Study of Sustainable Development in USA - STUDY AND RESEARCH
STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN USA
The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area and slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 325 million people, the U.S. is the third-most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT means to use the resources efficiently and conserve for the future generation
ReplyDeletePeople of USA should use the resources efficiently and conserve them for the future generation as it will benifitted for people in the future generation
Government should take concrete steps for the Sustanible development
We should pledge that by 2030 we should achieve the SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the economy and society depend.
ReplyDeleteWhile the modern concept of sustainable development is derived mostly from the 1987 Brundtland Report, it is also rooted in earlier ideas about sustainable forest management and twentieth century environmental concerns. As the concept developed, it has shifted to focus more on economic development, social development and environmental protection for future generations.
ReplyDeleteSustainability can be defined as the practice of maintaining processes of productivity indefinitely—natural or human made—by replacing resources used with resources of equal or greater value without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems.[9] Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the study of the concepts of sustainable development and environmental science. There is an additional focus on the present generations' responsibility to regenerate, maintain and improve planetary resources for use by future generations.
ReplyDeleteSustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management which were developed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The United States is working to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (link is external) – known as the SDGs or Global Goals – both domestically and abroad. The U.S. government helped shape the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (link is external).
ReplyDeleteThe goals are ambitious, measurable and action-oriented.
To help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the United States will continue to partner (link is external) with countries and communities around the world to tackle some of the most intractable problems such as child and maternal death, hunger, gender inequality and climate change.
We will do so in a way that leaves no one behind.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are designed to work together. We are taking an holistic approach to achieve the Goals – one that respects and upholds the priorities of the communities in which we work and the people we aim to assist.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests
ReplyDeleteDuring a one-day meeting in Los Angeles on January 9, 2017, a group of non-profit and philanthropic organizations convened at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to discuss how best to accelerate action on domestic application of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the United States. Attendees included representatives of philanthropy, national non-profits, academic institutions, and think tanks, all of whom are already working on domestic implementation of the SDGs within the US.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the conversation, a number of key themes emerged as attendees discussed how best to collaborate in order to increase awareness of and engagement around the SDGs by a variety of sectors. This summary highlights key themes discussed by the group, as well as suggested next steps and a list of meeting attendees.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the conversation was realistic with a strong sense of urgency, it was not entirely negative, especially given the critical role of civil society, including philanthropy, in leading work around the SDGs in both the short, medium, and long term. The discussion also highlighted how results of the 2016 presidential election make a strong case for an ambitious framework like the SDGs to bridge divides, address the concerns of groups that feel “unheard” and ignored within growing American inequality, and inspire a collective movement to perhaps “make America great again.”
ReplyDeleteWithin the current context of American politics and given current national and local challenges, the SDGs provide a non-partisan framework for moving the country towards ambitious targets that aim to leave no one behind by 2030. Alongside a strategy for national implementation, the discussion often returned to the critical role and opportunity for cities and potentially states to lead on the SDGs, especially during the next four years. Overall, it’s clear that a strategy is needed to engage at multiple levels and with myriad partners – including cities, states, and when possible, federal agencies and national political leaders.
ReplyDeleteIn 2015, all 193 member states of the United Nations adopted 17 global goals to end poverty, protect the planet, reduce inequality, and generally improve the well-being of everyone in the world. Three years later, no country is yet on track to achieve all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the target date of 2030.
ReplyDeleteThat’s the bleak conclusion of a huge study by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which assess the progress of all 193 countries in achieving the SDGs.
One report focuses on G20 countries, which make up two-thirds of the world’s population, more than three-quarters of greenhouse emissions, and almost all of global GDP. There is a wide variety in the efforts and commitments expressed by these governments. After conducting a survey to gauge how strongly the SDGs were integrated into institutions and policy, the US ranked right at the bottom. Just ahead of it was Russia.
