ITS EDUCATION ASIA ARTICLE

Did we all forget about the SDGs?

By Richard Hinchman

Did we all forget about the SDGs?

I ran across an old article today titled, ‘The United States Can’t Afford to Forget about the Sustainable Development Goals,’ written a mere year after they were first announced as replacements for the original Millennium Development Goals, and I came to a startling realization – I am shocked at how few people I speak with on a regular basis either have never heard of the SDGs or had completely forgotten about their existence. Rarely do they pop-up in mainstream news, nor are they referenced in the rhetoric of most political figures we see in the news every day. I find it appalling they are not topics found outside of a geography classroom or other strictly academic setting. Everyone wants the world to be a better place (I’d hope), yet not that many have the wherewithal to do anything about it. The Goals were established with this in mind and every initiative of every target has something actionable behind it that we should be able to engage with. Here it is, close to the end of 2024, and yet, I sit here dumbfounded by how few people are familiar with them.

Here’s a friendly reminder: The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by all UN member states in 2015. They were specifically designed to address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice. Earth changing, global action stuff here. You’d think something this important would be common knowledge, right? Well, think again.

Despite the monumental significance of the SDGs, a surprising number of people remain unaware of them. A global survey conducted by the World Economic Forum in 2019 revealed that only 74% of adults had some awareness of the SDGs. The most egregiously ignorant nations were Great Britain and Japan with 51% of the adult population claiming to have never heard of them, with the United States trailing just behind at a staggering 50%. Conversely speaking, Türkiye came up looking pretty great with a mere 8% claiming no knowledge. In the end though, these numbers are meaningless, as this breakdown shows:

Factor in those who have merely heard about them or those not very familiar and an alarming picture begins to emerge.

In all fairness, if you walked up to most people and told them you plan to end global poverty or eradicate world hunger within the next decade, they’d either laugh at you or ask you where you plan to find your magic lamp.  They are extremely ambitious goals, but they all have some pretty specific and actionable targets attached as an instruction manual.

One of the primary reasons for this lack of awareness is the insufficient emphasis on the SDGs in education and in media coverage. Schools and universities should integrate the SDGs into their programs to ensure that the next generation is well-informed and motivated to take action. Businesses of all sizes bear responsibility for adopting more sustainable practices and the SDGs can serve as a roadmap of where to start. Similarly, media outlets need to highlight these goals more frequently to keep them in the public eye. I remember when I was a kid, the hole in the ozone layer was talked about everywhere with ads like this running on a regular basis. Everybody knew about it and talked about it, and guess what? We fixed it! If only the SDGs could get some corporate sponsorship…

There’s the problem, in the end. Fixing the world isn’t profitable, isn’t flashy, and it means admitting there’s something wrong with the world in the first place. The most developed areas of the world have turned a blind eye to poverty, don’t care about the inaccessibility of resources in countries they’ve never heard of or can’t pronounce, and have been generally programmed to look out for their own interests and comforts first.

I firmly believe raising awareness about the SDGs is our collective responsibility. Educating yourself and others, advocating for the inclusion of SDG-related content in schools at all levels, encouraging media outlets to cover stories related to the SDGs, and participating in local and global initiatives aimed at achieving these goals are all steps we can actually take.

Reach out to us for many such opportunities, whether you are here in Hong Kong, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. We can show you how to be more engaged or be directly involved. The world is already better than it has ever been, yet we’re really on the cusp of making it that much better. Time to do your part.