Geneva: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the fifth edition of its annual SDG Pulse, a global reference for tracking progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The data and analysis cover a wide range of SDG indicators and others relevant to trade, investment, financing for development, debt, transport and technology. This year, the report’s “In-Focus” section looks into the costs of achieving the SDGs to identify where financing is most needed and to help better target efforts.
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An online version allows people to interact with statistics, charts and graphs.
The data shows that the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis in Ukraine and the climate crises are having a devastating effect on progress towards the SDGs.
Anu Peltola, who leads UNCTAD’s statistics work said,
We’ve reached the halfway mark of the 2030 Agenda, and multiple global crises are battering our economies, societies and the planet.
“It’s more important than ever for policymakers to have timely and reliable data and analysis to guide their decisions.”
About one in three countries worldwide face a high risk of a fiscal crisis, with developing countries bearing the heaviest debt burden.
The total external debt for these nations was 15% higher in 2022 than in 2019, before the pandemic hit. During the past decade, their external debt stocks have more than doubled to an alarming $11.4 trillion.
Mounting public debt poses a significant obstacle to development and achieving the SDGs because it undermines governments’ ability to invest in basic services, such as health care and education.
Between 2017 and 2021, the funding available per person in a food crisis fell by 30 per cent.
Despite the world’s surplus of calories, seven in 10 economies import more food than they export. The Middle East and Africa are home to many net-importing nations – many of which are classified as least developed countries (LDCs).
Cereals, which have been in the spotlight due to the crisis in Ukraine, play a crucial role in the global food supply, accounting for 45% of the calories available to the world’s population.
In 2021, greenhouse gas emissions again hit record levels, with carbon dioxide concentrations reaching their highest.
Despite the urgent need for a 45% reduction by 2030, emissions increased by 4.2% in 2021 and continue to climb. Additionally, high energy prices in 2022 have heightened vulnerabilities, with fuel prices peaking at nearly three times pre-pandemic levels in August 2022 and natural gas prices increasing ninefold.
LDCs and small island developing states (SIDS) face disproportionate risks from climate-related disasters, with a projected 40% increase in such events globally from 2015 to 2030, according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
On a positive note, global electric car sales leaped 55% in 2022, reaching 10 million units sold.
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