ReplyDeleteIn these countries, there were no public statements from heads of state about the implementation of the global goals and no federal plan to achieve them, the report said. Indeed, Donald Trump has distanced the US from multilateral institutions during his time in office. The Trump administration has clashed with the UN on several occasions; last month, it withdrew from the UN’s human rights council.
ReplyDeleteThat said, this report focuses on national-level intentions, and so it isn’t a complete guide to the progress made due to efforts at the state and city levels. New York City just became the first city to report its progress on meeting the SDGs to the UN.
Back at a national level, the countries with the strongest institutional support for the global goals were Brazil, Mexico, and Italy, where there are specific SDG strategies and co-ordination across government departments to make them happen. But recent elections in Italy and Mexico, and upcoming elections in Brazil, could change things. The report also only measures whether plans are in place, and not how effective those strategies are.
ReplyDeleteIn general, progress on the goal addressing sustainable consumption and production has been slow—it is proving to be one of the most problematic areas for high-income countries. Meanwhile, rich countries are generating significant environmental, economic, and security spillover effects that undermine the efforts of lower-income countries. No country in the G20 has aligned their national budget to meeting the SDGs, and only India has done a full evaluation of the additional funding needed to achieve the goals.
Back in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched –17 goals and 169 targets paving the way to a more equitable, healthy and prosperous world for all by 2030.
ReplyDeleteFast forward two years and Donald Trump is in power and, according to his critics, undermining the SDGs and what they stand for: global collaboration. As the US continues to pursue an increasingly inward-looking agenda, what does this mean for the Global Goals?
Business commitment to the SDGs is already dwindling. Our new research has found the number of companies that are aware of the SDGs, but lack plans to do anything about them, grew from 13 per cent to 20 per cent between 2016 and 2017. The percentage of companies actively involved in a collaboration related to the SDGs fell from 40 per cent to 33 per cent in the same time period.
ReplyDeleteThe story seems particularly bad in the United States, where just 12 per cent of Fortune 50 companies have set targets or commitments that support the SDGs. In comparing to the FTSE 100, we found the figure among UK companies is nearly triple that.
According to the UN’s own analysis of 100 of the largest companies globally, 15 of the 18 that did not make any mention of sustainable development in their 2016 annual reports were based in the US.
ReplyDeleteSo how much of this can be attributed to Trump?
Well, Trump has threatened to undermine climate progress (goal 13) by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. Clean energy (goal 7) also looks to be at risk, with the President’s protectionist agenda undermining the clean energy market.
Research has shown that the suggested tariffs on solar imports could lead to the cancellation of more than half of all projected solar installations in the US from 2019 until 2021, due to price increases. Trump has already attempted to slash funding for diplomacy, foreign aid and the United Nations, putting Goal 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) in jeopardy.
ReplyDeleteThe irony of Trump’s apparent indifference to the SDGs is that the rising inequality that served as a rallying cry for Trump’s campaign is exactly what the SDGs are seeking to address. In fact, some of Trump’s campaign promises map directly onto the SDGs.
ReplyDeleteThe commitment to create 25 million jobs over a decade and sustain annual GDP growth at 3 per cent reflects Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth. A proposed $550 billion investment in infrastructure echoes Goal 9: Industry and infrastructure.
So where does this leave business? The SDGs represent a call to action, across 193 member state governments, business and civil society. Concern that comprehensive delivery of the goals won’t be met arises when both business and government take a back seat.
ReplyDeleteThe need for businesses to support governments in the delivery of the goals was made clear from the start, with Goal 17 representing ‘Partnerships for the Goals’. Political apathy could, therefore, place an even greater emphasis on the need for business leadership. If government is taking a back seat, businesses may need to get into the driver’s seat to deliver the goals.
That certainly seems to be the attitude of some American firms that are upping their activism and stepping into social debates. IBM, for example, has collaborated with the City of Johannesburg and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to use its Internet of Things technology to help the city deliver its air quality management plan.
