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UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, opened the SDG Action Weekend with a few remarks on the state of the SDGs and why they were created. In his own words, “The SDGs are not about checking boxes, they are about righting historical wrongs, healing historic divisions, and environmental activism”. Oftentimes in the private sector, leading businesses in developed nations only strive within their corporate boundaries to become more sustainable. Unfortunately, if all businesses and nations think this way, we will fail in our attempt to achieve the SDGs by 2030. A major theme throughout the weekend was that we are far behind where we need to be, and the only way that we can make up our deficit is by working as a collective, not independent nations. Now at the midway point from the original implementation of the SDGs in 2015 from the Paris Agreement, we need to make large strides for the betterment of our world.
The variety of conversations accessible to me throughout the weekend was astonishing. I started by learning about the struggles of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Republic of Kenya due to restrictive lending limitations often exclusively targeting businesses with male leaders, proven credit history, and strong financial performance. In another conference on the progression of renewable energy (SDG 7), with government leaders from Saint Martin, Chad, South Sudan, and the United States. Surprisingly, a majority of the conversation was not spent on understanding how countries were succeeding in integrating renewable energy into private sector infrastructure, rather it was the ongoing war in Sudan. Officials in Chad are facing an ongoing crisis of refugees entering the nation which is already facing significant limitations with access to food, water, and sufficient housing. Also, in a breakout discussion on the state of immigration, one of the most impactful representatives I had the opportunity to hear speak was the Mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino. He shed light on the ongoing distress that Lampedusa is in, trying to support the flocks of boats carrying refugees while also being able to sustain the performance of the nation at the same time.
Overall, if there was any major takeaway that I had from this conference is the importance of growing together. The SDGs are not attainable without collective action and support of struggling nations from both a financial and moral perspective. I’m grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the current state of sustainability on a global scale and to take this perspective into my career and work with the UConn Consulting Group.
