UN Sustainability Development Goals

SDG4 is a key enabler of most other SDGs. Unfortunately, global progress in education has not been fast enough. Only 58% of students worldwide achieved at least the minimum proficiency level in reading at the end of primary schooling in 2019. A large share of countries is moving backwards in learning outcomes at the end of lower secondary school. Improvement in upper secondary completion rate has slowed since 2015. Some regions, including sub-Saharan Africa, are facing teacher shortages, high student-teacher ratios, and inadequate training and lack of professional development opportunities for teachers. Accelerating progress towards SDG 4 should be prioritized as it will have a catalytic impact on achieving the overall 2030 Agenda.

Progress towards SDG 8 faces challenges from COVID-19 aftermath, trade tensions, rising debts in developing nations, conflicts, and geopolitical strains, collectively threatening global economic growth. While labour markets have shown resilience, uneven pandemic recovery, the declining protection of labor rights and emerging vulnerabilities erode social justice prospects. The report foresees a worsening labour market outlook, with higher unemployment and sluggish growth in 2024, exacerbating income inequality and jeopardizing equitable pay for women and decent work for young people. Achieving SDG 8 mandates policies fostering economic growth with a focus on social justice and inclusive employment.

The crisis of unsustainable consumption and production patterns worldwide is fuelling the ongoing triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution. Domestic material consumption and material footprint continue to rise, some one billion meals worth of edible food are wasted every day in homes around the world and stockpiles of e-waste steadily grow. While countries are fulfilling their environmental agreement obligations and embracing comprehensive approaches to address environmental degradation, public funding supporting the production and consumption of fossil fuels has more than tripled since 2015, impeding the transition to net-zero emissions. Each stage of production or manufacturing presents an opportunity to reduce resource and fossil fuel use, foster innovation, conserve energy, cut emissions, and advocate for a circular economy approach.

Climate records were shattered in 2023, with the world watching the climate crisis unfold in real time. Communities around the world are suffering the effects of extreme weather, which is destroying lives and livelihoods on a daily basis. The roadmap to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C and avoid the worst of climate chaos cannot afford any delays, indecision or half measures by the global community. It demands immediate action for drastic reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions in this decade and the achievement of net zero by 2050.

Around the world, we need peace in every sense. Yet the road to global peace and security has become even more complex. Global forced displacement is at an all-time high, exceeding 110 million people forced to flee from persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations as of May 2023. Between 2022 and 2023, civilian casualties experienced the highest spike since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Persistent threats to human security across the globe underscore the breakdown of peaceful and inclusive societies, crucial for sustainable development and the need to restore trust and strengthen and renew global peace and security frameworks to heed the desperate pleas for peace from countless voices worldwide.

Global partnerships for sustainable development encompass key areas such as finance, technology, trade and data. There are mixed trends in mobilizing financial resources for development, expanding internet connectivity and and strengthening statistical systems. However, a substantial $4 trillion annual investment gap for developing countries to achieve the SDGs, persistent and crippling issues such as unprecedentedly high external debt levels, and limited access to online connectivity in low-income countries underscore the need for sustained collaboration and enhanced cooperation and support in a landscape of worsening international cooperation and geopolitical tensions.