By Noralea Adzhar

The Sustainable Development Goals are the efforts and actions that need to be done in order to achieve a better and more sustainable future all everyone. They emphasize on global challenges humans are facing related to poverty, climate change, the environment, and peace. (The United Nations, n.d.)

Key transformations are required in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations based on the major drivers of societal change, such as human capacity, consumption and production, decarbonisation, and the digital revolution.  (European Commission, 2018)

Firstly, sustainable development is a societal rather than an environmental challenge. Substantial advances in human capacity are needed through improvements of education and healthcare resulting in higher income and better environmental-related decisions.

Secondly, by adopting a circular economy approach and reduce demands, much more could be done with fewer resources through responsible consumptions. Besides that, clean and affordable energy could be provided through renewables and electrification. (Cann , 2015)

Moreover, in order for the society to achieve access to nutritional food and clean water while protecting the biosphere and the oceans, more efficient and sustainable food systems are required. One way to do so, is by increasing agricultural productivity and reducing meat consumption.

Furthermore, the transformation of settlement patterns into smart cities such as decent housing, smart infrastructure and high connectivity will benefit the world population and the environment

In terms of digital revolution; science, technology, and innovation are needed to support sustainable development. It highly depends on the way the world will put the Information Technology revolution to use; either by continuing present trends or inverting them by asserting societal control.

In conclusion, the society needs to cooperate and a collective effort is required in order to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations could be achieved to secure a better living for all. Without a mutual understanding among the society, the world we live in today might be at risk in the foreseeable future.

References

Cann , O. (2015, September 23). How can the development goals be achieved? . Retrieved from World Economic Forum: Sustainable Development: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/how-achievable-are-the-sustainable-development-goals/

European Commission. (2018, July 16). Six steps to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals . Retrieved from The European Commission’s science and knowledge service: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-update/six-steps-achieving-sustainable-development-goals

The United Nations. (n.d.). About the Sustainable Development Goals . Retrieved from Sustainable Development Goals : https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/