Overarching Topics

2030 AGENDA

The UN Summit held on 25th September 2015 in New York adopted the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development that replaced eight Millennium Develpment Gaols (MDGs) with seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 specific targets. The 2030 Agenda embodies the collective commitment of world leaders and 193 governments to embark on a new path for human development, integrating and balancing the three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social and ecological.

The agenda aims at Transforming our World by the year 2030, extreme poverty and hunger shall be eliminated, natural resources shall be protected and development opportunities shall be created equally for all people. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets will stimulate actions over the next thirteen years and are highly aspirational and ambitious. The German Government considers the 2030 Agenda as an overarching framework for sustainable development that is to be implemented in Germany, in partner countries and globally by shaping international processes.

The 2030 Agenda’s implementation is guided by 5 overarching principles which are derived from different points in the text of the Agenda:

Five principles of the 2030 Agenda

• Universality: The 2030 Agenda is universally applicable to all countries – to developing, emerging and industrialized countries.
• Integrated Approach: The 17 SDGs are integrated and indivisible. No goal may be implemented at the expense of another.
• Leave no one behind: The Agenda focuses on marginalized groups as well as the poorest of the poor. Those with the fewest development opportunities should be reached first.
• Shared responsibility: The challenges of the global community cannot be overcome by governments alone. Its implementation can only be successful if all relevant stakeholders make their contribution.
• Accountability: The implementation measures and their effects are regularly monitored and reviewed on a national, regional and global level.

As the Indo-German Biodiversity Programme we share the same values as envisioned by the 2030 Agenda and its principles. Also, we aim to contribute towards the implementation of the 2030 in India following an integrated approach. Conventional sectoral approaches would tell us to focus on specific goals for achieving a certain dimension of sustainable development. However, biodiversity and well-functioning ecosystems are by far not limited to Goal SDG 14 Life below water and SDG 15 Life on land.

In fact, when all the indirect contributions from nature to economy and human wellbeing are considered, well-functioning ecosystems are found to be relevant for achieving all the SDGs. The reason for the interconnectedness of well-functioning ecosystems throughout the three dimensions and all global goals lies within the numerous services and contributions of nature to people such as water purification, soil fertility and pollination.