ReplyDeleteReal-time data from environmental monitoring stations will aid understanding of the causes of air pollution and will help model the effectiveness of intervention strategies.
Collaborations at all sorts of scales is working, but we need to make sure that business progress is regained, not repressed. As Alaa Murabit, UN high-level commissioner, says, ‘We all need to demand better’ when it comes to progress on the goals. We need to demand more of businesses, and businesses need to demand more of politicians.’
Almost three years have passed since the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 were adopted by 193 countries at the United Nations General Assembly. Since then, focus has switched to implementation. Here the news is not good. Indicators of 14 out of 16 targets directly related to individuals (like poverty, education, or child mortality) are unlikely to get more than half way to their agreed 2030 endpoint. Child obesity is headed in the wrong direction. Violence against women may only reach 10 percent of the target level.[1 ]It has become commonplace to say that “business-as-usual” will not suffice, but it is less easy to be clear about what needs to change, whose actions need to change, and how can change be organized.
ReplyDeleteThere is an urgency to SDG implementation. Time is running out. If the estimated trends do not change, many lives will be lost or damaged, and, in the longer-run, development trajectories for the next few decades will be adversely affected. A narrow window of opportunity that exists today is closing.
ReplyDeleteConsider the following: more infrastructure will be put in place in the next 15 years than the entire stock of the world’s current infrastructure. Make it low carbon and sustainable, and the worst effects of climate change can be averted. From a different perspective, think about the fact that more people are now moving to cities than ever before, or than ever will again. Plan cities smartly, in terms of inclusive public services, transport and land-use, and inequality in our societies can be reduced. Also, reflect on the demographic bulge unfolding in Africa, the last place on earth where the number of children will expand over the next 15 years. Only by keeping these children alive, healthy and skilled can we avoid a generation being left behind.
ReplyDeleteIn each case, choices made now and over the next fifteen years will lock in carbonization, urbanization, and demographic trends that will shape the future of humanity for decades to come.
ReplyDeleteIf there is to be change, someone has to lead it. The U.S. can and should resume its role as leading the world towards sustainable development. U.S. citizens agree: in 2017, two-thirds responded “yes” to the question “Do you think it will be best for the future of the country if we take an active part in world affairs?”[2] The U.S. should align its foreign assistance with the SDGs and, using that framework, build local and international coalitions with a range of government and non-government actors, including business, civil society and academia.
To do that, it should consider:
ReplyDelete1).What the Federal or local government needs to do to get the U.S.’ own house in order.
2).How to catalyze and partner with the U.S. corporate sector, non-governmental organizations and
civil society.
3).Where to engage internationally.
Global leadership on sustainable development should begin with credible domestic action. Agenda 2030 is universal and, between 2016 and 2018, 112 countries have submitted voluntary national reviews of their implementation plans at the U.N.’s High Level Political Forum. The U.S. is not among them. The domestic SDG agenda for the U.S. (and indeed for most other countries) can be distilled into three broad action areas:
ReplyDelete1. reinvigorate the long-term trend of overall economic growth;
2. re-couple economic progress with social well-being, and;
3. de-couple economic growth from environmental “bads” (pollution, carbon emissions).
The U.S. is not faring well on any of these. Growth is picking up, but, according to IMF forecasts, this is cyclical. Real GDP growth could accelerate this year and next to levels just shy of 3 percent thanks to the fiscal stimulus, but this will dissipate, and growth is projected to return to 1.4 percent (0.6 percent per capita) by 2023. On the need for re-coupling, the gulf between growth and well-being is well-illustrated by stories of opioid use and rising suicides occurring alongside economic recovery. De-coupling of environmental bads has been thrown into question by the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the weakening of fuel economy standards and other environmental regulations that the Trump Administration believes are constraining growth. The growth/environment policy trade-off is tilting back toward growth.
ReplyDeleteThe SDGs provide a frame for analyzing and tackling these issues in a coherent way to improve the chances of sustainable long-term progress. Indeed, the U.S. would do well to learn from the SDG-related processes of other countries.
