Global Sustainable Development Report, 2022

Why in News?

Recently, the global Sustainable Development Report, 2022 was published. The report gives a global overview of progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

What is a Sustainable Development Report?

  • It is a worldwide assessment of countries’ progress towards accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • The report is published by a group of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
  • SDSN was introduced in 2012 to mobilize global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for sustainable development and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • Following their adoption, SDSN is now committed to assisting the implementation of the SDGs at national and international levels.
  • Ranking- Countries are ranked by their overall score.
  • The overall score assess the total progress towards achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
  • The score can be explained as a percentage of SDG achievement.
  • A score of 100 shows that all SDGs have been achieved.
  • Performance of the Countries-
  • The 2022 SDG Index is topped by Finland, followed by three Nordic countries –Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
  • East and South Asia region progressed most on the SDGs since their adoption in 2015.
  • Bangladesh and Cambodia are the two countries that progressed most on the SDGs since 2015.
  • On the contrary Venezuela has declined the most on the SDG Index since their adoption in 2015.
  • India was ranked 121 out of the 163 countries. It was ranked 117 in 2020 and 120 in last year.

Key Highlights of the Report-

About World-

  • Multiple and simultaneous health, climate, biodiversity, geopolitical and military crises are big setbacks for sustainable development globally.
  • The SDG Index global average has slightly decreased in 2021 for the second year in a row, mainly due to the impact of the pandemic on SDG1 (No Poverty) and SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and poor performance on SDG11-15 (climate, biodiversity, and sustainable urban development goals).
  • Besides their massive humanitarian costs, military conflicts – including the war in Ukraine have major international consequences on food security and energy prices, which are amplified by the climate and biodiversity crises.

About India-

  • India’s Preparedness Worsened- India is not placed well to attain the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and compare to other countries its preparedness has worsened over the years.
  • Major Challenges- The country continues to experience major challenges in achieving 11 of the 17 SDGs, which has dropped its global ranking on SDG preparedness.
  • SDG 8- Ensuring decent work has become more challenging.
  • As per the report, India is on track to achieving SDG 13 on climate action.

Progress Made- The progress in around 10 of these goals is similar to those in 2021.

  • These involve SDG 2 on ending hunger,
  • SDG 3 on good health and well being and
  • SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation.

Way Ahead-

  • India’s progress towards accomplishing SDGs is both encouraging and challenging. 
  • The country has made sincere attempts to prioritize and act on sustainable development with the development of indices and the involvement of the federal machinery in achieving SDGs. NITI Aayog has also made this mainstream on the national agenda.
  • The pandemic and overall global situation have forced India along with other countries to regress on various developmental indicators.
  • India should continue its efforts toward achieving SDGs with the available resources and involving civil societies and people.

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