2: Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

Target 6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

Indicator 6.6.1: Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time

Target 6.a By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

Indicator 6.a.1: Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan

Target 6.b Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

Indicator 6.b.1: Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management

9.2.7 SDG #7: Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All

[figure number=Figure 9.10 caption=SDG 7 filename=Fig_9.10.jpg]

How easy is it for you to access energy? At the time of this writing, many people in the United States are feeling the effect of $5 per gallon gasoline. Actually, $5 per gallon in 2022 is not the highest “inflation adjusted” price of gasoline and gas prices in the United States are much lower than in many other countries. Water and energy are vital commodities to us. Consider the oft quoted phrase: “You don’t miss the water till the well runs dry.” It is true of energy also. Energy runs our communication. After blackouts from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, people were scrambling for ways to charge their cell phones often because they were desperate to communicate with loved ones and find safe places to seek shelter. Energy drives our transportation, our heating, our cooling, our industry, and so much more. Have you experienced a blackout or a brownout? If you live in a developed country, you can be fairly confident that it will be temporary and only a minor inconvenience. If it lasts a while you might have food go bad in your freezer. If it lasts longer you might not make it to work or school. Consider these demographic facts with respect to energy. One in three people use dangerous and inefficient cooking systems. These often involve burning wood and charcoal in unventilated spaces that cause many health problems. Almost a billion people (759 million) lack access to electricity. There is a growing recognition of a Food–Water–Energy nexus. The idea that food, water, and energy are interconnected in ways that many of us often fail to appreciate. Consider this: In California (a major exporter of food for the United States and the world), as much as 19% of the state’s electricity consumption is used for pumping, treating, collecting, and discharging water (Sanders & Webber, 2012). Finding sustainable, inexpensive, and reliable sources of energy is invaluable for addressing many immediate challenges; however, many are concerned that were we to solve the energy problem (by finding a miraculous energy source), we would only make other problems worse because it could enable unsustainable growth (Heinberg, 2009). Clearly many people in the world need access to more energy, while many of us in the developed world need to either develop cleaner energy and/or use a lot less energy if we hope to achieve anything remotely close to ecological sustainability.

Target 7.1 By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services

Indicator 7.1.1: Proportion of population with access to electricity

Indicator 7.1.2: Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology

Target 7.2 By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix

Indicator 7.2.1: Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption

Target 7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency

Indicator 7.3.1: Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and GDP

Target 7.a By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology

Indicator 7.a.1: International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy research and development and renewable energy production, including in hybrid systems

Target 7.b By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support

Indicator 7.b.1: Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita)

9.2.8 SDG #8: Promote Sustained, Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth, Full and Productive Employment and Decent Work for All

[figure number=Figure 9.11 caption=SDG 8 filename=Fig_9.11.jpg]

Economic development can be distinguished from economic growth wherein economic development is measured as an improvement in the well-being of the population, whereas economic growth is an increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is typically measured in dollars per year. Economic growth has always been associated with increases in the use/flow of material and energy. Consequently, when SDG #8 calls for increased economic growth (i.e., real GDP per capita growth), it is regarded by many as problematic. For this reason and others, it is argued that SDG #8 is not aligned with the other SDGs (Giannetti et al., 2020). “Not in alignment” essentially means that improvements in one indicator do not result in improvements in other indicators and can actually cause the other indicators to move in the wrong direction. However, a careful reading of Target 8.1 can be very elucidating. Target 8.1 seeks an annual growth in real GDP per capita. Because it is per capita, this goal can be achieved without increases in material and energy flows (that necessarily cause environmental degradation; Ward et al., 2017). The way to achieve this goal without compromising other goals can involve increasing material and energy flows for a smaller total population (more impact per capita for a smaller total population). Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during these conversations. The “per capita” constraint does open the avenue for achievement of this goal for many countries by increasing GDP per capita for smaller total populations. In wealthy countries, it is more likely that our material/energy demands need to be reduced (for environmental reasons) and that will likely result in lower GDP/capita, although not necessarily lower levels of economic development as measured by our wellbeing. SDG #8 has many indicators related to youth employment or education, meaningful work, safety of employment, and international financial laws. SDG 8 also has an indicator related to informal employment. In the United States, much of the informal economy is work that is done “under the table” where taxes are not paid, and many worker and employer protections are not in place. The informal economy in the U.S. has been estimated to be roughly 9% of GDP; however, it is a much larger fraction of the economy in the developed world. More than 60% of the world’s employed population (~2 billion people) earn their livelihoods in the informal sector (Bonnet et al., 2019). Transitioning these informal workers to the formal economy is essential to ensure protection of their rights, working conditions, and access to a variety of governmental services.

Target 8.1 Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries

Indicator 8.1.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita

Target 8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors

Indicator 8.2.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person

Target 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

Indicator 8.3.1: Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex

Target 8.4 Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, with developed countries taking the lead

Indicator 8.4.1: Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP

Indicator 8.4.2 Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP

Target 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value

Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities

Indicator 8.5.2: Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Target 8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training

Indicator 8.6.1: Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment or training

Target 8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms

Indicator 8.7.1: Proportion and number of children aged 5‑17 years engaged in child labour, by sex and age

Target 8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

Indicator 8.8.1: Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers, by sex and migrant status

Indicator 8.8.2: Level of national compliance with labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization (ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant status

Target 8.9 By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

Indicator 8.9.1: Tourism direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate

Target 8.10 Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

Indicator 8.10.1: (a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults

Indicator 8.10.2: Proportion of adults (15 years and older) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider

Target 8.a Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries

Indicator 8.a.1: Aid for Trade commitments and disbursements

Target 8.b By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization

Indicator 8.b.1: Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment strategy

9.2.9 SDG #9: Build Resilient Infrastructure, Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Foster Innovation

[figure number=Figure 9.12 caption=SDG 9 filename=Fig_9.12.jpg]

