SDG Action was launched in 2021 by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to support the UN’s Decade of Action. Its aim is to encourage cross-sector dialogue and problem solving to accelerate the transition to sustainability.
Human rights
Over the last decade, numerous democracies have been eroded and populist leaders have dismantled the protections against authoritarianism. We need urgent action – at local, country, and international levels – to ensure that societies achieve equitable and sustainable development for all people everywhere
ESG ratings are imperfect measures of a company’s exposure to environmental, social, and governance risk, and they often ignore the impact that companies have on society. Complete redesign might help, but is that possible?
Despite many countries announcing more ambitious political commitments to net-zero, the policies and actions announced to date fall woefully short of achieving 1.5°C. We must rapidly increase the transition to renewable energy if we’re to avert climate catastrophe
Where freedom of speech flourishes, so does misinformation. With more than half the global population now using social media, striking the right balance in managing online spaces is critical for healthy democracies, public safety, and achieving the SDGs
Recent attempts to place sanctions on Russia illustrate how easily illicit financial flows are concealed on a massive scale. With trillions diverted from critical development projects each year, jeopardizing many of the SDGs, the world has an urgent and moral duty to expose and stanch the movement of these ill-gotten gains
Climate change, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine – these crises threaten to derail development for 1.7 billion of the world’s most vulnerable people. The international community must take swift, coordinated action now to put the SDGs back on track
Global development finance has been thrown into disarray – first by the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine. Ramping up finance flows to LDCs in the short term might appear unrealistic, but it is more essential than ever if we’re to avoid even greater catastrophes ahead
Off-grid and mini-grid electricity generation can bring immediate benefits across the SDGs. They offer a least-cost approach to electrification, yet investment in them remains limited. What needs to happen to ensure these technologies play their full part in tackling energy poverty?
Europe must now redouble efforts to become self-sufficient in energy, with the focus squarely on renewables
Our current state of economic development has been built on burning carbon. To achieve the SDGs, or even just retain what we have, that link needs to be broken – ‘decoupled’. The decoupling process has started but will need to be total
The response to climate change needs to be based on science and accurate, timely data. In most cases, the data is available. A greater challenge is ensuring that the right people have it and know how to use it.
We are fortunate to possess an abundance of data that alerts us to the nature and potential impact of climate threats and that can also guide our response. We are not effectively using this knowledge. The human barriers slowing progress must be removed
SDGs: 13
Without accurate data on emissions, we cannot take actions to curb them – countries must do more on monitoring and reporting
COP26 will inspire new efforts to reach the ambitious SDG targets by 2030. Earth observation data from Copernicus will help us achieve these goals
In most developed countries, renewable energy siting has been plagued with delays, contract extensions, and “NIMBY” protests. Project developers and government planning agencies must be transparent and inclusive in their decision-making to gain public support and reduce the environmental and social negative spillover effects of energy expansion projects
Conversations on energy transition tend to focus on renewable generation or the end-user. However, too often, the complex systems that are required to connect the two are neglected. Relying on ‘the market’ to develop solutions risks being too slow and inequitable. Governments need to get their heads round the radical changes that must be made to create resilient, sustainable energy networks – it is down to governments to drive the energy transition forward
All 1.5°C global warming scenarios call for carbon removal. Natural systems provide the most readily available mechanisms, so how can these be boosted to the levels required?
