Sustainable Development Goals Index 2018: Highlights

About

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing the world. The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which started a global effort in 2000 to tackle the indignity of poverty. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another. The SDGs are part of resolution 70/1 of UNGA “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development”. There are 17 such SDG as follows:
- No Poverty – End poverty in all its form everywhere.
- Zero Hunger – End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
- Good Health and Well-being – Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
- Quality Education – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
- Gender Equality – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
- Clean water and sanitation – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
- Affordable and clean energy – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
- Decent work and economic growth – Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
- Industry, innovation and infrastructure – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
- Reducing Inequalities – Reduce income inequality within and among countries.
- Sustainable cities and communities – Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
- Responsible consumption and production – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
- Climate action – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy.
- Life below water – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
- Life on land – Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forest, combat desertification, and halt and reserve land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
- Peace, justice and strong institution - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
- Partnerships for the goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable goals.

UN’s India SDG Index 2018

The ranking is released by federal policy think tank NITI Aayog and the UN.
According to SDG India index the nation as a whole has a score of 58.
The index covers 13 of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), including healthcare, gender equality, clean energy, infrastructure, education, peace and building strong, accountable institutions.
The rank shows the distance each state has to cover to reach 100—the point at which it fully meets the sustainable development goal.
The scores represent current status of achievement in meeting the goals.
Top ranked states are
- Himachal Pradesh
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
States performing low are
- Assam
- Bihar
- Utter Pradesh
Among Union territories, Chandigarh leads with a score of 68 on account of its track record in providing clean water and sanitation it was also benefitted from the performance in providing quality education.