There is growing recognition that infrastructure is essential to the national interest of just about any and every country in the world. Much of “infrastructure” is regarded as “public goods” that will not be provided by market forces for a variety of reasons. Roads, waterways, sewage treatment plants, internet access, libraries, airports, railways, subways, and so much more fall into the category of “infrastructure.” It is interesting to see how challenging the development and maintenance of infrastructure can be. The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world; however, the infrastructure of the United States is in a sad state of affairs. The United States is ranked 13th in the world in road quality and 12th in quality of overall infrastructure (World Economic Forum, 2017). In 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ACSE) awarded a D+ to the United States, based on its assessment of issues such as the quality of public transportation, roads, waterways, ports, aviation, rail, and bridges (American Society of Civil Engineers [ASCE], 2017). The ACSE states “infrastructure is also critical for long-term economic growth, increasing GDP, employment, household income, and exports,” but also states “the reverse is also true—without prioritizing our nation’s infrastructure needs, deteriorating conditions can become a drag on the economy” (ASCE, 2017). Paul Krugman wrote an interesting piece in The New York Times lamenting the fact that “America no longer seems advanced compared with other wealthy countries” (Krugman, 2022). A functioning and resilient infrastructure is the foundation of every successful community and country. It is important to critically think about the word “resilient.” Resilience is the ability to absorb shocks to a system without significant loss of function of the system. Resilient systems avoid single point failures. They have backup systems. Resilience is expensive and stands in contrast to efficient. Consider our national parks as part of our “recreation and conservation infrastructure.” If we optimize our parks for “efficiency,” we would aim to have them at full capacity as often as possible. This results in many people not being able to access the parks. This is happening to a great extent now. However, if we operate our national parks with “resilience” in mind they would rarely be operated at full capacity and almost always be able to accommodate any number of people who wish to visit the parks. Are empty campground sites inefficient? Yes. Do empty campground sites in our national parks signal a “resilience” of our parks to variable demands of the population? Yes. “Efficiency” and “Resilience” are trade-offs. Public goods like national parks and much infrastructure must be designed and implemented with a strong eye toward resilience as opposed to efficiency because infrastructure is so often essential and interconnected to so many human needs. To successfully navigate the challenges coming our way, our citizens, industries, and governments must find a way to reimagine and rebuild the infrastructure that supports us all. To do this, we need to promote sustainable technologies and secure fair and universal access to public goods, infrastructure (including cyber-infrastructure), and financial markets. This is essential to achieving levels of prosperity that enable meaningful and healthy lives. As a significant co-benefit, this will create jobs and make sure that we build stable and prosperous societies across the globe.

Target 9.1 Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

Indicator 9.1.1: Proportion of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road

Indicator 9.1.1: Passenger and freight volumes, by mode of transport

Target 9.2 Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries

Indicator 9.2.1: Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita

Indicator 9.2.1: Manufacturing employment as a proportion of total employment

Target 9.3 Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets

Indicator 9.3.1: Proportion of small-scale industries in total industry value added

Indicator 9.3.1: Proportion of small-scale industries with a loan or line of credit

Target 9.4 By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities

Indicator 9.4.1: CO2 emission per unit of value added

Target 9.5 Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending

Indicator 9.5.1: Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP

Indicator 9.5.2: Researchers (in full-time equivalent) per million inhabitants

Target 9.a Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States

Indicator 9.a.1: Total official international support (official development assistance plus other official flows) to infrastructure

Target 9.b Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities

Indicator 9.b.1: Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added

Target 9.c Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020

Indicator 9.c.1: Proportion of population covered by a mobile network, by technology

9.2.10 SDG #10: Reduce Inequality Within and Among Countries

[figure number=Figure 9.13 caption=SDG 10 filename=Fig_9.13.jpg]

SDG #10 focuses on inequality. There are many ways to look at inequality in general. Elimination of economic inequality would be a situation in which all people had the same income and net worth or wealth. Absolute economic equality is likely neither a practical, realistic, or desirable goal. However, reducing the degree of economic inequality and improving the equitable distribution of income, wealth, and resources is absolutely warranted. Public appreciation of the significance of economic inequality was dramatically raised by the “Occupy Wall Street” (OWS) movement that began in 2011. OWS was a protest movement about economic inequality and the influence of money in politics. Money in politics is one of the ways through which the very wealthy make sure the distribution of wealth and income remains the same or gets increasingly rigged in their favor. We owe the profoundly increased awareness of the idea of the 1% and the 99% to the OWS movement. Discussions of wealth and income inequality must be mathematically nuanced. Averages are profoundly different than medians when we are looking at highly skewed distributions. Income and wealth are highly skewed distributions. There is a joke about nine poor folks in a bar who all have an income of $10,000 per year (less than poverty level in the United States). The average income in the bar is $9,000 per year. Jeff Bezos walks into the bar and the average income in the bar goes way beyond the poverty level but nobody was lifted out of poverty. Consider these findings from the latest “World Inequality Report” (Chancel et al., 2022; Video 9.2). The report highlights the extent of global income and wealth inequalities. At the global level, the average income for an adult is $23,380 (when adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity or PPP). That number may not seem so bad but we must recognize that this is an average—not a median. The report explains that this conceals wide disparities both between and within countries. The richest 10% of the global population currently take home 52% of the income. The poorest half of the global population?

Well they earn just 8%. The typical individual from the top 10% earns $122,100, but an individual from the bottom half will earn just $3,920. When it comes to wealth (aka “net worth” or the valuable assets and items over and above income), the gap is even wider. The poorest half of the world’s population owns just 2% of the global total, while the richest 10% own 76% of all wealth. The report notes that significant inequality can exist within countries. “National average income levels are poor predictors of inequality.” High-income countries can be unequal, as can low- and middle-income countries. Over the last two decades global inequalities between countries have declined, while income inequality has increased within most countries. The average income gap between the top 10% and bottom 50% of individuals within countries has almost doubled. Robert Reich provides a great YouTube on how wealth inequality is spiraling out of control (Video 9.4).

Video (9.4) alternatively takes a very optimistic view as to how “meritocracy” is the primary driver of wealth inequality. This position is quite the opposite of the one that Robert Reich takes with respect to taxes and the causes of wealth accumulation. Which video do you think should guide and/or inform the Targets and Indicators used to measure progress on SDG #10?

Target 10.1 By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average

Indicator 10.1.1: Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population

Target 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Target 10.3 Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

Indicator 10.3.1: Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law

Target 10.4 Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality

Indicator 10.4.1: Labour share of GDP

Indicator 10.4.2: Redistributive impact of fiscal policy

Target 10.5 Improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and strengthen the implementation of such regulations

Indicator 10.5.1: Financial Soundness Indicators

Target 10.6 Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions

Indicator 10.6.1: Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations

Target 10.7 Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies

Indicator 10.7.1: Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of montlhy income earned in country of destination

Indicator 10.7.2: Number of countries with migration policies that facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people

Indicator 10.7.3: Number of people who died or disappeared in the process of migration towards an international destination

Indicator 10.7.4: Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin

Target 10.a Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements

Indicator 10.a.1: Proportion of tariff lines applied to imports from least developed countries and developing countries with zero-tariff

Target 10.b Encourage official development assistance and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to States where the need is greatest, in particular least developed countries, African countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their national plans and programmes

Indicator 10.b.1: Total resource flows for development, by recipient and donor countries and type of flow (e.g. official development assistance, foreign direct investment and other flows)

Target 10.c By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent

Indicator 10.c.1: Remittance costs as a proportion of the amount remitted

9.2.11 SDG #11: Make Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable

[figure number=Figure 9.14 caption=SDG 11 filename=Fig_9.14.jpg]

Do you like where you live? Think about the cities and towns and places you have lived in your life. Which ones provided you with the most life satisfaction? Human settlements will retain their diverse and often unique qualities. Nonetheless, the world’s population is increasing. Eventually, it must stabilize and decrease. In the meantime, to accommodate everyone, we must build modern, sustainable human settlements. We need new and intelligent urban planning to create safe, affordable, and resilient human settlements with green and culturally inspiring living conditions. Here are some of the current challenges and failures with respect to this goal. One billion people currently live in slums. Most of these people are in Central and Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Only half of the world’s urban population has access to convenient public transport. Within our urban areas only 16% of urban areas are allocated to streets and open public spaces. Addressing these issues is an opportunity for experimentation with novel forms of urban design. There are many parallel efforts to improve our urban environments. The National Park City is a global movement to create cities worldwide where people and nature are better connected. London was the first city to be designated a National Park City. Adelaide, South Australia, the second. Adelaide is working toward a vision of a cooler, greener, wilder, and climate-resilient city that celebrates its unique culture (https://www.adelaidenationalparkcity.org/). The Cittaslow movement was born in Tuscany, Italy in 1999. Cittaslow envisions cities that “reclaim time” and enable the enjoyment of a slow, quiet, and reflective way of life (https://www.cittaslow.org/content/cittaslow-manifesto).

