IUGG, which is a founding union of IYBSSD 2022, is mobilized toward SDGs. Here is the first mapping of their activities that are useful to tackle the goals.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a new way of thinking about how to better link issues such as climate change, natural disasters and education. It intertwines social, economic, and environmental targets in 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Each of the SDGs is divided into several sub-goals. The interrelation between SDGs is not obvious, and one SDG can limit options or even clash with another SDG.
Turning the goals into reality
The International Council for Science (ICSU) analyzed the complexity of interactions between different SDGs, and published a working paper that presents a tool to analyze and understand interactions between different goals.
Considering this issue important, I mapped IUGG and the Union Associations to the SDGs, to clarify how IUGG could contribute to the achievement of the goals. All the SDGs and sub-goals were divided into two groups:
- those goals where IUGG can contribute
- goals where a potential contribution of the Union would be insignificant.
The sub-goals can be combined into several groups:
- air pollution (sub-goal 3.9);
- climate and environmental issues (1.5, 2.5, 3.9, 11.6, and 13.3);
- hazard and disaster risk (1.5, 2.5, 11.5, 11b, 13.1, and 15.3);
- education and capacity building (4.7, and 4b);
- energy (7a);
- gender (5.5);
- oceans and seas (14.1-14.3, 14a, and 14c);
- research and innovation (9.5, and 9b);
- water issues (3.9, 6.3-6.7, 15.1, and 15.3).
Union, commissions and associations contributions
From this mapping, it becomes clear that all Union Associations, the Union Commissions on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability (GeoRisk), Climatic and Environmental Change (CCEC), and Data and Information (UCDI) as well as the IUGG Committee on Capacity Building and Education could contribute to the sub-goals related to climatic change, natural hazards and risk, gender issues, education and capacity building, research and innovation.
Particularly, the IAMAS Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution and the IAHS International Commission on Water Quality could contribute to sub-goal 3.9 “to reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from … air, water … pollution and contamination”. The IASPEI-IAVCEI-IAPSO’s International Heat Flow Commission could advance knowledge on geothermal energy. IAPSO and IAHS could contribute to the issues of oceans, seas and water. The next step is to analyze how IUGG and its Associations should work towards the implementation of the SDGs.
Alik Ismail-Zadeh
This post has first been published by the IUGG Electronic Journal in 2016. You can also read the full text with more details.
