UN: it’s time to change the ways of the world

A new report by a group of scientists appointed by the United Nations’ Secretary-General warns about insufficient progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and suggests new ways forward to change the world for the better.

Titled ‘The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development, the report, which has been prepared for the UN Summit to be held in New York this week, evaluates the state of progress towards SDGs and looks at  tipping points which can deliver widescale, rapid and lasting change. Based on the best available science, it suggests the need for “a fundamental and urgent change in the relationship between people and nature.” 

The report highlights rising levels of social inequality and increasing damage to ecosystems, which may be hard to reverse. Despite steady economic growth over the past decades, we now need to rethink what it takes to sustain prosperity. With vast areas beset by wildfires, rapidly melting glaciers, and the rising frequency of natural disasters we are losing the planet’s resilience at an alarming rate. We can no longer afford increasing consumption at the cost of diminishing nature, warn the experts. 

The scientists suggest that at the current rate we would double global material consumption from 89 gigatons to 167 gigatons by 2060, which would lead to the further growth of carbon emissions, resource extraction and pollution. However, we actually need to quickly downscale rates of consumption to sustain the planet’s health and avoid the loss of social cohesion, resource conflicts and other negative outcomes of a scarce, hot and destabilized world.

The researchers call for enhanced cross-sectoral efforts and investment in nexus approaches that deliver multiple positive outcomes across different SDGs with minimum trade-offs, contrasting them to narrow targeted approaches that lose sight of the bigger picture.

The report outlines 20 tipping points that can allow for achieving this type of change. Among them is the provision of the universal availability of basic services so that nobody is left behind in terms of basic healthcare, housing, social protection, energy and food. Building stronger and more resilient communities is another key to success, which should lead to less inequality. 

In particular, the report also focuses on actions that can deliver vast social impacts, such as the spread of renewables which could reduce health and air hazards for 3 billion people who rely on inefficient and polluting cooking practices. Just this measure alone would save 3.8 million lives from premature deaths per year.

Among other areas of action, human lifestyles and mindsets still remain key leverage points. Reducing consumption, downsizing on fossil fuels and plastics, and cutting down on meat and dairy products are all necessary ingredients of success.

We also need to rebuild our urban habitats, making them more compact and efficient, with a particular focus on nature-based solutions. Intensified collective action for protecting oceans, the atmosphere, rainforests and other “global environmental commons” is also urgently needed, requiring unprecedented collaboration between all actors.

Overall, the report’s conclusion is simple and clear: “growing first and cleaning up later is not an option.”