Climate Change, the SDGs and the Triple Planetary Crisis

At the midpoint since the creation of the Agenda 2030 was approved, in 2015, and its implementation date in 2030, the 2023 SDG Summit is held in New York, headquarters of the United Nations, preceded by the report United in Science 2023 of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The report, which is annual and with the contribution of 18 organizations, was published before the celebration of the 2023 SDG Summit and the Climate Ambition Summit, on September 18 and 19 within the framework of the Assembly General of the United Nations. And it represents the warning of science with a very clear message:

The planet is a long way from meeting its climate goals and this situation undermines global efforts to combat hunger, poverty and health problems, improve access to clean water and clean energy, and address many other aspects of the climate.” sustainable development.
Naciones Unidas

In the high-level week of the 2023 United Nations General Assembly, world leaders are trying to reach a political declaration renewing the commitment to “leave no one behind in the aspiration for universal prosperity”, a new stage that “ accelerate the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals” with “a greener, cleaner, safer and fairer future for all.”

Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, at the opening of the Summit endorses the words of the report and says: “currently only 15% of the SDGs are on track, and significantly the vast majority of SDGs They are going backwards.”

We are currently facing a “ Triple planetary crisis ” due to the interrelation of the three main problems facing humanity: climate change, pollution and the loss of biodiversity . Each one with its own causes and effects, which must be resolved individually “if we want to have a viable future on this planet.”

Climate change is the one that affects the most humanity today, long-term changes in temperatures and weather patterns will substantially alter the ecosystems that support life on the planet, with human activities being the main drivers of climate change.

Air pollution is the leading cause of illness and premature death in the world, with over seven million people dying each year from pollution.

Biological diversity, which includes animals, plants and ecosystems, is the basis of life on the planet; its loss or decrease directly affects the food supply and access to drinking water, without which life on our planet is not possible.

We consider that, as has been happening year after year, there is no real intention and will on the part of the countries called to decisively address the 17 themes of the Sustainable Development Goals, with serious proposals and plans that lead to achieving said objectives, nor even in the medium term. Let’s wait to see what they present to us this time as a result, in the supposed roadmap to the 2024 Future Summit.

Aíxa Chacín
Editorial Director of SGK-PLANET

Sources:

United Nations. UN News.10 September 2023. Sustainable Developments Goals. Retrieve from https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1140847

World Meteorological Organization. 14 September 2023. Climate change undermines nearly all sustainable development goals. Retrieve from https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/climate-change-undermines-nearly-all-sustainable-development-goals

World Meteorological Organization. United In Science 2023. Sustainable development edition. Retrieve from https://library.wmo.int/records/item/68235-united-in-science-2023

The WMO State of the Global Climate report 2022