Environmental justice and the SDGs: from synergies to gaps and contradictions

Abstract Through their synergies, trade-offs, and contradictions, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) have the potential to lead to environmental justices and injustices. Yet, environmental justice (EJ), and social justice more broadly, are not currently embedded within the language and spirit of the SDGs. We part from the premise that “many ‘environmental’ problems are, by their very nature, problems of justice” (Lele, Wiley Interdiscip Rev Water 4:e1224, 2017). We review progress in EJ frameworks in recent years, arguing for the need to move beyond a focus on the four principles of mainstream EJ (distribution, procedure, recognition, and capabilities) towards a more intersectional decolonial approach to environmental justice that recognises the indispensability of both humans and non-humans. EJ frameworks, and the SDGs should recognise power dynamics, complex interactions among injustices, and listens to the different ‘senses of justice’ and desires of theorists, activists, and other stakeholder from the Global South. We analyze how EJ frameworks are, or fail to be, incorporated in the SDGs with a focus on the food–water–health nexus (SDG2, 3, 6); climate-energy (SDG7, 13), conservation (SDG14, 15); and poverty and inequality (SDG1, 10). We call attention to the ‘elephant in the room’—the failure to go beyond GDP but instead include economic growth as a goal (SDG8). We argue that sustainable degrowth and intersectional decolonial environmental justices would create better conditions for the transformative changes needed to reach the broader aim of the SDGs: to leave no one behind.

Download Full-text

Assessing the land resource–food price nexus of the Sustainable Development Goals

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.1501499 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (9) ◽

pp. e1501499 ◽

Cited By ~ 88

Author(s):

Michael Obersteiner ◽

Brian Walsh ◽

Stefan Frank ◽

Petr Havlík ◽

Matthew Cantele ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Sustainable Consumption ◽

Food Prices ◽

Environmental Conservation ◽

Land Resource ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Sustainable Consumption And Production ◽

Development Goals

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for a comprehensive new approach to development rooted in planetary boundaries, equity, and inclusivity. The wide scope of the SDGs will necessitate unprecedented integration of siloed policy portfolios to work at international, regional, and national levels toward multiple goals and mitigate the conflicts that arise from competing resource demands. In this analysis, we adopt a comprehensive modeling approach to understand how coherent policy combinations can manage trade-offs among environmental conservation initiatives and food prices. Our scenario results indicate that SDG strategies constructed around Sustainable Consumption and Production policies can minimize problem-shifting, which has long placed global development and conservation agendas at odds. We conclude that Sustainable Consumption and Production policies (goal 12) are most effective at minimizing trade-offs and argue for their centrality to the formulation of coherent SDG strategies. We also find that alternative socioeconomic futures—mainly, population and economic growth pathways—generate smaller impacts on the eventual achievement of land resource–related SDGs than do resource-use and management policies. We expect that this and future systems analyses will allow policy-makers to negotiate trade-offs and exploit synergies as they assemble sustainable development strategies equal in scope to the ambition of the SDGs.

Download Full-text

Potential Trade-Offs between the Sustainable Development Goals in Coastal Bangladesh

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10041108 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 1108 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Craig Hutton ◽

Robert Nicholls ◽

Attila Lázár ◽

Alex Chapman ◽

Marije Schaafsma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Coastal Bangladesh ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals

Download Full-text

Farmer-Prioritized Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies

Science, Technology, and Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190949501.003.0021 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 423-445

Author(s):

