The short answer is no, and here’s why.
We only have four more years to reach all seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we are not on track to doing so. There have been no signs of a global comeback, and if anything, there has been a global recession. The recession, however, lies in the progress towards all the SDGs; 23 million more people are living in extreme poverty, 123 million are suffering from hunger, only 58% of students worldwide are achieving minimum proficiency in reading by the end of primary school, and violence against women and girls have remained at an all time high. Failing to meet the SDGs means leaving millions of people without adequate education, health, housing, and food. It also means that sea levels will continue to rise, and the impacts of the climate crisis will only worsen.
According to the United Nations’ (UN) SG-SDG progress report, only 17% of SDG targets are on track to be achieved. The UN believes that the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase of geopolitical conflict and trade tensions, and the impacts of worsening climate change are together responsible for the slow implementation of the SDGs. There are some other factors other than what the UN stated; for example, several of the goals are vague (including their targets) and not well-explained, leaving them up to interpretation and thereby facilitating weak implementation. Another major barrier is accountability. The majority of resolutions passed by the General Assembly are not legally binding, however, the UN security council can pass resolutions that are legally binding for member countries.
Without accountability and a willingness from major nations and players to prioritize the SDGs, they will become another well-intentioned plan that is abandoned in favour of short-term interests. So now what?
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