The Importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Helen visited Green Templeton College at Oxford University in 2017 to give the following address to the Foundation Dinner. Founded in 2008, Green Templeton College specialises in subjects relating to human welfare and social, economic and environmental well-being, so was therefore, as Helen noted afterwards, ‘an excellent opportunity for me to speak on the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for all countries—rich, middle income and poor—and to comment on how university communities can support its implementation’. On the same visit, Helen was also a guest at Oxford’s annual Women of Achievement event, in conversation with Moira Wallace, Provost of Oriel College.
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Thank you for the invitation to address this annual Foundation Dinner. Your College Principal, Professor Lievesley, wrote what, for me, was a compelling letter of invitation to come tonight. She told me that improvement of human well-being in the twenty-first century is core to the college’s educational mission, and that many of the college’s activities address how to build more equitable and just societies. That was music to my ears, because it resonates with what has driven me throughout a long career in public life at the national and global level.
But I would add one extra component to my mission—that is, sustainability. Over many years I have been convinced that unless we live, work and develop in ways which keep us within the earth’s planetary boundaries, we will not succeed in achieving human development for all. The world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are on the front lines of climate change and other forms of environmental degradation. There is no way to a better future for them without global solidarity and action around tackling those challenges.
In all truth, our world faces rather a lot of profound challenges. They fill our television screens, columns of newsprint and Twitter feeds every day. There is no need to rehearse the problems: we know what they are, and we know that they are crying out for solutions.
In the quest for solutions, there is a role for everyone. Clearly the fellows and graduate students of Green Templeton College with their expertise across medicine, management and applied social sciences have contributions to make. In my comments tonight, I will refer to a number of areas where action is needed and conclude with some words on the role of university communities.
At the level of global agreements, we have advanced a long way from the era when development and environment were addressed in separate silos. The importance of holistic approaches was recognised 45 years ago at the landmark UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, and again at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 and the World Conference on Sustainable Development in 2002.
Then in 2012, as attention was turning to what might succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development called for the next generation of global goals to be Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A lot of progress was made in developing countries on poverty eradication, health and education, which were targeted in the MDGs, but there was a growing interest in a more universal and transformational agenda.
Just over three years later, and following wide consultation, world leaders formally agreed on new global goals, the SDGs and on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is visionary, bold and universal.
All societies will face challenges in meeting the SDGs. They call, for example, for the eradication of poverty. Can my country, New Zealand, or this country, the United Kingdom, or any other country say hand on heart that that is not a challenge for them? I don’t think so. All our countries need to take the new agenda to heart and work with the widest possible range of stakeholders to reach its objectives.
We must tackle the multidimensional poverty which denies full access to education and to health and other services. We must tackle hunger—and that challenge is growing. Last year, for the first time this century, global hunger levels rose to a total of 815 million—or 11 per cent of the population. In a world as wealthy as ours and with so much food waste, that is scandalous.
The new agenda calls explicitly for a significant reduction in equalities. That too is a challenge for countries rich and poor. Markets will not deliver greater equality—the way they function produces winners and losers. But in our societies, we need everyone to be winners, fulfilling their potential, whatever it is, and having equitable access to opportunities and services. We have work to do on this in the Global North—as does the Global South.
Inequality has many dimensions, of which income is just one. Gender inequality remains pervasive. Disabled people face many challenges. Whole communities of people suffer disadvantage because of ethnicity and/or faith. Indigenous people are often marginalised. To be LGBTI in many societies is to face repression. The new global agenda should be a rallying cry to all nations to live up to the vision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948—it never envisaged that some would be permanently denied their rights. Its seventieth anniversary next year would be an opportunity for all UN member states to reaffirm their commitment to its values, and to resolve to act against inequality and discrimination at home.
The SDGs set targets across the environmental challenges—climate change and the threats to our marine and land environments. We have to meet these head on—or pass a toxic legacy to future generations. From the more frequent and intense mega-tropical storms and flooding to the severe droughts which see millions abandoning their land in the Horn of Africa now, the case for action to adapt and mitigate is clear. The poorest and most vulnerable countries cannot fund that action themselves—the rest of us must step up.
Another fundamental truth recognised in the new global agenda is that progress on sustainability requires peaceful, inclusive and just societies based on the rule of law. What hope for progress can there be right now in Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and a long list of other countries wracked by conflict? We need wars to end and new constitutional settlements to be put in place for the people of conflict-stressed countries to be able to realise their aspirations.
My message to all in this college and to university communities at large is that you have a role to play in the implementation of the new global agenda. That role encompasses action on the education goal, SDG 4, which calls for universal access to affordable and quality education, and has many specific targets. But it goes well beyond that—achieving sustainable development requires joined-up action across sectors. Advancing cross-disciplinary research is crucial to that. Operating in silos won’t get us to where we need to be.
Around the world, policy-makers are looking for evidence of what works. University research and analytical communities are among those who contribute to creating the knowledge base against which policies and their implementation can be evaluated.
As well, universities can be powerful advocates for a more just and sustainable world. In all societies, universities and their staff have status and are respected for their contribution. Do not underestimate the power of your voices when you speak out. Advocacy is important in encouraging governments to do what they must to progress the global agenda to which they have all subscribed.
I speak tonight as both a realist and an optimist. Over close to four decades in public life, I have held many positions where I could work to change things for the better. That wasn’t ever easy, but persistence pays off. That’s why I am an optimist—if enough of us are determined to build a better world, we can make a difference. The fruits of that are the legacy we must leave for future generations. I am encouraged that the educational mission of Green Templeton College seeks to help make that difference and to contribute to building more equitable and just societies.