Imagine: A Sustainable World: Utopia or Delusion

Lars Carlsen ()
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Lars Carlsen: Awareness Center, Linkøpingvej 35, Trekroner, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: Halfway through the fifteen-year period stipulated for the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is evident that we are still far away from having a sustainable world and even complete compliance with the SDGs will only be a step in the right direction. The present paper reflects, with Earth Overshoot Day and the seventeen SDGs, as starting points, on the actual status as well as the possible way forward. A simple estimate discloses that we, based on the last 24 years, are lacking the resources from roughly ten additional earths due to the overexploitation of the available planetary resources. The paper looks at the relationships between the development in the Earth Overshoot Day and selected SDGs, which strongly suggests that at least in the wealthier part of the world growth, growth for the sake of growth, appears more in focus than sustainability. To actively focus on sustainability and environmental health, a stronger focus on the SDGs 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), and 17 (partnerships for the goals) is suggested as the cornerstones in a future approach.

Keywords: earth overshoot day; Sustainable Development Goals; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10671-:d:1537431

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