SDGs objectives and climate action: the need for an integrated approach

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After the COP29 environmental summit held last week in Baku, a team of researchers from the University of Birmingham stated that the systematic integration of climate resilience in all aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial to ensuring a stable future for our planet. The results of the study published in npj Climate Action outline a project aimed at transforming sustainable development goals through the integration of climate action into all targets and indicators. The plan focuses on five main points: aligning the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement with the SDGs, setting clear short- and long-term goals, empowering local communities, establishing a unified financial system to support climate-resilient SDGs, and forming an international panel to enable coordination and knowledge exchange between various sectors.

Among the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate action is explicitly addressed in Goal 13, which calls for urgent actions to combat climate change and its impacts. This indeed not only threatens the environment but also profoundly affects human well-being and livelihoods, highlighting the need for an integrated approach. The concept of sustainable development emerged in the 1980s with the "Earth Charter" and the Brundtland Report of 1987, which defined the key principles for effective environmental protection. In the 1990s, the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit marked a decisive step in the evolution of this concept, expanding its scope to include social development. Furthermore, in 2000, the United Nations introduced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), focusing on global challenges such as poverty and health.

As noted by Prof. Francis Pope, the lead author of the study, climate change presents the greatest contemporary threat to both the environment and human well-being. It affects each of the 17 SDG goals, through rising temperatures, sea level rise, and extreme weather events. Projections indicate a temperature increase of 1.5°C is expected by 2030–2050, while recent data confirm that this threshold is closer than previously thought. This increases risks for health, food security, and economic growth, with potential disastrous consequences. While Goal 13 directly addresses climate, it is scarcely mentioned in other SDGs. The growing prominence of climate change on the public agenda requires alignment between long-term objectives and short-term sustainability goals to avoid hindrances to resilient development.

The "Sustainable Development Report 2024," published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), presents a concerning picture regarding progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, only 16% of the SDGs are on track to be achieved by 2030. 84% show limited progress or reversal of trends. The report highlights regional disparities, as Nordic countries continue to lead progress, while BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) report significant improvements. However, the poorest and most vulnerable nations lag far behind. Top positions are occupied by Nordic European countries, with Finland in first place, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France. Italy ranks 23rd with a score of 79.29/100.

The study, Delivering sustainable climate action, demonstrates the need to formulate integrated solutions for sustainable and climate-resilient development. Environmental sustainability is closely linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, and 15, which interconnect in various ways. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations highlights the urgency to increase global food production by 70%. Developing countries will have to considerably intensify their efforts to ensure population nourishment by 2050. However, the effects of climate change could cause a decrease in agricultural production by 2% per decade throughout this century.

Governance is crucial to ensuring accountability in various areas, including decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9), and sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). Sustainable and inclusive economic growth (SDG 8) is essential for promoting progress, creating decent jobs, and improving living standards. However, this growth heavily depends on a stable climate system. The impacts of climate change, such as rising temperatures, negatively affect production and consumption (SDG 8.2, 8.4), innovation (SDG 8.3), crime and inequality (SDG 8.5, 8.7, 8.8), and trade (SDG 8.a). It is essential to understand how global climate targets affect terrestrial ecosystems and, consequently, the livelihoods of people, a factor to consider in developing dedicated global strategies and policies.

It is essential to integrate the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement with the SDGs, so stakeholders work towards positive environmental outcomes. The proposed approach involves mapping the systems of interests of the goals and indicators, identifying points of dependency and interdependency. This mapping will help recognize involved parties and assess the impacts of climate actions, facilitating the redesign of policies to maximize effectiveness. It is necessary to clearly define both long- and short-term goals within the SDGs to provide a framework for climate-resilient social and economic development. This unification of timelines will ensure that climate actions do not compromise development and vice versa, transforming fragmented actions into productive synergies.