Dear Editor
In a recently published editorial concerning the global performance towards reaching the targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals correctly observed that “only 17 percent of [those] … targets are on track.”
That is correct. Yet, we need to take stock of what might be the main stumbling blocks, and where we might find some bright spots.
For those who have not followed the SDGs (2030), there are seventeen goals that have been targeted. They are as follows – no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life below water, life on land, peace justice and strong institutions, partnership for the goals.
Most of these targets are aspirational, meaning that they are more symbolic than material. No one, for instance, can reasonably expect that in a matter of a decade and a half we could arrive at “no poverty” or “zero hunger”.
Some goals (used here interchangeably with targets which are more specific and measurable) are not realisable because they are literally impossible. Apart from “no poverty” and “no hunger” as unreachable, others such as climate action are deeply political. For instance, while COP 28 adopted a measure to provide “loss and damage” funding to poor countries due for adaptation and mitigation. The estimated cost is around 400 billion dollars annually. Yet, so far, only about 700 million have been raised to date. The North-South divide is structural, and it is doubtful that a multilateral agreement can bridge the gap.
The same can be said for overconsumption, although here, modernity itself is the problem. One of the chief markers of success in the modern world is more and more consumption.
It goes without saying that a more proximate cause for the poor performance in pursuit of the SDGs goals is COVID-19 and its aftermath. In monetary terms alone, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated a global loss of between 8.8 and 15 trillion (US) dollars. Economic growth plunged and unemployment skyrocketed worldwide. Quantitative studies done by the NIH show the following – “Relative to a scenario without the pandemic (the No COVID scenario), the COVID Base scenario increases global extreme poverty … by 63.6 million in 2030 (range: 9.8 to 167.2 million) and 57.1 million in 2050 (range: 3.1 to 163.0 million).
In the context of the poor global performance in meeting the SDGs’ targets, the people of Guyana should be proud of what has been accomplished in this country. We are among the very fastest growing economies in the world. Step level (and measurable) improvements have been recorded in health, education, infrastructure, gender equality, decent work, and in most of the seventeen SDGs categories. Additionally, while most countries have been plunged into further debt, Guyana has slashed in debt obligations. In January 2024, Ralph Ramkarran noted that Guyana’s debt-to-GDP ratio is among the 10 best in the world (Oil Now, 1/10/2024).
That said, there are troublesome areas, most of them due to political and cultural drivers. Our political institutions need strengthening, and sanitation needs to be revolutionised. The debacle of the 2020 election fraud attempts really hurt Guyana’s democratic institutional outlook. All told, however, Guyana bucks the global trends in the SDGs poor performance.
Sincerely
Dr. Randy Persaud
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