Adam Creason - UN SDGs

            The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all member nations of the United Nations in 2015. The SDGs provide a “blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”. There are 17 SDGs included in the initiative that act as an urgent call for environmental action by all countries in a global partnership. The most notable of the goals include: affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, and life on land, among other goals to address human crises. These goals aim to be 100% achieved by 2030, thereby acting as a radical UN initiative aimed to address the sustainable development of the world in a way that least harms the surrounding environment.

                While certainly not perfect or even ideal, the SDGs do provide a global partnership to address the climate crisis. The extent to which this occurs, of course, remains to be seen. Nevertheless, one can dream, right? The goals to have clean energy and responsible consumption and production of resources set us on the right path. If humans are to dwell in harmony with nature, the first step to such a relationship is for humans to cease their unrelenting and clear exploitation of the earth’s natural and precious resources. Once that is achieved, sustainable cities can be established and expanded. Urban areas are the highest contributor to pollution and greenhouse gas production due to the large quantities of inhabitants using non-renewable resources. Such high concentrations of this exploitation results in climate consequences. If we can address this, and make cities more sustainable, then it would allow humans to reside in an area that respects the separation of wilderness from civilization, thereby allowing the wilderness to reestablish alongside the sustainable initiatives. In conjunction with these practices, the goal to address climate change via action would aid in the reparation of the wilderness. Goals to revitalize and respect life below water and on land would ensure that humanity is not overfeeding and demolishing our fraternal wild animals. This would allow populations to reestablish and would in turn have further positive effects on the environment.

                The UN’s SDGs provide a hopeful future for our planet. The degree to which the SDGs address the climate crisis has yet to be seen, of course. In the meantime, I, myself, can live (almost) sustainably. I can start by not eating much fish from companies that are known to rape the ocean of its creatures. I can eat far less from farms that abuse the lives of those creatures. I can consume responsibly by thrifting or recycling worn clothes, tools, etc. I can grow plants that produce both food and oxygen. I can use less electricity. I can be active in the fight for climate action. These are the things I can do now, because change on such a massive scale must come from both the individual and the governments to meet in the middle.