Caroline Mwongera ◽

Chris M. Mwungu ◽

Mercy Lungaho ◽

Steve Twomlow

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals ◽

Smart Agriculture ◽

Study Sites ◽

Context Specific

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) focuses on productivity, climate-change adaptation, and mitigation, and the potential for developing resilient food production systems that lead to food and income security. Lately, several frameworks and tools have been developed to prioritize context-specific CSA technologies and assess the potential impacts of selected options. This study applied a mixed-method approach, the climate-smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA) tool, to evaluate farmers’ preferred CSA technologies and to show how they link to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The chapter examines prioritized CSA options across diverse study sites. The authors find that the prioritized options align with the food security and livelihood needs of smallholder farmers, and relate to multiple sustainable development goals. Specifically, CSA technologies contribute to SDG1 (end poverty), SDG2 (end hunger and promote sustainable agriculture), SDG13 (combating climate change), and SDG15 (life on land). Limited awareness on the benefits of agriculture technologies and the diversity of outcomes desired by stakeholders’ present challenges and trade-offs for achieving the SDGs. The CSA-RA provides a methodological approach linking locally relevant indicators to the SDG targets.

Download Full-text

The Nexus between the Austrian Forestry Sector and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of the Interlinkages

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10030205 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 205 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Reneema Hazarika ◽

Robert Jandl

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Policy Design ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Opinion Leaders ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Forestry Sector ◽

Development Goals

Since the inception of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, there has been much conceptual progress on the linkages across the 17 goals and their 169 targets. While this kind of conceptualization is an essential first step, action must now move towards systematic policy design, implementation, and multi-stakeholder collaborations that can translate such understanding into concrete results. This study is a reality check of such quasi-political global development agendas by the United Nations and its implications on Austrian forestry. Although forestry is not a goal in itself, forests as an element have been included under SDG15 (Life on Land). In this study, the linkages of forestry with potential synergies or trade-offs within and between the SDGs have been assessed through a literature survey and complemented with the perception of opinion leaders across the Austrian forestry sector on the same. The insights about awareness, design, implementation, and the necessity of mainstreaming the SDGs into the policy structure of Austria were reviewed. Besides facilitating the goals of sustainable forest management (SFM) in Austria, the SDG15 is not only strongly related to, but is likely to aid, the achievement of other SDGs, such as human health (SDG3), provision of clean water (SDG6), affordable & clean energy (SDG7), and climate action (SDG13). The opinion leaders perceive the SDGs as well-placed but broad. Some this broadness is a positive aspect of the SDGs. On the other hand, the 15-year (2015–2030) tenure of the SDGs is perceived to be inadequate to match the temporal scale of forest development. Apparently, the success of the SDGs will strictly depend upon coordination, governance, and most importantly, awareness among all stakeholders. Therefore, in addition to “leaving no one behind”, the SDGs must evidently provide incentives benefitting everybody.

Download Full-text

Overcoming the Myths of Mainstream Economics to Enable a New Wellbeing Economy

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11164374 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (16) ◽

pp. 4374 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Luca Coscieme ◽

Paul Sutton ◽

Lars F. Mortensen ◽

Ida Kubiszewski ◽

Robert Costanza ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Resource Use ◽

Policy Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Mainstream Economics ◽

Distribution Of Wealth ◽

Development Goals ◽

Social Wealth ◽

Selection Of

Increasingly, empirical evidence refutes many of the theoretical pillars of mainstream economics. These theories have persisted despite the fact that they support unsustainable and undesirable environmental, social, and economic outcomes. Continuing to embrace them puts at risk the possibility of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and overcoming other global challenges. We discuss a selection of paradoxes and delusions surrounding mainstream economic theories related to: (1) efficiency and resource use, (2) wealth and wellbeing, (3) economic growth, and (4) the distribution of wealth within and between rich and poor nations. We describe a wellbeing economy as an alternative for guiding policy development. In 2018, a network of Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo), (supported by, but distinct from, the larger Wellbeing Economy Alliance—WEAll) promoting new forms of governance that diverge from the ones on which the G7 and G20 are based, has been launched and is now a living project. Members of WEGo aim at advancing the three key principles of a wellbeing economy: Live within planetary ecological boundaries, ensure equitable distribution of wealth and opportunity, and efficiently allocate resources (including environmental and social public goods), bringing wellbeing to the heart of policymaking, and in particular economic policymaking. This network has potential to fundamentally re-shape current global leadership still anchored to old economic paradigms that give primacy to economic growth over environmental and social wealth and wellbeing.

