The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were first developed by the United Nations (UN) in 2015, with a goal of uniting the world in the effort to sustain and improve the environment and therefore quality of life by 2030. Unfortunately, since 2015, efforts from the various countries of the UN have failed to meet the objectives outlined in the SDGs, making the outlook grim for meeting the goals of the 2030 Development Agenda.
According to António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, 50% of the SDGs have insufficient progress and 30% have no progress at all or have actually gotten worse. But there still is hope. Through education, politics, and utilization of resources and technology, the SDGs are still achievable.
The SDG Summit took place in New York on September 18 and 19 followed closely by the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Meetings. Uplink is a community of purpose with the goals of creating more sustainable business models. With sustainable business models, entrepreneurs, businesses, and start ups can assist largely in closing the gap of progress for the SDGs. Water, a circular economy, and nature are all categories of sustainability that need attention.
Water
The Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative, a partnership between UpLink and HCL, has presented the Global Freshwater Challenge, consisting of ten solutions to improve the quality of our water sources. Technology is being utilized in water security by innovations such as Kilimo, which utilizes AI, incentivizes sustainability in farming.
Circular Economy
The Circulars Accelerator on UpLink was created to support a circular economy. Green Mining uses technology to limit plastic use and set up resources strategically by location. This initiative will promote recycling, therefore promoting a circular economy.
Nature
The Forest Communities and Value Chains Challenge and the Forest and Health Challenge by UpLink are aimed to help the development of nature and humans’ relationship with nature. Trees specifically are in danger, but with these initiatives deforestation could be curbed, as well as other aspects endangering nature.
Read the original article here: https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/news/how-uplink-innovators-help-achieve-sdgs
