The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank, or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this presentation and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this presentation do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Understand: The Global Goals

Olivier Serrat2016

Define: Sustainable DevelopmentSustainable development, as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It embraces two notions:

The concept of needs, in particular those of the poor to which overriding priority should be given.

The idea of limits to the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

The pursuit of sustainable development is a balancing act: it requires the implementation of policies, strategies, programs, and projects that treat environment and development as a single issue; it also demands changes in the mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors of stakeholders.

The Millennium Development Goals

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1)

Achieve universal primary education (MDG 2)

Promote gender equality and empower women (MDG 3)

Reduce child mortality (MDG 4)

Improve maternal health (MDG 5)

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (MDG 6)

Ensure environmental sustainability (MDG 7)

Develop a global partnership for development (MDG 8)

Launched at the Millennium Summit in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals were a historic effort at global mobilization. They were simple, consensual, numerical, and time bound. They galvanized global policy debates and national policy planning; more generally, they involved nongovernment and civil society organizations. They spread the use of statistics for monitoring and decision making, helped improve statistical capacity and data availability, and bolstered interagency coordination and collaboration.

By 2015, substantial progress had been made—notably against poverty, hunger, and disease, although accomplishments varied highly across goals, regions, and countries and owed much to economic growth in the People's Republic of China and India.

Video #1: The Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals: 2015 Report

The number of people living in extreme poverty declined from about 1.9 billion in 1990 to about 836 million in 2015.

The proportion of undernourished people in developing regions dropped by almost half since 1990.

The number of out-of-school children of primary school age worldwide fell by almost half to about 57 million in 2015, down from about 100 million in 2000. Gender parity in primary school was achieved in the majority of countries.

The mortality rate of children under 5 was cut by more than half since 1990. Maternal mortality fell by about 45% worldwide.

Over 6.2 million malaria deaths were averted between 2000 and 2015. New HIV/AIDS infections fell by about 40% between 2000 and 2013. By mid-2014, about 13.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS were receiving antiretroviral therapy globally, an increase from about 800,000 in 2003. Between 2000 and 2013, tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis, and treatment saved about 37 million lives.Globally, 147 countries met the MDG drinking water target, 95 countries met the MDG sanitation target, and 77 countries met both. Worldwide, about 2.1 billion people gained access to improved sanitation.

The Millennium Development Goals in Asia-Pacific

Since 2000, the number of people in extreme poverty, meaning less than $1.25 a day, has been cut by about half a billion, the fastest decline in poverty in human history.

Asia and the Pacific achieved the MDG 1 target of reducing extreme poverty by half before 2015: by 2008, the proportion of people living below $1.25 a day had fallen to 24% from 55% in 1990.

The People's Republic of China showcased the largest decline in the total number of extremely poor people, with annual reductions of 28.3 million over the period 1990–2008; next was India, with annual decreases of 4.2 million over 1994–2010.

In some countries, the region halved the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, reversed the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and slowed the spread of tuberculosis.

Gender parity in primary and secondary education has been achieved.

Nearly all countries in the region show on-track or early achievement in preserving protected areas and reducing consumption of ozone-depleting substances.

The Millennium Development Goals in Asia-Pacific

Yet, Asia and the Pacific, the world's most populous region, still accounts for almost two-thirds of the world's poorest people, many of whom live in South Asia. There is rising inequality within subregions and countries.

Progress toward targets related to under-5, infant, and maternal mortality is slow in all subregions. Nearly 3 out of 4 of the world's underweight children live in developing Asia.

Though the region performs better in education than in health, there is slow progress toward primary school completion in South Asia and Southeast Asia and reducing gender disparity in tertiary education.

Asia's per capita emissions are much lower than those of developed countries. But, the region incurred the world's largest carbon dioxide emissions increase over 1990–2009, rising about 200% in absolute terms and about 130% in per capita terms.

Beyond 2015, the region faces more challenges, foremost among which is the eradication of extreme poverty. It must also address rising inequality, balance economic and environmental interests, and mitigate the impact of climate change.

Video #2: The Millennium Development Goals in Asia-Pacific

Video #3: ADB and the Millennium Development Goals

Shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals

With limited consideration of enablers but "shared responsibility" for implementation, the MDGs focused on a few aspects of development—viz. education, health, and poverty eradication (and only on certain forms of that if poverty is interpreted as multiple deprivation of economic, human, socio-cultural, political, and protective capabilities)—and environmental sustainability. Lack of consultation at the conception of the MDG framework led to perceptions of a donor-centric agenda.