While SDG #11 aims to improve cities and human settlements in general, it does not proscribe too much as to what those cities and settlements must look like. Large modern cities like Singapore and quaint hamlets in Tuscany can both likely score very well on SDG #11. Key issues identified in the targets are the elimination of slums, access to public transportation, reducing vulnerability to environmental hazards and pollution, and adequate provision of streets, public spaces, and green space.

Target 11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums

Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing

Target 11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons

Indicator 11.2.1: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Target 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries

Indicator 11.3.1: Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate

Indicator 11.3.2: Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically

Target 11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

Indicator 11.4.1: Total per capita expenditure on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by source of funding (public, private), type of heritage (cultural, natural) and level of government (national, regional, and local/municipal)

Target 11.5 By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations

Indicator 11.5.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

Indicator 11.5.2: Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global domestic product (GDP)

Indicator 11.5.3: (a) Damage to critical infrastructure and (b) number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters

Target 11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management

Indicator 11.6.1: Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities

Indicator 11.6.2: Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)

Target 11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities

Indicator 11.7.1: Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Indicator 11.7.2: Proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months

Target 11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning

Indicator 11.a.1: Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space

Target 11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels

Indicator 11.b.1: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030

Indicator 11.b.2: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies

Target 11.c Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials

Indicator 11.c.1: Not available

9.2.12 SDG #12: Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

[figure number=Figure 9.15 caption=SDG 12 filename=Fig_9.15.jpg]

SDG #12 is one of the first discussed so far that may be more difficult for countries in the developed world to achieve. Developing countries will hopefully be able to adopt “leapfrog” technology and other innovations that allow them to improve human wellbeing with a smaller ecological footprint. An example of “leapfrogging” is when a country can move directly from having no or limited telephone infrastructure to establishing a cellular phone network, which allows them to “leapfrog” or skip the phase where they have to install copper wire landline telephones and related infrastructure altogether. The wealthy countries are engaging in unsustainable consumption and have become quite habituated to it. Therefore, it may be more difficult to make progress on these goals for the developed world. The nature of SDGs 1–11 can invite criticism in that they are essentially “blaming the victim.” SDGs 1–11 could be seen as simply waving a nagging finger at the developing world for being poor, lacking infrastructure, etc. and encouraging those countries to buck up and develop. Were the goals only “development” goals it would be easy to “blame the victim” (i.e., the developing countries of the world) for not achieving the goals. However, with sustainability as a significant element of the goals, there are challenges that the developing world must address particularly with respect to per capita material and energy flows and pollution. Some facts related to SDG #12 that the United Nations reports are The global “material footprint” has increased by 70% between 2000 and 2017. Examples of the material footprint are the fact that 1 million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute and 5 trillion single use plastic bags are thrown away each year. Electronic waste is a growing waste stream. Each person generates about 7.3 kg of e-waste each year and only 1.7 kg of the e-waste is recycled. Of course, these averages conceal the fact that most of these waste streams are generated by smaller numbers of people in the developed world; however, the gaps between developing world and developed world are shrinking in many of these domains. Fossil fuel subsidies continue to threaten the achievement of the climate change agreements. It is clear that we are going in the wrong direction with respect to sustainable consumption. Our ecological footprint is growing every year. Earth Overshoot Day in 2020 has moved to late July. This means that by late July, we have used up the regenerative resources provided by the earth and we are depleting natural capital from that date on. This date has moved to earlier and earlier dates in the calendar year since 1971 (Figure 9.16).

[figure number=Figure 9.16 caption=Earth Overshoot Day filename=Fig_9.16.jpg]

The targets and indicators for SDG #10 look at a variety of facets to the problematic including assessing how many countries are “part of the solution,” material footprints at national and per capita levels, food waste, recycling rates, renewable energy, education efforts, fossil fuel subsidies, and environmental and ecological accounting frameworks. Again, take a critical eye toward the targets and indicators described below with respect to measurement and whether or not progress on the measurements will mean real progress toward the stated goal.

Target 12.1 Implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries

Indicator 12.1.1: Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production

Target 12.2 By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources

Indicator 12.2.1: Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP

Indicator 12.2.2: Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP

Target 12.3 By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses

Indicator 12.3.1: (a) Food loss index and (b) food waste index

Target 12.4 By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment

Indicator 12.4.1: Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement

Indicator 12.4.2: (a) Hazardous waste generated per capita; and (b) proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment

Target 12.5 By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse

Indicator 12.5.1: National recycling rate, tons of material recycled

Target 12.6 Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle

Indicator 12.6.1: Number of companies publishing sustainability reports

Target 12.7 Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities

Indicator 12.7.1: Number of countries implementing sustainable public procurement policies and action plans

Target 12.8 By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature

Indicator 12.8.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

Target 12.a Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production

Indicator 12.a.1: Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita)

Target 12.b Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

Indicator 12.b.1: Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability

Target 12.c Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities

Indicator 12.c.1: Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies (production and consumption) per unit of GDP

9.2.13 SDG #13: Take Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and Its Impacts

[figure number=Figure 9.17 caption=SDG 13 filename=Fig_9.17.jpg]

We have discussed climate change issues throughout this book. Perhaps it is not surprising that addressing climate change is one of the stated SDGs. There is an entire United Nations sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that has been established to address this issue. The United Nations reports that 125 of 154 developing countries are “formulating and implementing national climate adaptation plans.” Imagine if 154 out of 154 developing countries got to the point of “formulating or implementing national climate adaptation plans”—would that necessarily mean we have made any progress on slowing or stopping climate change? Again, use a critical eye toward the targets and indicators you read for each of the SDGs. There is no doubt that we are failing to make appropriate progress on the climate change issue. Failure to meet this one SDG profoundly impairs our ability to achieve the other SDGs. Clearly, this SDG is “aligned” with the other SDGs (with perhaps the exception of SDG #8); nonetheless, the CO2 concentration in the earth’s atmosphere continues to increase. The natural world supports the human world. As the U.N. GEO 6 document stated “Healthy Planet, Healthy people.” If we fail to achieve the SDGs that are related to the earth’s supporting ecosystem services, we cannot achieve the other SDGs. It has been suggested that the SDGs be presented as a “wedding cake” with the fundamental ecologically oriented SDGs serving as the foundation of the cake (Figure 9.18).

