Using the sustainable development goals towards a better understanding of sustainability challenges

The United Nations General Assembly agreed and approved in September 2015 the document ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which contains a set of measures aiming to balance economic progress and protection of the environment, whilst at the same time remain aware of the need to address the ma...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Leal Filho, Walter, Tripathi, Shiv K., Andrade Guerra, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de, Giné Garriga, Ricard|||0000-0001-9987-8742
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/121370
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/121370
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2018.1505674
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Sustainability
Sustainable development
Sustainable Development Goals
sustainable development
sustainable development goals
case studies and challenges
Desenvolupament sostenible
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Medi ambient
Descripción
Sumario:The United Nations General Assembly agreed and approved in September 2015 the document ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which contains a set of measures aiming to balance economic progress and protection of the environment, whilst at the same time remain aware of the need to address the many disparities still seen between industrialised and developing countries. The Agenda document consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which among many other tasks, intend to eradicate poverty and create better health conditions in both developed and developing countries. But despite the need for and the relevance of the SDGs, it is unclear how they may help to address present and future sustainability challenges. Based on the need to shed some light on such a relationship, this paper describes each of the SDGs, and offers an analysis of the extent to which their implementation may offer support to ongoing attempts to handle some of the pressing problems seen in pursuing sustainable development. Three case studies are presented to show in practice how best the SDGs can be handled. The paper concludes that the process of implementing the SDGs offers unrivaled opportunities to advance equal opportunity and foster economic empowerment, helping countries to promote the cause of sustainable development in their territories, hence benefiting their populations.