Organizer: Felix Kwabena Donkor
Format: Onsite-Online, Afternoon
Abstract:
Topic: The SDGs in the final decade of action: Key considerations and pathways to sustainability in a post-Covid era Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a blueprint for attaining a better and more sustainable future for humanity and to some extent the earth. However, although there has been evidence of progress in several dimensions of the SDGs, there is still a lot of work in achieving the SDGs. The so-called Decade of Action is a global rally of efforts to accelerate sustainable measures in addressing pressing global challenges —in three core dimensions: global action to achieve effective leadership, improved resources and smarter solutions for realising the Sustainable Development Goals. However, more enhanced demonstration of leadership, accelerated and unparalleled transformations are required to achieve alignment between such crucial levers of change with sustainable development imperatives. Such arguments have become more animated as countries endeavour to revive their economies and recover from the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic with the concern that sustainability might be sacrificed for short-term gains. Moreover, there is wide acknowledgement that the impacts of the pandemic will be aggravated by other major global threats, such as the climate crisis, financial crises, and social and economic inequality. Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of individual actions and bottom-up measures in the dynamics of sustainability. This session explores some of these measures in the SDG final decade of action which can be upscaled in a post-COVID era for sustainability. This session contributes to the debate towards accelerating implementation of the SDGs in a fully integrated approach. This comes with implications for the related Leave No One Behind Agenda. As 2030 draws closer, this session highlights cross-cutting, high-return priorities that have strong potential to unlock progress across multiple SDGs.
Themes: Sustainable Solutions from the Global South, Integrated Action for the SDGs