[figure number=Figure 9.18 caption=“Wedding Cake” model for the SDGs filename=Fig_9.18.jpg]

The next two SDGs also deal with the ecological foundation of human society and our economy (Life on Land, Climate Action, Life below water, and water itself). The SDGs state that no single goal should be given priority and they should be regarded as a whole. Others are suggesting these “biosphere” goals perhaps should be given priority. What do you think?

Target 13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

Indicator 13.1.2: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030

Indicator 13.1.3: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies

Target 13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning

Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Indicator 13.2.2: Total greenhouse gas emissions per year

Target 13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

Indicator 13.3.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

Target 13.a Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible

Indicator 13.a.1: Amounts provided and mobilized in United States dollars per year in relation to the continued existing collective mobilization goal of the $100 billion commitment through to 2025

Target 13.b Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities

Indicator 13.b.1: Number of least developed countries and small island developing States with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

9.2.14 SDG #14: Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development

[figure number=Figure 9.19 caption=SDG 14 filename=Fig_9.19.jpg]

We have discussed many of the challenges associated with overfishing, plastics in the ocean, and ocean acidification. The U.N. acknowledges and states that the sustainability of our oceans is under severe threat. This includes great pacific garbage gyres, fisheries collapse, ocean warming, ocean acidification, and eutrophication. Over 3 billion people depend on the oceans for their livelihoods. Dead zones in our oceans have increased from 400 in 2008 to 700 in 2019. Dead zones are areas of water that lack sufficient oxygen to support marine life. Over half of key marine biodiversity areas are not protected. While roughly 70% of our planet’s surface is ocean only, only 1.2% of our national research budgets are allocated for ocean science. Again, are we allocating our resources wisely? Many economists suggest there is an invisible hand that makes sure we do. Those of us who depend on ocean health may beg to differ. The nations of the world have many agreements, rules, and monitoring practices for our fisheries. Work in this area is well established. Nonetheless, we are failing. Fisheries are depleted and collapsing. The condition of our oceans is deteriorating at an alarming rate. No Marvel comics superheroes will show up to save our oceans. This requires a collective effort on the part of all nations of the world. In many respects, it is almost absurd to tackle such a formidable problem by measuring a few things as described below. This is where we are at though.

Target 14.1 By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution

Indicator 14.1.1 (a) Index of coastal eutrophication; and (b) plastic debris density

Target 14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans

Indicator 14.2.1 Number of countries using ecosystem-based approaches to managing marine areas

Target 14.3 Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels

Indicator 14.3.1 Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations

Target 14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics

Indicator 14.4.1 Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels

Target 14.5 By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information

Indicator 14.5.1 Coverage of protected areas in relation to marine areas

Target 14.6 By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation

Indicator 14.6.1 Degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

Target 14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism

Indicator 14.7.1 Sustainable fisheries as a proportion of GDP in small island developing States, least developed countries and all countries

Target 14.a Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries

Indicator 14.a.1 Proportion of total research budget allocated to research in the field of marine technology

Target 14.b Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets

Indicator 14.b.1 Degree of application of a legal/regulatory/policy/institutional framework which recognizes and protects access rights for small‐scale fisheries

Target 14.c Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources, as recalled in paragraph 158 of “The future we want”

Indicator 14.c.1 Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting and implementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, ocean-related instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources

9.2.15 SDG #15: Protect, Restore and Promote Sustainable Use of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Sustainably Manage Forests, Combat Desertification, and Halt and Reverse Land Degradation and Halt Biodiversity Loss

[figure number=Figure 9.20 caption=SDG 15 filename=Fig_9.20.jpg]

SDG #15 is another “wedding cake” foundation layer of the SDGs. While we have numerous metrics for human demographics (e.g., maternal mortality rates, life expectancy, age specific fertility rates, and so on) and economics (GDP per capita, GDP per sector, efficiency of production, and so on), we are woefully underfunded to assess the full complexity of our terrestrial ecosystems. Again, it seems almost absurd to lump the monitoring and assessment of all of our terrestrial ecosystems into a single SDG. You buy a $5 cup of coffee at a Starbucks with a credit card and documentation of that transaction will exist on computers throughout the world for who knows how long. In the time it takes to buy and drink that cup of coffee, a species went extinct. We may not even have named that species or even known that it existed and if we had named it we likely will not know it went extinct for several years. SDG 15 aims to protect our lands from a biodiversity perspective, from an ecosystem services perspective, and from a land degradation perspective. All of these are important goals that must be achieved in order to achieve the other SDGs. This goal is truly “alligned” with the other goals because all of the goals associated with “society” and “economy” depend on functioning ecosystems on land and in the oceans. As you read the targets and indicators for SDG #15, give some thought to how we can measure these indicators and what it might cost to establish a global monitoring program. Also, think about how useful Earth Observations (e.g., satellite imagery) can be in some of these areas.

Target 15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements

Indicator 15.1.1 Forest area as a proportion of total land area

Indicator 15.1.2 Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type

Target 15.2 By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

Indicator 15.2.1 Progress towards sustainable forest management

Target 15.3 By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world

Indicator 15.3.1 Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area

Target 15.4 By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development

Indicator 15.4.1 Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity

Indicator 15.4.2 Mountain Green Cover Index

Target 15.5 Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species

Indicator 15.5.1 Red List Index

Target 15.6 Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed

Indicator 15.6.1 Number of countries that have adopted legislative, administrative and policy frameworks to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits

Target 15.7 Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products

Indicator 15.7.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked

Target 15.8 By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species

Indicator 15.8.1 Proportion of countries adopting relevant national legislation and adequately resourcing the prevention or control of invasive alien species

Target 15.9 By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts

Indicator 15.9.1 (a) Number of countries that have established national targets in accordance with or similar to Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in their national biodiversity strategy and action plans and the progress reported towards these targets; and (b) integration of biodiversity into national accounting and reporting systems, defined as implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting

Target 15.a Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems

Indicator 15.a.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments

Target 15.b Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation

Indicator 15.b.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments

Target 15.c Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities

Indicator 15.c.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked

9.2.16 SDG #16: Promote Peaceful and Inclusive Societies for Sustainable Development, Provide Access to Justice for All and Build Effective, Accountable and Inclusive Institutions at All Levels

[figure number=Figure 9.21 caption=SDG 16 filename=Fig_9.21.jpg]