ReplyDeleteAs a start, a stocktaking of the current situation is revealing. A recent review of national baselines on SDG indicators warns that the U.S. must overcome major challenges to meet 12 of the 17 goals.[3 ]In this, the U.S. is not alone. No country is on-track to meet all the goals. Yet other countries have set in train a process for action. They have requested their statistical offices to identify and monitor key indicators, adopted a national action plan for implementation, or at least modified or aligned an existing national plan or program with the SDGs.
ReplyDeleteThey have undertaken an assessment of a baseline and trajectories to identify the largest gaps and priority actions. Every G20 country, with two exceptions—the United States and Russia—has followed, or plans to follow, each of these steps. To be fair, the U.S. has set in place a national reporting platform to identify and update sustainable development statistics,[4] but two-thirds of proposed indicators still require improvements or further exploration of the data.
ReplyDeleteLocal mayors and governors are at the forefront when it comes to leading the domestic SDG agenda, rather than the federal government. New York City presented the first Voluntary Local Review to the U.N.’s High Level Political Forum in July. Other cities are joining in the effort. Los Angeles has undertaken Global Ambition, Local Action (GALA), a public commitment to the SDGs, and, through a partnership with Occidental College is mapping and prioritizing against the goals. Both Baltimore and San Jose have developed plans consistent with the U.S.
ReplyDeleteCities SDG Index developed by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
ReplyDeleteIn the SDSN U.S. Cities Index, common challenges for all U.S. cities include eradicating poverty (Goal 1), healthy food and diets (Goal 2), health and wellbeing for all (Goal 3), gender equality (Goal 5), providing affordable and clean energy for all (Goal 7), reducing inequality (Goal 10), and climate action (Goal 13).
On climate action, in particular, the We Are Still In campaign has attracted the support of local political and civic leaders representing over half the U.S. population, and significant local government participation is expected at the Global Climate Action Summit in California in September. This activist groundswell could provide a springboard for broadening the local agenda to take on other aspects of the SDGs, including social equity and inclusiveness issues.
ReplyDeletePARTNERING WITH BUSINESS
ReplyDeleteSustainability concerns have become deeply embedded in many large corporations that now systematically look at business risks and opportunities stemming from climate change, pollution, decent work, and product safety. Indeed, in the U.S., businesses are moving way ahead of the government. About 80 percent of the companies listed in the S&P 500 now report publicly on their sustainability performance, and a growing number of companies are starting to align their sustainability strategies with the SDGs. The issue, then, is not reporting individual company performance per se, but to set common standards, establish industry-wide goals, and develop comparable metrics to drive greater competition and impact at the company level.
The U.S. could be taking the lead in these areas, especially given the power of its financial institutions and intermediaries and the global footprint of its largest corporations. The prize is substantial. The Business and Sustainable Development Commission (2017) identified $12 trillion in new market opportunities in just four economic systems—food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being. Banks seem to agree—setting an example, Bank of America, JPMorganChase, and Citigroup have made combined commitments to facilitate at least $50 billion per year in green finance through 2025. The competition to be sustainable will affect companies’ long-term ability to attract and retain talent, as well as their ability to build consumer loyalty and remain globally competitive.
ReplyDeleteIncreasingly, attention is shifting to the role of investors. A growing body of evidence suggests that high-rated environmental, social, and (corporate) governance (ESG) companies are more profitable, have less volatility and risk, and have higher price/earnings valuations.[7 ]Outside the U.S., some investors, like Swiss Re, have begun shifting their entire portfolio towards ESG indices. With several ESG indices outperforming other benchmarks, ESG-based benchmarks could become a new standard for performance. This could trigger a wave of change. One Forbes analyst argues that, when 10 percent of top investors start to focus on system-level issues around sustainability, it generates attention among all stakeholders. When 30 percent of top investors focus on sustainability, there could be a culture change within the financial community. When a two-thirds threshold is reached, there will be systemic change.
