scholarly journals A Postulate for Accelerated Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and Principles

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Andrzej Kassenberg

Abstract The last 30-year period has been increasingly important for sustainable development, as is evidenced by the UN’s announcement of 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. However, many megatrends continue to progress in the direction opposite to that meeting the needs of sustainable development. For the Earth and human civilisation to be protected, it is necessary for a new approach to be developed - a new order that might be termed the civilization/economics of enough, or of moderation. However, convincing societies, including that of Poland, in regard to the benefits of addressing the challenges sustainable development poses is not an easy task; even though a redirecting of the economy and of society along new paths will bring measurable benefits capable of compensating for the costs of transformation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Jaan Lee ◽  
Lei Chai ◽  
Po-Shu Wu

AbstractThis study examines Taiwan’s ecological footprint (EF) and its Overshoot Day from 2000 to 2018. The latest EF calculation method is used to determine the conversion rates and equivalent factors of bioproductive lands in each year to establish a database of Taiwan’s EF in that period. The results reveal that Taiwan’s EF was 7.69 gha/person in 2000, dropping steadily to 6.46 gha/person in 2018. Taiwan’s carbon footprint accounted for about 61% of Taiwan’s total EF, slightly higher than the world average (60%). The carbon footprint as a proportion of the total EF has been increasing annually. This study adopts social communication tools, such as the overshoot day and the earth clock, to promote sustainable development goals and climate change policy initiatives. Global Footprint Network (GFN) updates the overshoot day of each country in its database yearly, based on each country’s EF and biocapacity. Since Taiwan is not included in GFN, this study adopts the same method and finds out that Taiwan's Overshoot Day in 2018 was March 14th, meaning that on March 14th, 2018, Taiwan exhausted all of the biological resources that its bioproductive lands can regenerate in the year. If the global population lived like Taiwanese, four Earths would be required to provide the resources used. This result not only reflects the consumption of natural resources in Taiwan, but also indicates that Taiwan should focus on sustainable development and reduce that consumption.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Bharat Prasad Badal

This paper highlights on Rural Community Tourism (RCT) that can be a new approach to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, United Nations Development Program and concerned government Agency has yet started working by linking two fundamental tools of Rural Development i.e., Rural Community Development and Rural Tourism. Therefore, to identify the linkages between such tools and for developing new RCT as new approach, the study has been conducted. Methodologically, this study applied library based method for data collection and comparative review analysis method for appraising research issues. Theoretically, this study look at on 17 SDGs and RCT both are developed based on the principles of sustainable development. This study comes up with conclusion that only RCT can link entire 17 sustainable goals with nominal investment. Hence, better to apply RCT, a new approach by federal governments (federation, provincial and local levels) as well as UN development agencies and I/NGOs while planning and implementing 17 SDGs related plans, programs and projects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31
Author(s):  
Tan Xin Yee ◽  
Chong Chin Wei ◽  
Adedapo Oluwaseyi Ojo

The Earth's climate has changed in great measure throughout history, and it significantly impacts human society, economic development, and ecological degradation. Understanding how to sustain green volunteerism among youth is an important issue to confronting today’s ecological challenges, especially when they may serve as future leaders of environmental movements. In a focus group setting, 25 representatives of multi-stakeholders discussed how and why students in higher education institutions participate in green volunteering. Transcripts from the conversation were analyzed to comprehend the motives, challenges, and benefits of youth engagement in green volunteering. Findings suggested that young adults are aware of and working on climate issues. A few issues were raised as challenges and/or demotivating factors in youth engagement among green volunteerism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1259-1264
Author(s):  
Aneta Stojanovska-Stefanova ◽  
Nikola V. Dimitrov ◽  
Marija Magdinceva-Sopova