The MDGs neglected distributive issues. For example, a reduction in child mortality is more easily achieved by focusing on those who are already better-off in terms of child survival; in the eyes of policy makers, it might be easier, cheaper, and hence more attractive to invest in these rather than in those at the bottom of the pyramid.

Shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals

Some MDGs measured inputs or outputs, not outcomes (and even less impacts). MDG 2, for example, only measured the intake of education, regardless of quality or relevance to economic, social, and political life. Some MDGs could not be measured—either because no indicators or targets had been set or because no data was available.

The MDGs were formulated as global goals but came to be seen as national objectives. Failure to account for differences in initial conditions posed a particular challenge to least-developed countries: they started out with much poorer performance indicators than others vis-à-vis all MDGs.

Some MDGs were unrealistic. (MDG 2 sought total enrolment in primary education.) Others demonstrated little ambition. On top, many criticized the MDGs for focusing on the social sectors at the expense of economic and environmental concerns.

Video #4: New Development Challenges in Asia-Pacific

Video #5: The Millennium Development Goals Post-2015

Video #6: Reflections on Rio+20

Why the Sustainable Development Goals?

Global economic growth per person led by emerging economies and a population that topped 7.3 billion in 2015 are putting great stress on the earth's ecosystems. Pressures are both global and local: they impinge simultaneously on such crucial earth systems as the carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles.

Mankind is pushing ecosystem functions past thresholds. The earth could suffer sudden, non-linear, and potentially devastating outcomes from climate change, environmental pollution, acidification of the oceans, loss of biodiversity, and depletion of fossil resources, including energy and groundwater.

A shared focus on economic, environmental, and social goals is a hallmark of sustainable development. This triple bottom line represents a consensus on which the world can build.

The Five Ps

In the main, the MDGs were targets for poor countries, to whom rich countries extended solidarity and assistance. There is a different feel to the SDGs: they were arrived at after a three-year long inclusive and participatory process that involved governments, business, and civil society; they set goals and targets for all countries so all may work together for the global well-being of this generation and those to come. They are integrated and indivisible. They aim to stimulate action in five areas of critical importance to humanity and the planet:

• People (SDGs 1–6)

• Prosperity (SDGs 7–10)

• Planet (SDGs 11–15)

• Peace (SDG 16)

• Partnership (SDG 17)

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals

No Poverty—End poverty in all its forms everywhere (SDG 1)

Zero Hunger—End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG 2)

Good Health and Well-Being—Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (SDG 3)

Quality Education—Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4)

Gender Equality—Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (SDG 5)

Clean Water and Sanitation—Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG 6)

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Affordable and Clean Energy—Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all (SDG 7)

Decent Work and Economic Growth—Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all (SDG 8)

Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure—Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation (SDG 9)

Reduced Inequalities—Reduce inequality within and among countries (SDG 10)

Sustainable Cities and Communities—Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable (SDG 11)

Responsible Consumption and Production—Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG 12)

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Climate Action—Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG 13)

Life Below Water—Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development (SDG 14)

Life on Land—Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (SDG 15)

Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions—Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels (SDG 16)

Partnerships for the Goals—Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development (SDG 17)

Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals

The SDGs number 17, with 169 targets. All mean to move from partial solutions to total solutions. But, having a development agenda is not enough: to stay the course policy-makers must turn goals into plans for which stakeholders are accountable. (An operational focus is often absent from such high-level debates.)

The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development needs to shift the discussion from "billions" in development assistance to "trillions" in investments of all kind. Aid is important but developed countries can go further: they can reduce barriers to trade and promote innovation. Still, the key is to expand the domestic resources of developing countries: attracting investment will create jobs and income that will increase tax revenues; this requires new partnerships and greater coherence, coordination, and collaboration within and across governments.

17 Opportunities for InvestmentThe SDGs bring in a new player: the private sector. Unlike the MDGs, there is an appreciation of the role of business in sustainable development. This is important given the cost of implementing the SDGs, estimated at $3.5–5.0 trillion per year in state spending, investment, and aid.

