Earlier
this week the 193 Member States of the United Nations reached a consensus on ambitious new agenda which would end poverty by 2030 and
universally promote shared economic prosperity, social development and
environmental protection. The new sustainable development agenda builds on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000, which helped more than 700 million
people escape poverty, slash hunger, disease, gender inequality, and access to
water and sanitation by 2015.
The 17 sustainable goals and 169 targets aim at tackling key systemic barriers to
sustainable development such as inequality, unsustainable consumption and
production patterns, inadequate infrastructure and lack of decent jobs. However,
some countries and NGOs feel that 17 goals are too unwieldy to implement and their number should be limited to
10 or 12.
The UN estimates that
the cost of achieving the SDGs will be about $ 3.3-4.5 trillion a year. Where
exactly that money will come from is less clear, however it is accepted that
the private sector will have to play a huge role in financing the goals
