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Conversations on SDGs

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Happy Independence Day India, But Don't Forget About the Progress on your SDGs!

  • jaikalra4
  • Aug 15, 2022
  • 1 min read

While reading the news in the past few days I have found many articles talking about how the journey to Agenda: 2030 is not expected to be the smoothest one. One such article in the Hindustan Times was titled "Agenda 2030: A bumpy road ahead." It talks about how countries have to strengthen their commitment to these goals with only 8 years remaining in the Decade of Action. This is due to us not focusing on these goals during the pandemic. This ignorance of these goals has been seen with carbon emissions increasing by 6% in 2021 only. This need for an increased focus on SDGs is particularly important for India as they have been dropping on the SDG rankings each year for the past few years. One interesting thing that this article mentions (something I agree with!) is that it is absolutely essential to focus on SDG 17 - to forge global partnerships and success in sustainable development.



The Impact of 'Non-Sustainable' Development

  • jaikalra4
  • Aug 1, 2022
  • 1 min read

Growing up in New Delhi, India over the years I have been witnessing the steady increase in temperatures and pollution in India. I recently read an interesting article on how the Central Government has announced that one of the causes of the rising temperatures in Delhi is urbanization. Delhi has experienced considerable urbanization in the past few years, which has obviously contributed to this increase in temperatures. This has caused the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to collaborate with local health departments to start 'heat action plans' to inform people about the potential impacts of heat waves and how to remain protected from them. I'm glad that the government is working on these plans as heatwaves are not often taken seriously.


A little research brought me to the work other organizations are doing on mitigating the impact of heat waves. One such organization was the Red Crescent in Bangladesh which has done remarkable work in this area - expanding their anticipatory action program (one in which they've had lots of success) to heatwaves in 2021.


NITI Aayog's input on SDGs

  • jaikalra4
  • Jul 20, 2022
  • 1 min read

NITI AAYOG Vice Chairperson Suman Berry recently spoke about the need for successful models to pursue Sustainable Development. This is because sustainable development is a pressing need and there is no time to try out and experiment with methods that can help achieve sustainable development. Instead, it is of utmost importance that tried and tested methods are used as they are guaranteed to generate results.


One such method that has been successful in the Indian context and is guaranteed to be successful is that of localizing SDGs. This is as it makes the process of trying to achieve these SDGs much more efficient because now every state has to only focus on their progress while NITI AAYOG focuses on the national SDG status as a whole. The states can now also focus and decide which SDGs to prioritise etc which has helped give the states control over sustainable development in their region.


I also believe that the time for experimenting is over as we have seen the devastating impact that 'unsustainable' development can have. The developmental choices we have made until now have only escalated calamities, such as landslides, floods, etc. while also creating humanitarian disasters such as overpopulation and poverty. This has made it even more important to engage in Sustainable Development and spread awareness about it. We need results now and we need them fast, as otherwise, our future on this planet looks grim.


©2022 by Jai Kalra

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