To note, SDG 7 targets expansion of infrastructure and upgrade of technology for modern and sustainable energy services. SDG 8 promotes policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, and creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises. SDG 9 is to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation. SDG 16 can be advanced if business invests in post-conflict states and contribute to peace-building. SDG 17 encourages and promotes effective public, public–private, and civil society partnerships.

Challenges to the Sustainable Development Goals

Involve the whole of government

• Political leadership will have to make sure the SDGs are embraced across ministries and integrated into national policies and planning. Some SDGs are better integrated than others in existing national prioritization processes; some SDG targets can serve multiple purposes; inevitably, choices will have to be made. Leaders in developed countries will need to address inequalities at home, achieve more sustainable pathways to economic growth, and curb the cross-border impacts of their consumption and production patterns.

Engage society

• More than a development agenda, the SDGs are about structural economic transformation. For effective prioritization in national polices and planning and for coherent, efficient delivery based on clear roles and responsibilities, the strength and innovation of civil society, local governments, and the private sector must be mobilized through transparent and participatory decision making.

Challenges to the Sustainable Development Goals

Secure buy-in from financial

institutions and the private sector

• The SDGs call for significant public and private, national and international, concessional and non-concessional resources. Except in least-developed countries, domestic resources will need to dominate the resource envelope, which reinforces the importance of getting national policies right. International financial institutions can align their portfolios with the SDGs and stimulate private finance. But, in developing countries, the responsibility lies with the political leadership to nurture enabling environments and inspire good governance to speed financial resources in the proper directions and enlarge business opportunities.

Hold stakeholders accountable

• Reaching the SDGs rests on coherence, coordination, and collaboration within and across governments and on engagement with a multitude of other stakeholders. As an intergovernmental system, the United Nations can only track the progress of sovereign member states based on voluntary progress reports.

Business and the Sustainable Development Goals

The hidden message of the SDGs may be that

development assistance is an ever-declining part of

the story: the MDGs meant to create a social safety

net; the SDGs reach "beyond aid" to business, acknowledging that one cannot end poverty, fight inequality and injustice,

and tackle climate change if business—in all its

diversity—is not on board.

In segmented ways, some businesses have set up

initiatives for sustainable development through core

business operations and value chains, first and

foremost, but also social investments, philanthropic

contributions, and advocacy efforts. In the

comprehensive SDG framework, notably SDGs 8–9 and SDG 12, all can think strategically about how to align their role in the direction the world is

heading to.

The SDG Compass

2. Defining Priorities

3. Setting Goals

5. Reporting and Communicating

4. Integrating

1. Understanding

the SDGs

The SDG Compass

delineates five steps that

companies can follow to set or align their

course, depending on

where they are in the journey of

ensuring that sustainability is an outcome

of core business strategy.

The SDG Compass is developed

with a focus on large

enterprises. Small- and

medium-scale enterprises and other

organizations are

encouraged to use it as a source of

inspiration and to adapt it as

necessary. The SDG Compass

is best harnessed at

entity level but may be

applied at product, site, divisional ,or regional level

as appropriate.

The SDG CompassUnderstanding the SDGs

• What are the SDGs?• Understanding the

business case• The baseline

responsibilities for business

Defining Priorities• Map the value chain to

identify impact areas• Select indicators and

collect data• Define priorities

Setting Goals• Define scope of goals and

select KPIs• Define baseline and select

goal type• Set level of ambition• Announce commitment to

the SDGs

Integrating• Anchoring sustainability

goals within the business• Embed sustainability

across all functions• Engage in partnerships

Reporting & Communicating• Effective reporting and

communication• Communicating on SDG

performance

Inventory of Business Toolssdgcompass.org/maps a live inventory of business tools

against the SDGs. The source of each tool is

provided together with information about which

organization(s) developed it, which SDG(s) it can be used for, and what impact it may

have. The inventory is a work in progress; at

present, it includes only impact assessment tools,

with more types of tools to follow.

Tool Name and Description• Building a Resilient Power Sector—A comprehensive report that analyzes climate impacts on power systems, explores how to better forecast weather and long-term climate risk, and shares companies' best practices from around the world.SDG(s)

• SDG13 (Climate Action)

Tool Developer

• WBCSD

A Business Reboot for the Sustainable Development Goals

Given the critical mass, one can expect future national and international market rules, regulations, and incentives will reflect the SDGs. Shrewd operators will endeavor to align their business models and corporate strategies in line with the SDG framework.