ReplyDeleteWhat is emerging from these and other studies is a new narrative of business and sustainability, one that recognizes that long-term profits and good performance on material non-financial aspects of business go hand in hand. Even in the world of impact investing, the vast majority (85 percent) of respondents believe there is no need to accept financial returns that are substantially below market in exchange for better ESG impact—the two simply go together.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that private business can contribute substantially to global progress on the SDGs is one that the U.S. should embrace and encourage. U.S. reporting standards, like the industry-specific disclosures recommended by the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, could be adopted by more companies as the format to be used in Form 10-K filings that provide annual reports on firms’ financial performance. While the Securities and Exchange Commission has not issued specific guidance on disclosures, this is partly because of the view that rapidly changing technology and data availability can alter management’s discussion and analysis of financial conditions. Given the rapid pace of change, standards should evolve over time rather than be restricted to a standardized format. Nevertheless, greater comparability across firms would help provide valuable benchmarking information for management and for investors. The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures provides guidance to companies on what constitutes effective financial disclosures across industries.
ReplyDeleteSeveral countries are developing their own standards for sustainability reporting. The European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on sustainable finance made recommendations in early 2018 to pension funds to “proactively seek and incorporate” beneficiary preferences in their decision making. China has become the largest global issuer of green bonds and is pushing aggressively to set standards for compulsory disclosure of listed company environmental performance.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. government also works with U.S. companies and entrepreneurs to advance technology breakthroughs for development. The Development Innovation Ventures program of USAID uses a venture capital model to conceive, test, and scale new technologies in global health, trade, energy, food security, and other sectors. NGOs, universities, companies and social enterprises have partnered through this program. Its future, however, is uncertain.
ReplyDeleteThe absence of strong U.S. initiatives could mean that U.S. businesses lose any first-mover advantages from setting global standards, developing new business models for development, or blending finance in novel ways.
ReplyDeleteENGAGING INTERNATIONALLY
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. has been the largest aid donor in the world, by some considerable margin, ever since World War II, based in part on the highly successful experience with the Marshall Plan. From this vantage point, the U.S. was responsible for the creation of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD, the Global Fund, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and other institutions. It is also the dominant shareholder in the World Bank and the major regional development banks.
This U.S. leadership, however, has been eroded by a shake-up in the international development financing architecture. First, as illustrated in the figure that follows, official aid has become a far smaller share of the external financing for SDG investments.[10] Second, non-aid sources of finance, particularly market-priced loans from official agencies, have become important. The U.S. has not had a large presence in these nongrant forms of development finance. For example, the foremost U.S. official lending institution, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), announced only $3.7 billion in new commitments for FY16, a small fraction of the total flows to developing countries. Across all official lending agencies, net U.S. lending was negative $1.4 billion in 2016—that is, U.S. public lending institutions reduced their exposure to the developing world.
ReplyDeleteChina, by contrast, has encouraged its two large public banks, the China Development Bank and the China ExIm Bank, to lend more to developing countries. These two institutions alone had outstanding foreign loans of about $675 billion in 2016. The Bank for International Settlements reported that total Chinese cross-border claims amounted to $970 billion in Q2, 2017. (This includes claims on developed country counterparties, but it appears that for a significant number of African and emerging and developing countries in Asia, Chinese banks are the main lenders.
ReplyDeleteThe United States is working to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (link is external) – known as the SDGs or Global Goals – both domestically and abroad. The U.S. government helped shape the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (link is external).
ReplyDeleteThe goals are ambitious, measurable and action-oriented.
To help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the United States will continue to partner (link is external) with countries and communities around the world to tackle some of the most intractable problems such as child and maternal death, hunger, gender inequality and climate change.
We will do so in a way that leaves no one behind.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are designed to work together. We are taking an holistic approach to achieve the Goals – one that respects and upholds the priorities of the communities in which we work and the people we aim to assist.