“Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services based upon which the economy and society depend.” While there are many other textbook definitions one can spell out to define sustainable development, it is, in totality, about working towards the earth with a heart to make it a better place for current and future generations.
According to (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NOAA's recent Annual Climate Report the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit ( 0.08 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1880; however, the average rate of increase since 1981 (0.18°C / 0.32°F) has been more than twice that rate. The need to save the planet and bring change on a global level is immediate. Several organizations have made moves to aid this need.
The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a global plan of action to drive economic prosperity and social well-being while protecting the environment. Countries have established the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) to move forward in achieving the goals. Although established in 2015 it wasn't until the 24th and 25th of September 2019 that the heads of states and governments gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to discuss and comprehensively review progress about the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event was the first UN summit on the SDGs since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015. This summit brought together high level government officials, political leaders and influential people from different sectors to discuss the action plan and the ways to implement and accelerate the 2030 agenda.
The Aim of the 2030 Agenda:
The main and humble goal of the 2030 Agenda is to improve the quality of lives of the people all around the world to help them lead a more healthy and prosperous life which is rich both sustainably and economically on an equally healthy and rich planet. All countries, cities, regions and sectors are involved in actively implementing the agenda and the SDGs. The agenda focuses on organizing campaigns that would help fight all forms of inequality, poverty and issues regarding climate change while making sure that no soul is left behind unattended. The summit is an effort to create a place that would become an outlet to discuss the work that is being put into the process of working towards the SDGs. And hence at the summit the member-states adopted the Political Declaration that is “Gearing up for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.
The Acceleration Actions:
This summit also encourages voluntary acceleration actions to aid the 2030 project. These actions can be taken by governments, countries, individuals in various sectors, influential people and organizations, institutions, actors and even students. We can register our acceleration plans for the SDG summit on the website (To find out more about this action plan in detail visit the official UN website with access to all information and documents, progress and the events related to the summit). There have been more than 100 registrations in the same including actions from countries like UK, Finland, Mexico etc.
