Measuring Progress in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Author(s):  
László Pintér ◽  
Marcel Kok ◽  
Dora Almassy

The chapter argues that the global process that lead to the adoption of the sustainable development goals is synergistic with the decades-old ambition to redefine the framework of how society measures progress. The political interest in goals also brought renewed interest in measurement, but it is also raising the question whether standard ways of thinking about measurement will be enough to realize the SDGs transformative potential. Moving beyond its traditional conceptualization as a technical exercise, viewing measurement through the lens of political economy opens up new possibilities for understanding its potential as a transformative force. Conceptual aspects, actors and actor interests, mechanisms and institutions, and instruments are proposed for consideration both by the policy research community and by practitioners engaged in SDG implementation. The scope of inquiry would also need to go beyond questions related to the supply side and more explicitly address issues related to the use of measurement in policy design, monitoring, reporting and accountability mechanisms.

Author(s):  
Chris G. Pope ◽  
Meng Ji ◽  
Xuemei Bai

The chapter argues that whether or not the world is successful in attaining sustainability, political systems are in a process of epoch-defining change as a result of the unsustainable demands of our social systems. This chapter theorizes a framework for analyzing the political “translation” of sustainability norms within national polities. Translation, in this sense, denotes the political reinterpretation of sustainable development as well as the national capacities and contexts which impact how sustainability agendas can be instrumentalized. This requires an examination into the political architecture of a national polity, the norms that inform a political process, socioecological contexts, the main communicative channels involved in the dissemination of political discourse and other key structures and agencies, and the kinds of approaches toward sustainability that inform the political process. This framework aims to draw attention to the ways in which global economic, political, and social systems are adapting and transforming as a result of unsustainability and to further understanding of the effectiveness of globally diffused sustainability norms in directing that change.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reneema Hazarika ◽  
Robert Jandl

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 06015
Author(s):  
Rail Khussamov ◽  
Elena Galiy ◽  
Evgeniy Anisimov ◽  
Larisa Ershova ◽  
Dmitry Nemkov

Today many countries are participating in the implementation of the sustainable development goals in the framework of the global agenda 2030. The G-7 countries, having significant economic and political potential, play a special role in ensuring the sustainable development of the world. Despite the similarity of the political positions of the world’s largest economies on many pressing problems, each of them acts in its own way in the sphere of sustainable national development. The authors of the article intend to find similarities and differences in the actions of the G-7 countries to achieve the sustainable development goals. In this regard, a review of the G-7 national sustainable development strategies was carried out. As a result of the study, regularities are revealed and the features of the policies of these countries in the implementation of sustainable development goals in the period from 2010 to 2020 are presented.


Author(s):  
Ademola A. Adenle ◽  
Marian R. Chertow ◽  
Ellen H.M. Moors ◽  
David J. Pannell

This chapter discusses the many ways that science, technology, and innovation (STI) can bolster the global agenda of the United Nations (UN) toward meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It shows how STI applications can make multiple contributions to the achievement of SDGs. It is particularly important for developing countries to harness STI, while managing resulting trade-offs, to deliver sustainable development effectively. The SDGs simultaneously touch upon environmental, social and economic aspects of development but integrating these aspects into the implementation of the SDGs is challenging for both policymakers and researchers. To meet its SDG targets, the global community must mobilize STI across multiple sectors, support new investments in innovation, and contribute to policy design that addresses a range of barriers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. e004252
Author(s):  
Nasrul Ismail ◽  
Audrey Lazaris ◽  
Éamonn O'Moore ◽  
Emma Plugge ◽  
Sunita Stürup-Toft

Worldwide, approximately 11 million people are currently being held in prison, a number that has steadily grown since the turn of the 21st century. The prison population is more likely to suffer from physical and mental ailments both during and prior to their imprisonment due to poverty, social exclusion and chaotic lifestyles. Recognition of people in prison is noticeably absent from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), despite the goals’ ethos of ‘leaving no one behind’.We present the first analysis of how improving the health of people in prison can contribute to achieving 15 SDGs. Relevant indicators are proposed to fulfil these goals while meeting the existing international prison health standards. We also assess the political, economic and social challenges, alongside the unparalleled COVID-19 pandemic that can thwart the realisation of the SDGs. To reach the ‘furthest behind first’, prison health must be at the forefront of the SDGs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella Capurso ◽  
Emiliano Tolusso ◽  
Andrea Marini ◽  
Luca Bonardi

‘Sustainability’ is a ubiquitous term within the political agenda worldwide. The common recognition of such concept has its roots in the Seventies and is the outcome of a cultural process which integrates the ‘limits to the (capitalistic) growth’ in its paradigm. Notwithstanding, the consistency between ‘sustainability’ as a concept and its expected contents is doubtful. A trustful approach towards the technical domain, together with the incorporation of ‘sustainability’ within the market mechanisms, have largely weakened the opportunity for the concept to be disruptive on a political level, locally and globally. The relevant distance between ‘sustainability’ as a term and its actual contents is the object of the present proposal. The underlying ambiguity of the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ will be provided as a case-study for our critical review.


2022 ◽  
pp. 50-66
Author(s):  
Jacob Dahl Rendtorff

This chapter proposes to analyze the theory of the political enterprise with focus on the concept of ethical values-driven management in the contemporary debate on the politization of business in service of sustainability in cosmopolitan society. By service of cosmopolitan society of the political enterprise the chapter investigates the idea of the political enterprise as being a responsible political, ethical, and social agent with focus on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are required to justify its mission and role in society as a political actor that makes a different for its social and political community. The company is embedded in a social and political order with a diversity of political values, and the discussion about the meaning of the concept of values-driven management is therefore fundamental if one is to analyze the concept of the political enterprise in service of the Sustainable Development Goals.


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