As the United Nations General Assembly affirmed when announcing the adoption of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, tourism can contribute to all the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – and each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Not only does the sector spearhead growth, it also improves the quality of people’s lives. It can bolster environmental protection, champion diverse cultural heritage, and strengthen peace in the world. In this spirit, World Tourism Day 2017 presents a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the contribution of sustainable tourism for development among public and private sector decision-makers and the international community, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change. Accounting for 7% of worldwide exports, one in eleven jobs and 10% of the world’s GDP, the tourism sector if well managed can foster inclusive economic growth, social inclusiveness and the protection of cultural and natural assets. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is plan of action for the people, planet and prosperity. In accordance with paragraph 84 of the 2030 Agenda, Member States have decided that the High Level Political Forum shall carry out regular voluntary reviews of the 2030 Agenda which will include developed and developing countries as well as relevant UN entities and other stakeholders. The reviews were state-led, involving ministerial and other relevant high-level participants, and provide a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of major groups and other relevant stakeholders. Since the first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 - known as the Earth Summit, it was recognized that achieving sustainable development would require the active participation of all sectors of society and all types of people. Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit, drew upon this sentiment and formalized nine sectors of society as the main channels through which broad participation would be facilitated in UN activities related to sustainable development. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom, in the same time recognising that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, has committed that acting in collaborative partnership, will implement this plan.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Artemi Cerdà

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations do not mention Fire as a key factor in achieving an environmentally-friendly human society. This paper reviews the key aspects of the impact of fire that make it necessary to update the SDGs. Upon reviewing the scientific literature, it was found that fire has been part of the Earth System for the last 400 million years, and that it is part of biogeochemical cycles. From a geological perspective, fire shaped the current Earth System. Humans have used fire in the last million years as hunter-gatherers, and the last Pleistocene period evolved with the presence of fire. Since the Neolithic revolution, humankind spread the use of fire, without which agriculture would not have progressed as it did. Fire is still used today as a tool to clear forests, scrublands and meadows in order to establish agriculture fields. To achieve the SDGs, we cannot ignore the role of fire. Fire should be present, as it is part of the geological cycle of the planet; it is part of rural culture and plays a key role in hydrological, erosional and biological cycles. We discuss the following issues related to fire in connection with the SDGs: (i) biota; (ii) soil properties; (iii) carbon cycle; (iv) sediment and water yield; (v) air and water pollution; and (vi) risk assessment. We conclude that: (i) fire is key to flora and fauna diversity; (ii) soil properties are temporally changed after exposure to fire; (iii) the carbon cycle is disturbed by fire, but the long-term impact can be a reduction in the CO2 content in the atmosphere; (iv) sediment and water yield are enhanced by forest fires, but only during the period of disturbance; (v) air and water pollution are ephemeral; and (vi) the risk associated with fire necessitates careful planning. Prescribed fires may be part of the solution, but there is a need to educate citizens on the role that fire plays. More research is necessary due to the diversity of the biomass and the complex history of fire on the planet. Fire is part of the Earth System and the SDGs should include it as a key element in their agenda.


Author(s):  
Lars Engberg-Pedersen ◽  
Adam Fejerskov

AbstractThe adoption of the 2030 Agenda was only the end of the beginning. To realise the goals, the challenge that lies ahead—prompted by its universal nature—is to implement the agenda’s rapid diffusion into national policies and reforms needed all over the world. This is no easy task. The historical legacies of global normative agreements have taught us that global norms rarely bring about the forms of change that we expect them to. How can we explain these apparent challenges of spreading global norms across the world? We argue that the diffusion of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is not only challenged because of contemporary political circumstances, but also because of the fundamental situated nature of how actors engage with global norms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-15
Author(s):  
Sarah Whipple ◽  
◽  
Shardul Tiwari ◽  
Tashiana C. Osborne ◽  
Gillian Bowser ◽  
...  

The authors present a new approach to show how interdisciplinary collaborations among a group of institutions can provide a unique opportunity for students to engage across the science-policy nexus using the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Through collaboration across seven higher education institutions in the United States and Australia, virtual student research teams worked together across disciplines.


Evaluation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Stephens ◽  
Ellen D. Lewis ◽  
Shravanti Reddy

With the advent of the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, there is a call for more methodologies to understand and evaluate combinations of these global challenges, their integrated nature and their complexities. Accordingly, UN Women Independent Evaluation Office along with Australian and American researchers have written and piloted a new evaluation guide: Inclusive Systemic Evaluation for Gender equality, Environments and Marginalized voices (ISE4GEMs): A new approach for the SDG era (2018). Referred to as the ‘ISE4GEMs’, this guide is an original piece of work that brings together transdisciplinary evaluation methods, re-thinks systemic evaluation methodology and introduces the Gender equality, Environments and Marginalized voices (GEMs) framework. This article provides a summary of the key theoretical concepts that have been synthesized from systems thinking, social and ecological sciences to produce process guidance.


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