Download Full-text

Water-energy-food nexus perspective: Pathway for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to country action in India

APN Science Bulletin ◽

10.30852/sb.2020.1067 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 34-40

Author(s):

Bijon Kumer Mitra ◽

Devesh Sharma ◽

Tetsuo Kuyama ◽

Bao Ngoc Pham ◽

G.M. Tarekul Islam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Group Discussion ◽

Water Security ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals ◽

Barriers And Challenges ◽

Business As Usual ◽

Perception Survey

Water, energy and food securities lie at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since these securities are interconnected, the business-as-usual approach (sectoral approach) cannot achieve them and need to apply the water-energy-food nexus approach for identifying and overcoming the roots of barriers and challenges. The study aims to prioritize interlinkages between SDG-2 (food security), SDG-6 (water security) and SDG-7 (energy security) for country action. In order to achieve this aim, the study implements a set of methods including stakeholder perception survey, network analysis, regression analysis and cross-sectorial group discussion. This article summarizes the outcomes of a case study in India. Stakeholders cognition derived through scrutinizing the perception survey admitted the need for a nexus approach in the action plans towards the SDGs. Quantitative assessment of interdependency showed that, of 182 interlinkages between SDG-2, SDG-6 and SDG-7 targets, 124 interlinkages had synergistic relation. The combined outcome of the cross-sectorial group discussion identified eight interlinkages as high priority (p>0.9) for immediate integrated planning and action. A total of ten interactions are moderate (p=0.6 to 0.9) and eight are low priority interlinkages (p<0.6). Solid understanding of synergies and trade-offs associated with SDG targets and initial prioritization of interlinkages would help India reorient its SDG priorities from a water-energy-food nexus perspective.

Download Full-text

A Comparative Analysis of Countries' Performance According to SDG Indicators based on Machine Learning

10.5753/eniac.2021.18248 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Guilherme Souza ◽

Julian Santos ◽

Gabriel SantClair ◽

Janaina Gomide ◽

Luan Santos

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Machine Learning ◽

Economic Growth ◽

Principal Component Analysis ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Principal Component ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Development Goals ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are part of a global effort to reduce the impacts of climate change, promoting social justice and economic growth. The United Nations provides a database with hundreds of indicators to track the SDGs since 2016 for a total of 302 regions. This work aims to assess which countries are in a similar situation regarding sustainable development. Principal Component Analysis was used to reduce the dimension of the dataset and k-means algorithm was used to cluster countries according to their SDGs indicators. For the years of 2016, 2017 and 2018 were obtained 11, 13 and 11 groups, respectively. This paper also analyses clusters changes throughout the years.

Download Full-text

Sustainable Development Goals and Their Implication on Economic Growth

Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development - Handbook of Research on Sustainable Development and Governance Strategies for Economic Growth in Africa ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3247-7.ch003 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 47-65

Author(s):

Mangasini Atanasi Katundu

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

East African ◽

Smallholder Farming ◽

Member States ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

East African Community ◽

African Community ◽

Development Goals

The MDGs have been criticised for being too narrow and leaving out many people and their needs, like mental health. Likewise, not all MDGs were implemented successfully in all countries. Some countries implemented one or two MDGs of their choice and left others untouched, others partially implemented all MDGs. It was on this basis that the UN member states met in Rio to frame the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, in order for the SDGs to address systemic challenges across economic, social, and ecological dimensions of sustainable development they require appropriate institutional support to effectively integrate them into institutions and practices, to coordinate activities, and to mobilize resources for implementation. Rising income inequality negatively impacts economic growth and is threatening sustainable development of East African Community (EAC) member states. Since, the SDGs are many, it is recommended that, East African Member states should adopt a targeted approach in implementing the SDGs and focus on the smallholder farming sector.

Download Full-text