Ask yourself these basic questions: Do you trust your government? Do you trust Google? Do you trust Exxon Mobil? Do you trust your local police officer? Do you trust reports about air quality and water quality where you live? Do you believe most people pay their fair share of taxes? Do you trust your neighbors? Do you trust your bank? Do you trust that the $20 dollar bill in your wallet can be exchanged for goods or services next year? Do you trust the information on Fox News? Do you trust the information on MSNBC? Do you trust that your vote and the votes of other citizens will be counted and counted fairly? Do you trust the reports of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding the COVID pandemic? Do you trust that your employer is paying your social security taxes? Do you trust that you’ll get your social security pension when you retire? Trust is fundamental and essential to the functioning of any society. Trusting each other, trusting our public institutions, and trusting our leaders are all indispensable for a functioning society. Trust allows people to cooperate with and express solidarity for one another. Trust allows public bodies to plan and execute policies and deliver services. Greater public trust improves compliance in regulations and tax collections. Public trust is essential to protecting property rights. Trust also gives confidence to consumers and investors and is crucial to creating jobs and the functioning of economies more broadly. People who self-report of a more trusting attitude in general live longer. Success in achieving each of the SDGs—from eliminating poverty (SDG1) to combatting climate change (SDG13), to building peaceful and inclusive societies (SDG16)—will depend on citizens’ and businesses’ trust in public institutions and in each other. There is increasing concern about a crisis in public trust that is contributing to, among other things, support for extreme political views, increasing public discontent, protests and in some cases violent conflict. The U.N. Secretary-General recently warned of a “trust deficit” that threatens to undermine progress towards the SDGs. SDG #15 attempts to measure and monitor levels of trust and the effectiveness and equitable practice of businesses, citizens, institutions, and law enforcement throughout the world. This U.N. website describes many of the ways public trust in our government and corporate entities is declining and explains why it is so important to both rebuild failing institutions and restore public trust in them in order to achieve all of the SDGs (https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2021/07/trust-public-institutions/). As you read the targets and indicators for SDG #15, note that there is not one target or indicator that measures via surveys the level of public trust for these institutions and entities. Corruption in government and industry is a serious problem. Transparency International (https://www.transparency.org/) is a global movement whose mission is to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability, and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society. Transparency International has developed a “corruption perception index” (CPI) that varies from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean; https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021). According to the CPI, the least corrupt countries of the world are Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand. The most corrupt countries of the world include North Korea, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan. The United States had a CPI score of 67, which ranked it at #27 out of the 180 countries that were scored. Note that there are no targets or indicators related to measuring public perception of corruption for SDG #15. There is a saying that “perception is reality.” Trust in government provided information about the COVID pandemic was very low. Some of this is likely due to bumbling communication on the part of public health agencies and some was likely due to the “novel” nature of the virus and the fact that what we knew about it evolved with time; however, many members of the public did not believe the virus even existed and believed bizarre conspiracy theories about the vaccines. Lack of trust and misperceptions of reality presented major challenges to governments, businesses, and public health agencies during the pandemic. Do you think surveys of the general public regarding “trust” in government, business, media might be a good indicator for this SDG?

Target 16.1 Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

Indicator 16.1.1 Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age

Indicator 16.1.2 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause

Indicator 16.1.3 Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months

Indicator 16.1.4 Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live after dark

Target 16.2 End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children

Indicator 16.2.1 Proportion of children aged 1–17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month

Indicator 16.2.2 Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age and form of exploitation

Indicator 16.2.3 Proportion of young women and men aged 18–29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18

Target 16.3 Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all

Indicator 16.3.1 Proportion of victims of violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms

Indicator 16.3.2 Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population

Indicator 16.3.3 Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism

Target 16.4 By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime

Indicator 16.4.1 Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in current United States dollars)

Indicator 16.4.2 Proportion of seized, found or surrendered arms whose illicit origin or context has been traced or established by a competent authority in line with international instruments

Target 16.5 Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms

Indicator 16.5.1 Proportion of persons who had at least one contact with a public official and who paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials, during the previous 12 months

Indicator 16.5.2 Proportion of businesses that had at least one contact with a public official and that paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials during the previous 12 months

Target 16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

Indicator 16.6.1 Primary government expenditures as a proportion of original approved budget, by sector (or by budget codes or similar)

Indicator 16.6.2 Proportion of population satisfied with their last experience of public services

Target 16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

Indicator 16.7.1 Proportions of positions in national and local institutions, including (a) the legislatures; (b) the public service; and (c) the judiciary, compared to national distributions, by sex, age, persons with disabilities and population groups

Indicator 16.7.2 Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group

Target 16.8 Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance

Indicator 16.8.1 Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations

Target 16.9 By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration

Indicator 16.9.1 Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority, by age

Target 16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

Indicator 16.10.1 Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months

Indicator 16.10.2 Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information

Target 16.a Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime

Indicator 16.a.1 Existence of independent national human rights institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles

Target 16.b Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development

Indicator 16.b.1 Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law

9.2.17 SDG #17: Strengthen the Means of Implementation and Revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

[figure number=Figure 9.22 caption=SDG 17 filename=Fig_9.22.jpg]

SDG #17 is essentially about intranational and international cooperation to achieve all the SDGs. In previous chapters of this book, we suggested that Homo sapiens is likely the dominant species on this planet because of our ability to cooperate. Initially, this cooperation took place at the family level and is likely related to the necessity of cooperation related to raising helpless infants that would not survive if not cared for. It is believed that this evolved to group and tribal-level cooperation. Language likely enabled these kinds of cooperation. Cooperation has been very very good for H. sapiens in many respects. However, we now face urgent global challenges that require us to cooperate at unprecedented scales to overcome challenges related to our very success. SDG #17 aims to foster better governance both within countries and between countries. The targets and indicators seek to measure funding for government via taxation, aid flows from the developed world to the developing world, internet access, technology transfer, public–private partnerships, and remittance flows. Recall that remittances are the cash or goods sent by international migrants back to their families in their home country. Remittances have been growing and now represent the largest source of foreign income for many developing nations. Remittances are significant. In 2020, over half a Trillion dollars flowed to middle-income and developing countries. It is perhaps a sad state of affairs when the largest flow of international aid results from remittance flows provided by immigrants from those poor countries working outside of their home country rather than simply coming from international aid. The structural nature and configuration of the kinds of cooperation we need to achieve the SDGs is likely a very contested issue. Are public–private partnerships a good idea? Water privatization is a term describing what happens when the private sector participates in the provision of water services and sanitation. It is a common form of a public–private partnership and there is considerable disagreement as to whether these kinds of public–private partnerships are a good idea. A plan along these lines failed miserably in Bolivia where the U.S.-based Bechtel Corporation bought rights to provide water to the people of Cochabamba, Boliva (Finnegan, 2002). This public–private partnership in Bolivia resulted in nationwide protests in which the government of Bolivia had to declare a state of emergency. Bolivia regretted participating in this IMF supported public–private partnership (Forero, 2005). This is an example of an international public–private partnership. Many of these also take place within countries. In Colorado, for example, the people have voted down numerous initiatives to fund highways that desperately need attention. Plenary Roads, a consortium that includes Goldman Sachs, contributed their own private monies to build a highway between Denver, CO and Boulder, CO (US Highway 36 is owned by the state of CO). As a result of this deal, Pleanary Roads became responsible for maintaining and plowing the highway as well as a stretch of Interstate 25. Plenary Roads investors recoup their investment over 50 years through express tolls (Associated Press, 2014). Opponents of this deal between the State of Colorado and Plenary Roads were forcibly removed from a transportation commission hearing. Should private entities take over infrastructure that is a public good? Is privatization of our roads with “fees” for express lanes equitable allocation of public assets? While SDG #17 has been established, it is not clear which direction we want many of the indicators to go. Do we want larger remittance flows or smaller? Do we want more private control over public goods or less? Consider these questions as you contemplate the SDGs in general and the targets and indicators for SDG #17 described below.

