Sustainable Development Goals Of The United Nations

Many people think of the big picture - but only that. They dream of a grandiose fantasy where change takes place globally and all at once. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Significant change begins on a local level and can take years of development. However, with continued support, these changes, such as the United Nations's Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, can grow to monumental proportions that are integral to our future survival. Developments in quality of education, gender equality, renewable energy, and climate change reversal all lead to this ideal future that we all aim to achieve - a future that is bright, just, and sparkling.

Affordable and Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and clean energy for all Targets.

And it does not end here, I am not just looking at realistic goals to strengthen our country, but also a nation which took real steps to achieve the dream of renewable energy, the dream of clean energy. A Green America. Not just in slogans and quotations but as a central goal in the agenda. We will work towards reducing our carbon footprint and begin our $60Bilion Clean Energy Challenge where we will partner with states, cities and rural communities into building a greener America, a better America to ensure that the very air we breathe, the water we drink, all remain for our generations to come and we set an example for them, that we care.

Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” ("Open Working Group Proposal for Sustainable Development Goals.”) Under this main goal lies seven sub goals, of which some are more measurable than others. All goals can be measured with a quantifiable unit, although some measurements may be harder to interpret than others. Goal 14.1 logically proves to be measurable, as marine pollution is a material measure. Target 14.2, to “sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems” can be interpreted and measured in various ways, whether it means to protect certain species by calculating the population, or protect habitats and certain

The second of my four energy goals engages renewable energy. Wind power, when appropriately sited, can generate and provide massive amounts of clean energy. This would be beneficial to the decrease of fossil fuel use. Another source like, solar energy, can be implemented just about anywhere. It is so abundant that

In order for the targets to be measurable, they need to have criteria for measuring progress. All the targets have end dates, and target 7.3 does use the word ‘double’, although vague, it does give a value goal. The rest are not measurable. 7.2 indicates to ‘increase substantially’. How do the people creating these targets know when 7.2 is completed? At what point do they accomplish the target? I do not believe that the targets are measurable.

“Resilient People, Resilient planet” is a report that was released by the United Nations Panel on Global sustainability in January 2012, which encourages sustainable actions. Moreover, this report advises people to use their human rights to pursue sustainability and encourages governments to take the proper initiatives to resolve current day issues. Currently, social issues such as, poverty, deforestation, global hunger, and climate changes are all leading factors of our failing environment. This report along with other sources portray sustainability as a social solution involving human rights and social justice by encouraging people and their governments to pursue a political and social lifestyle influenced by sustainable choices.

In the world today, alternative energy source which is an alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear energy is becoming more and more of a necessity. Right now, the world’s population growth has caused an increase in the energy demand. Rosenberg (2009) pointed out that the world’s current growth rate is about 1.14%, representing a doubling time of 61 years. OECD's International Energy Agency[IEA] (2014) found that from 2011 to 2035 the world energy demand is likely to rise by more than two-thirds. Though there have been challenges in the deployment of these new technologies, but incentives exist to utilize renewable energy. These include solar energy, wind energy, and biomass energy sources.

The measurability of a target is the ability to measure progress over a period of time. Targets from Goal 14 are ambiguous and unclear. Certain targets are not measurable, some are, and some can be measured in part.

I will decide which aspect of the UN to look at, by firstly looking into the different aspects of the UN, which are related to geography, about which I can write. Next, choosing the most interesting of these aspects for me. Finally, I will have arrived at the aspect of the UN which I will be looking into.

For me to fully understand the goals of the United Nations I had to go back to the very beginning, to the foundation of the United Nations. The League of Nations was formed in 1920 and lasted until 1946 when it signed over its assets to the United Nations after countries began to leave. Countries quickly began to leave once they had realized the League could not make settlements where they did not have the power to do so causing dictators to abuse this power. In 1942, before the League of Nations failed, Franklin D. Roosevelt first used the term “United Nations”. FDR saw what had happened to the United States after it was unable to join the League of Nations after the Senate excluded it and wanted to make sure something like this would

It is crucial for targets to be measurable in order to monitor and evaluate the progress of the goal. They also require a target date of completion. Target 7.1 is not a measurable target because we cannot calculate its progress. The language used is very vague. For instance, it states the access to affordable energy services but who will determine what price is considered affordable. Target 7.2 is not a truly measurable target because the language is also quite vague and we cannot evaluate if progress is being made. Essentially, it does not have definable parameters on how the energy will be equally shared. Target 7.3 is a measurable target. Measuring the variations of the rate will determine its progress and improvements. Target 7.a is

Each of the targets attached to goal 7 have an end date by which they want to achieve the target, helping measurability. Target 7.3 mentions doubling, this helps people measure the target as it uses figures that can be compared, the other targets however only use words such as increase, enhance and expand, making it harder and more subjective to see if the target has been met. The actual way that people measure these targets may differ too, for example, in Ghana surveys were taken to estimate the electricity access for households, the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS), the Energy Commission (EC) and many more institutions conducted surveys in 2010. The GSS established the electricity access was 64.2% whereas the EC determined it to be 60.4% (Brew-Hammond et al., 2014). Although there is only 4.2% difference in the measurements it is hard to know if the targets have been met, as there may be a wide range of data collected. Targets 7.1 and 7.b mention energy services; this is a highly debated definition (Brew-Hammond et al., 2014), making it, again, hard to measure. The targets are very broad and open about where they want to aim; target 7.1 and 7.2 mention universal access and global energy, this is hard to measure in certain places such as shanty towns where the population is so dense; rural areas where the population is so remote that it is difficult to access, and countries where there may be political unrest making it hard for surveyors to access the country itself. 7.a

I do believe that the targets are relatively measurable. I see some issues with wording that might create some discussion when trying to measure the specific target. For example, target 7.1 states that by 2030, universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services will be ensured. By stating ‘universal access’, this target can be taken many ways. Do they mean they want the entire population to have access by 2030? If so, this is quite a goal to accomplish within 15 years. There is also the problem of the term ‘modern energy services’. Again, what constitutes a modern energy service? Something that is currently modern may no longer be modern by 2030 when it is implemented; would that mean that the target was unsuccessful? Target 7.2 states that by 2030, there should be a substantial increase of renewable energy in the global energy mix. However, what number constitutes an increase being substantial? Some may believe a 10% increase to be substantial while others are looking for a larger increase and would deem a 10% increase not large enough. I see the same statement of ‘modern energy services’ in 7.b, which could create the same problem unless there is a specification of what is meant by ‘modern energy services’ early on.

There are many negative critiques on the goals outlining why the global goals are not complete and although I believe they are not attainable within 15 years, I would like to outline what we can do to best focus on the goals. The post 2015