Thomas Di Nardo: Sustainable Development Goals

​Sustainable Development Goals for 2030
 
There is a need to come together with an idea of how we want to proceed as a population with our actions on climate change. In the past there have been great successes without unified guidance. For example, the pyramids are an amazing testament to human ingenuity but the methodology behind accomplishing such a task is one that none of us would want to adopt. In more recent history, there has been economic success, although localized, with large-scale environmental ignorance.  The Sustainable Development Goals were development as a planetary guide through the United Nations.


Imagine a wonderful agreement has been struck between all nations and we move forward towards a unified goal of climate change action for a cleaner environmental world.  This is where the hard work would really begin. I’m sure we’d all love to assume that this would mean butterflies and rainbows and that companies will primarily assume the costs of a more expensive, less wasteful process with lower carbon emissions and that scientists of the world would finally focus on the real live issues of our time.
 

​The fact is that diverting money from one area to another would likely mean sacrifices made, to a greater extent on behalf of the employees, with lower salaries, longer hours, and greater expectation on productivity, at least initially.  There are tactics used in business already such as reducing the amount of permanent, full-time employees, to hire often the same employees, as temporary and part-time working full-time hours without benefits or job security. This means that as an employee you commit to going to work but the company doesn’t guarantee you regular hours. Greed will still be alive, which is why we actually have to make a treaty for the world in the first place, so that humans don’t destroy themselves in the process of gaining more man made success. Show your dog your bank account balance or a wad of cash and they will not treat you any differently but be compassionate and caring; they will see you as a trustworthy companion.
 
This is why there’s a need to not only address climate change from an environmental point of view but from social and economical ones as well.
 
In late September 2015, the Heads of State and Government and High Representatives decided on new global Sustainable Development Goals, which were created for universal peace and freedom and to eradicate poverty by 2030.
 
Here’s a wonderful graphical overview of the expectations that for many would mean a new world and a new life. Read through these and imagine a world, 15 years from now, where this were true.
 
 

Reference: ​https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org (including graphics)