Target 17.1 Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection

17.1.1 Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP, by source

17.1.2 Proportion of domestic budget funded by domestic taxes

Target 17.2 Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries

17.2.1 Net official development assistance, total and to least developed countries, as a proportion of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee donors’ gross national income (GNI)

Target 17.3 Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources

17.3.1 Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources

17.3.2 Volume of remittances (in United States dollars) as a proportion of total GDP

Target 17.4 Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress

17.4.1 Debt service as a proportion of exports of goods and services

Target 17.5 Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries

17.5.1 Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries

Target 17.6 Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism

17.6.1 Fixed Internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed

Target 17.7 Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed

17.7.1 Total amount of funding for developing countries to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies

Target 17.8 Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology

17.8.1 Proportion of individuals using the Internet

Target 17.9 Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation

17.9.1 Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South‑South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries

Target 17.10 Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda

17.10.1 Worldwide weighted tariff-average

Target 17.11 Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020

17.11.1 Developing countries’ and least developed countries’ share of global exports

Target 17.12 Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access

17.12.1 Weighted average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States

Target 17.13 Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence

17.13.1 Macroeconomic Dashboard

Target 17.14 Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development

17.14.1 Number of countries with mechanisms in place to enhance policy coherence of sustainable development

Target 17.15 Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development

17.15.1 Extent of use of country-owned results frameworks and planning tools by providers of development cooperation

Target 17.16 Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries

17.16.1 Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

Target 17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

17.17.1 Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure

Target 17.18 By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts

17.18.1 Statistical capacity indicator for Sustainable Development Goal monitoring

17.18.2 Number of countries that have national statistical legislation that complies with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

17.18.3 Number of countries with a national statistical plan that is fully funded and under implementation, by source of funding

Target 17.19 By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries

17.19.1 Dollar value of all resources made available to strengthen statistical capacity in developing countries

17.19.2 Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration

9.2.18 Monitoring Progress on the SDGs

If you have read all of Section 9.2, you have read all of the 17 SDGs, all 169 of the targets for those goals, and all 231 unique indicators (you perhaps may have noticed that some of the indicators repeat and exist for more than one goal). Congratulations. You are among a select few who have read all of these. You are now more informed than many others who choose to engage in discussions and critical evaluation of the SDGs. The SDGs are probably the most significant global effort aimed at achieving sustainable development. The people at “Our World in Data” have developed an “SDG tracker” that allows anyone to monitor progress on the various goals as data becomes available. The SDG tracker can be found here: https://sdg-tracker.org/. I encourage you to explore the website and ask questions about how well something like the SDG tracker can inform effective policy for national, regional, and local governments.

9.3 Earth Observation Data to Support the SDGs

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is a global network connecting government institutions, academic and research institutions, data providers, businesses, engineers, scientists, and experts to create innovative solutions to global challenges at a time of exponential data growth, human development and climate change that transcend national and disciplinary boundaries. GEO is creating a Global Earth Observation System of Systems to improve our ability to integrate observing systems and share data using common standards. Developing “Apples to Apples to Apples” metrics that allow for valid comparisons between regions and countries is an ongoing challenge. GEO asserts that EOs, geospatial data, and other derived information can play useful and insightful roles in monitoring SDG targets, tracking progress for evaluating policy effectiveness, and helping nations and stakeholders engage in adaptive management that will contribute toward achieving the SDGs. EO data used in conjunction with demographic and statistical data can help national and local governments analyze and model conditions, create maps and other visualizations, evaluate impacts across sectors and regions, monitor change over time in a consistent manner, and improve accountability (Anderson et al., 2017).

Some examples of this are the following: Earth-Observing satellites can track tree cover extent and forest loss and gain over time, measure air quality in cities and across regions, map the extent and annual changes in global mangrove cover, and monitor crop conditions (GEO, 2017). Other examples include Mapping Slums (Kuffer et al., 2018), measuring the extent of the informal economy (Ghosh et al., 2009), measuring human appropriation of net primary productivity (Haberl et al., 2014), mapping land degradation (Sutton et al., 2016), and even measuring and mapping poverty and human development (Elvidge et al., 2012; Ghosh et al., 2009). The list of EO applications for supporting the measurement of both targets and indicators is long and thousands of peer-reviewed articles have been published on a variety of related applications (Figure 9.23).

[figure number=Figure 9.23 caption=Earth Observation to Support the SDGs filename=Fig_9.23.jpg]

9.3.1 Context Sensitive Performance Indicators

The SDGs targets and indicators attempt to characterize, measure, and respond to a suite of planetary civilizational challenges. The indicators need to be measured in appropriate ways with sufficient spatiotemporal detail to provide useful and actionable information. Aggregate indicators such as GDP, the ecological footprint, the human development index, and the Genuine Progress Indicator (Kubiszewski et al., 2013) are interesting and often useful; however, they often do not provide enough spatiotemporal resolution to be actionable at the level of specific enterprises and local governments nor do they guide management of particular natural resources or impacts (Diaz-Sarachaga et al., 2018). There is undoubtedly a tension between two few indicators and too many (Kubiszewski et al., 2022). Aggregate global and national level measures of our collective failure to achieve the SDGs (e.g., rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, loss of biodiversity, and growing economic inequality) call for the establishment of context-based local monitoring and enforcement of phenomena relevant to the goals so that practical and effective changes can be initiated and sustained.

Monitoring and enforcement of rules and policies are often required because many individuals, businesses, and governments will not obey them unless there is a perceived probability of consequences (e.g., speed limits are pointless if there are no speeding tickets). Achievement of the SDGs will likely be a formidable challenge because a much of the monitoring and enforcement will necessarily affect wealthy individuals and large corporations who operate primarily in the developed world. In light of these challenges the gauges and instruments in the cockpit of “Spaceship Earth” must be regarded as fair and valid measures of appropriate phenomena to stimulate compliance. An example of a “Context Sensitive” sustainability performance indicator has been developed that measures water use efficiency (Wang et al., 2022). A suite of context-based metric could ultimately serve as the dials and gauges on “Planetary Dashboard.”