Complementing the SDG Compass, Jules Peck suggests a method to work with, improve on, and help evolve the SDGs:

Assess—your business's purpose and sustainable development strategy against the SDG framework.

Improve—your strategic alignment with, delivery against, and support for the SDGs and join partnerships to do so.

Engage—with the business alliances involved in the UN Global Commission on Business and Sustainable Development.

Support—the UN and its delivery partners in Global Goal programs and partnerships.

Communicate—your efforts and take part in the process of public engagement with the SDGs.

Reboot—your business into a "next economy" alternative, using the SDG framework as springboard.

Framing Business-Led Solutions• Measurable—so we know they are making a

difference.• Scalable—so they can have a meaningful

impact on the world.• Replicable—so they can be applied by many

companies in multiple sectors, countries, and regions.

• Beyond Business As Usual—so businesses and governments begin to work—and collaborate—differently.

• Good for Business—so they have a commercial logic that contributes to the broader good and to the bottom line.

The World Business Council for Sustainable

Development thinks that any business—

large or small, global or local—can frame

business solutions for economic,

environmental, and societal must-haves, both by minimizing

negative impacts and maximizing positive

impacts on people and the planet. Business-lead solutions should

be:Some business solutions

require only a company's efforts to

implement; other will be enabled by policy

and regulatory changes or partnerships.

Further Reading• ADB. 2011. ADB Sustainable Development Timeline. Manila.

www.adb.org/publications/adb-sustainable-development-timeline

• ——. 2012. World Sustainable Development Timeline. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/world-sustainable-development-timeline

• ——. 2013. The Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific: 12 Things to Know. Manila. www.adb.org/features/12-things-know-about-mdgs-asia-and-pacific

Further Reading• ADB. 2015. Making It Happen: Technology, Finance and

Statistics for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/technology-finance-and-statistics-sustainable-development-asia-pacific

• ——. 2015. Making Money Work: Financing a Sustainable Future in Asia and the Pacific. Manila. www.adb.org/publications/making-money-work-financing-sustainable-future-asia-and-pacific

• ——. 2016. Sustainable Development Goals. Manila. www.adb.org/site/sdg/main

Further Reading• UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

2012. Review of the Contributions of the MDG Agenda to Foster Development: Lessons for the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda. Discussion Note. New York: United Nations.

• UN. 2015. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015. New York: United Nations.

• UN. 2015. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. New York: United Nations. www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AAAA_Outcome.pdf

Further Reading• UN. 2015. Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development. New York: United Nations. sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld

• SDG Compass. 2016. sdgcompass.org/

• Jules Peck. 2016. Delivering on the SDGs Will Require a System Reboot. Corporate Citizenship Briefing. Speaking Out; 2 February. ccbriefing.corporate-citizenship.com/2016/02/02/delivering-sdgs-will-require-system-reboot/

• World Business Council for Sustainable Development. 2016. Action2020. action2020.org/

Videos• ADB. 2011. Water in Asia. Manila. vimeo.com/91599203• ——. 2011. The Water Sector in ADB. Manila.

vimeo.com/91599206• ——. 2013. Reflections on Rio+20. Manila.

vimeo.com/92214523• ——. 2013. The Millennium Development Goals. Manila.

vimeo.com/92214529• ——. 2013. ADB's Contribution to the Millennium

Development Goals. Manila. vimeo.com/92214530• ——. 2013. The Millennium Development Goals and the Post-

2015 Development Agenda. Manila. vimeo.com/92214538

Videos• ADB. 2013. Achievements of the Millennium Development

Goals in Asia and the Pacific. Manila. vimeo.com/92482268• ——. 2013. New Development Challenges in Asia and the

Pacific. Manila. vimeo.com/92482269• ——. 2014. What are Social Enterprises? Manila.

vimeo.com/123062806• ——. 2014. "Aid Fatigue" and Aid Effectiveness. Manila.

vimeo.com/124022419• ——. 2016. The ADB Sustainable Development Timeline.

Manila. reflections.adb.org/

Videos• ADB. 2016. ADB: Reflections and Beyond. Manila.

vimeo.com/user26371068

Quick Response Codes

@ADB

@ADB Sustainable Development Timeline

@Academia.edu

@LinkedIn

@ResearchGate

@Scholar

@SlideShare

@Twitter