The Montreal Protocol is a prime example of effective environmental policy that continues to require spatiotemporally specific data for monitoring and enforcement. One important reason for the success of the Montreal Protocol as an environmental policy is due to enduring environmental monitoring and constant vigilance with respect to enforcement. The policy correctly and explicitly acknowledges the driver (e.g., CFC emissions) of the environmental damage. The need for sustained monitoring and enforcement is exemplified by two Chinese provinces that have been identified as emitting a significant amount of ozone-depleting chemicals (Cyranoski, 2019). The need for increased spatiotemporal resolution of data for monitoring SDG targets and indicators suggest a need for more observational data that capture the “Pressures” and “Drivers” from a “Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts, Response” (DPSIR) perspective (Patrício et al., 2016). The DPSIR model of intervention suggests that a holistic analysis of all the drivers, pressures, states, and impacts is essential to develop appropriate responses. There is some criticism that the current format of the SDGs focuses too much on the “States” and “Impacts” with a failure to sufficiently asses the “Drivers” and “Pressures” (Spangenberg, 2017).

9.4 Criticism of the SDGs

As you can imagine, any attempt to develop social, economic, and environmental policy at the global level will face a variety of criticism from many people, institutions, and businesses. The SDGs are a monumental effort to tackle many of the formidable and difficult challenges facing human civilization. The challenges we face absolutely call for a change in direction, which will most likely require governments that are currently failing (in both the developed and developing world) to become significantly more effective. The intention of the SDGs is laudable and much of the criticism of the SDGs and the United Nations in general is unwarranted and or spurious. Nonetheless, there are legitimate criticisms of the SDGs that are perhaps warranted and a few of them are presented here in the spirit of constructive criticism.

9.4.1 Construct Validity of the SDGs in General and Poverty in Particular

Poverty is often characterized as a failure of the individual (Video 9.6). Many people believe this. Philip Alston (former U.N. rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights) suggests “poverty is a political choice and will be with us until its elimination is reconceived as a matter of social justice” (Alston, 2020). One theme of Alston’s critique of the SDGs is their reliance on what he regards as a flawed World Bank definition of poverty—the International Poverty Line (IPL) of $1.90 a day (which has recently been lowered to a paltry $1.25 per day). Additionally, Alston found the evaluation method through the annual SDG High-Level Political Forum to be a weak monitoring instrument, suggesting that the goals are characterized by their “voluntary nature,” “bland reports and colorful posters” (Alston, 2020). This image of the SDGs taken in the “Duty Free” section of the Glasgow Airport during the COP26 certainly adds credence to Alston’s claim (Figure 9.24). Alston’s scathing critique of the SDGs looks at what we might regard as “construct validity” failures of the whole effort. Construct validity concerns the extent to which measurements accurately assess what you are intending to measure. Are people making $3.80 a day not in extreme poverty? This is a deep and complex topic. The interested student is encouraged to read Alston’s full report (Alston, 2020). Another significant thread in Alston’s criticism of the SDGs is their adherence to an impossible “Pro-Growth” model of development. Stephen McCloskey writes in his blog:

Perhaps the UN Rapporteur’s most damming criticism of the goals and the main reason why they will not be achieved by 2030 is their adherence to the same pro-growth, neoliberal model of development that underpins most of the problems that the SDGs are trying to address, including climate change.

[figure number=Figure 9.24 caption=An Obscene Juxtaposition? The SDG Poster in the “Duty Free” Section of the Glasgow Airport filename=Fig_9.24.jpg]

This McCloskey quote raises another very important criticism of the SDGs.

9.4.2 Is GDP Growth Essential for Achieving the SDGs?

The SDGs are an important policy achievement toward identifying shared goals for addressing global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, effective policy for sustainable development fundamentally depends on coherence (e.g., alignment) among the SDGs. Progress toward one goal should not inhibit progress toward others. There are positive synergies emerging among the metrics (indicators) used to measure progress toward the various targets of the SDGs. However, the choice of GDP per capita as an indicator for SDG 8 (“Decent Work and Economic Growth”) contradicts the evidence that limitless economic growth is not possible on a planet with finite resources (Coscieme et al., 2020). Claims of “Decoupling” negative impacts on the environment from continued economic growth have been soundly debunked (Ward et al., 2016). Pursuing unconditional GDP growth risks failing to achieve the SDGs overall. In the European Union, GDP is unrelated to other measures of economic performance such as levels of employment and relates inversely to indicators of environmental sustainability and broader measures of wellbeing. Pursuing SDG 8 through a continuous increase in GDP will therefore hinder the achievement of environmental goals and goals on reducing inequalities. New guidelines need to be identified for selecting alternative indicators for SDG 8 with the aim of improving coherence among all of the SDGs, as well as between the SDGs and other policy initiatives for sustainability. This will inform a better monitoring of SDG 8 and the definition of post-2030 Agendas for sustainable development.

9.4.3 Do the SDGs Truly Support “Strong” Sustainable Development?

There are two competing ideas regarding the concept of “Sustainability.” Strong sustainability argues that “human capital” and “natural capital” are not substitutable whereas Weak Sustainability (embraced by environmental rather than ecological economists) purports that human and natural capital are substitutable (Dietz & Neumayer, 2007). A simple example is warranted here. The enjoyment (aka “utility”) of downhill skiing requires human capital (in the form of the skill of the skier), natural capital (in the form of the mountains with snow on them), and built capital in the form of ski lifts, skis, boots, poles, etc. According to “Weak” sustainability more human and built capital could be substituted for natural capital and the “utility” of enjoying downhill skiing would not be compromised. This may work when you trade humans for robots (i.e., human capital for built capital) but ecological economists have long made the argument that we cannot completely substitute “natural capital” for other forms of capital. Can you really ski or snorkel or enjoy myriad other vital human activities (including eating food) without natural capital? Short answer is No. Thus, if the SDGs implicitly assume a “weak sustainability” conceptual model they are fundamentally flawed (Wackernagel et al., 2017). There are others calling for a more balanced and integrated set of SDGs that, for example, do not collapse all of the earth’s terrestrial ecosystems into a single SDG (Biggeri et al., 2019).

There are many scientific works on sustainability that lack conceptual models and supporting indicators (Agostinho et al., 2019). The definition of sustainability by the United Nations Brundtland Report (1987) allows for many distinct interpretations of “sustainability.” The weak sustainability model is characterized by an interdependent relationship among capitals, allowing for their total substitutability (e.g., environmental capital can be reduced as far as this reduction causes an equal increase in economic or social capital). On the other hand, the strong sustainability model requires that the different capitals cannot be substituted among each other, since they provide different and unique contributions. Although several different models exist, it is increasingly being recognized that strong sustainability must be pursued for medium to long-term strategic political planning because it recognizes the hard truths that the Earth has biophysical limits with respect to providing resources and absorbing wastes (Rockström et al., 2009).

9.4.4 Are the SDGs Overly Complexified With the Unstated Intention of Preventing Action?

Extinction Rebellion (XR) (https://rebellion.global/) is a popular movement advocating nonviolent civil disobedience to push for rapid action on climate and other ecological crises. Statements from one of their flyers at one of the U.N. Climate Summits stated the following:

“Government hasn’t got this. Business hasn’t got this. We need urgent change, and we need it yesterday. People everywhere in the world need us to step up; the future needs us to step up. Once we begin to act the politically impossible can become inevitable. But the time for talking is over. Nobody is going to save us. We are the people we’ve been waiting for.

Extinction Rebellion claims we are in a “State of Emergency,” which suggests that the U.N. efforts such as SDGs and related Climate Summits are corporate controlled theatrical virtue signaling that are designed to prevent rather than promote action. XR goes on to say:

Our climate is breaking down and life on Earth is in crisis: accelerated by our economic system and supported by politicians who fail to act. Our democracy is a horror show of corruption. Millions have died in a pandemic our governments were too incompetent and too greedy to handle like grown ups. The climate emergency is an even greater crisis—and we cannot trust the government to act.

The sense of urgency in the extinction rebellion flyer was matched by many of the scientists at the COP26. One paper presented at the COP26 titled World scientists warning into action stated that we need large-scale, rapid, transformative changes in our economies, societies, cultures, and politics. The paper makes recommendations in the following areas Energy, Atmospheric pollutants, Nature, Food Systems, Population Stabilization, and Economic Reforms. Many scientists at the COP26 felt that the protesters on the streets of Glasgow had a more realistic understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis than the politicians and negotiators within the COP.

Many scientists and members of the public are increasingly and incredibly frustrated with our collective failure to address not only the climate issues but most of the issues addressed by the SDGs. Some of these frustrations were evident in cartoons posted at the COP26 (Figure 9.25). The SDGs are a complex suite of Goals, Targets, and Measurements that constitute a challenging and complex narrative manifested in language. Garrett Hardin made some interesting comments about the nature of language, metrics, and statistics relevant to these criticisms of the SDGs in a paper titled: Paramount Positions in Ecological Economics (Hardin, 1991):

The official function of language is to facilitate thought and communication. One of its unofficial functions, just as real, is to prevent thought and communication. When language is used to discourage thinking, this fact is never, of course, announced by the speaker or writer (who may be honestly unaware of what he is doing). Repression rules. One sign of repression, long recognized as such by psychiatrists, is logorrhea—verbal diarrhea, the pathological multiplication of words. Since science is both literate and numerate, psychological defenses in the exposition of science can also take a form that we call arithmorrhea—the multiplication of numbers and statistics beyond useful bounds. Both pathologies result in an information overload, where the word “information” is understood in the limited sense in which it is used in “information theory.” Proliferation of narrowly defined information can easily interfere with the acquisition of real information. Simply put, information can be the enemy of wisdom.

An example should make the point clear. Less than a decade ago, the World Fertility Survey was completed. In scores of nations, women were polled to learn how many children they wanted, how many they expected to have, etc. The project cost more than 50 million dollars. One of the few people to publicly question whether the money was well spend was the editor of Population and Development Review, Paul Demeny, who (in the following slightly abbreviated extract) asked: “What differential policy implications follow from the finding that in Nigeria among women with 6 living children 8.2% did not want additional children, whereas in Kenya the corresponding percentage was 25.5 and in Morocco 68.8? Arguably none” (Demeny 1988, p. 470). In the “hard sciences” of physics and chemistry, even a slight change in a constant may produce great changes in practical conclusions, because physical constants are part of a tightly-knit theoretical fabric. Demeny’s statement makes it clear that this is not the case in demography. In passing, we should note that the common habit of expressing demographic statistics to the first decimal (e.g. 9.2% instead of plain 8%) falsely implies a significance such statistics seldom have.

Hardin and Demeny’s aforementioned criticism of the World Fertility Survey could also be applied to the implementation of the SDGs. A counterargument could be made that the cockpit of a jumbo jet is loaded with a massive suite of meters and gauges that all provide information necessary for the pilot to safely operate the plane. Perhaps the SDG’s aspire to be a similar cockpit of information for safely operating planet earth and operating within planetary boundaries. However, assessing the SDGs as an effort to communicate to the people of the world the need to chart a path to a just, sustainable, and desirable future suggests they are perhaps overwhelmingly complex. Garrett Hardin’s paper Paramount Positions in Ecological Economics goes on to suggest a more cogent suite of suggestions for communicating fundamental ideas of sustainability to the broader public. They focus on ideas of “carrying capacity” and sustainable populations.

9.5 Population and the SDGs

If you don’t know where you’re going you’ll end up someplace else

– Yogi Berra

The quote above attributed to Yogi Berra implies another criticism of the SDGs. What does the end game of sustainability look like in terms of total population and per capita levels of consumption? The SDGs do not provide an answer to this question. Garrett Hardin exhorts that a foundational principle of sustainability (and Ecological Economics) should be Thou Shalt Not Exceed The Carrying Capacity. He argues that just as physics has the 2nd law of thermodynamics, which absolutely prohibits the idea of a perpetual motion machine, sustainability scientists should have a law that says that living within carrying capacity is essential to achieve sustainability. In Chapter 7, we explored spatially explicit measures of human impact on the planet and related them to spatially explicit measures of biological capacity. We have looked at EOs that can assess these phenomena quantitatively with subnational spatial resolution and annual temporal resolution. Arguably, something along the ideas of Mathis Wackernagel’s ecological footprint can be assessed at global, regional, national, and local scales to communicate to the public, in easily understandable terms, how, where, and why we are making progress toward achieving a just, sustainable, and desirable world. Ignoring the role of total population size, or pretending it is not an issue, as the SDGs seem to do, is not an honest way to present the challenges we face and it is likely that the public at large understands that important aspects of the sustainability challenges we face are being glossed over when population issues are regarded as taboo.

Summary/Key Takeaways

The SDGs constitute the most coherent internationally agreed to suite of measurements to inform the charting of a path to a just, sustainable, and desirable future. They consist of 17 goals, 169 related targets, and 252 indicators. EO data can be used to make “Apples to Apples to Apples” measurements of many of the targets and indicators. The validity and assumptions of the goals and indicators is a contested issue for many reasons including the fact that they are complex and they do not address some basic demographic questions related to carrying capacity and strong sustainability.

Comprehensive Questions

• Do you think $1.90 a day is a good measure of extreme poverty? Why or why not?
• If the definition of extreme poverty is moved from $1.90 a day to $1.25 a day is it easier or harder to achieve the goal of eradicating extreme poverty? Would changing the definition of extreme poverty from $1.90 to $1.25 a day result in more or less people living in extreme poverty?
• Provide some examples of indicators for the SDGs that might be measured using EO data.
• Why might an increase in the proportion of deaths associated with diabetes, heart disease, and cancer perhaps be a measure of success with respect to the SDGs for a given country?
• How were the objectives of the MDGs substantively different than the objectives of the SDGs? How did the SDGs shift the focus as to what countries needed to change?
• Why are some people suggesting we measure “Pressures” and “Drivers” from a DPSIR perspective rather than “States” and “Impacts” for the SDGs?
• Choose one of the SDGs and provide a criticism of the targets and indicators from the following perspectives: (1) Measurability, (2) Validity of Measure with respect to Goal, and (3) Ability to inform policy.
• How important is “economic growth” to achieving the SDGs. Explain.
• What is the difference between “Weak” and “Strong” sustainability? How well to the SDGs capture “Strong” Sustainability?

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