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Sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals

मराठीत स्पष्टीकरण

Sustainable development and energy · Part 1 / 3 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

What sustainable development means and where the idea came from; carrying capacity, ecological footprint and the circular economy; the road from Stockholm and Rio to Rio+20; the Millennium Development Goals; the 2030 Agenda and its 17 goals; how the goals are tracked in the world and in India; Article 48A and the Vellore judgment; Mission LiFE.

Each idea is explained first in Marathi (मराठी), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Marathi and revise it in English.

आधीच्या अध्यायांनी नुकसान दाखवले. आता प्रश्न: वाढ ज्या पायावर उभी आहे तोच न खणता देश कसा पुढे जाईल? एखाद्या शेतकऱ्याने शेताचा सगळा कस याच वर्षी ओढून घेतला तर पुढच्या वर्षी पीक येणार नाही ना. हीच शाश्वत विकास ही कल्पना. हा भाग ती कल्पना आणि तिच्यावर उभी 17 शाश्वत विकास उद्दिष्टे यांबद्दल; पुढचे भाग ऊर्जा आणि शेती. (→ English: sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goals · हिन्दी: सतत विकास; सतत विकास लक्ष्य)

In exam EnglishEarlier chapters showed the damage: polluted air and rivers, shrinking forests, a warming climate. This chapter asks the positive question: how can a country grow richer without wrecking the base on which that growth stands? It is taught in three parts. This first part covers the idea itself, sustainable development, and the global agenda built on it, ending in the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals that every country has signed up to for 2030. Part 2 turns to energy, the single biggest lever for cleaner growth, and Part 3 to farming and genetically modified crops. Read this part as the frame for the other two: the energy and farming policies that follow are India's ways of meeting the goals described here.

1987 मध्ये ब्रंटलँड आयोगाच्या 'अवर कॉमन फ्यूचर' अहवालाने शाश्वत विकास म्हणजे काय ते सांगितले: आज आपल्या गरजा भागवाव्यात, पण उद्याच्या पिढीची स्वतःच्या गरजा भागवण्याची क्षमता हिरावू नये. आजोबांनी लावलेल्या आंब्याची फळे आपण खातो; आपण झाडच तोडले तर नातवंडांना काहीच उरणार नाही. हीच पिढ्यांमधील समता. तीन खांब: आर्थिक, सामाजिक, पर्यावरणीय. (→ English: sustainable development; Our Common Future; intergenerational equity; three pillars · हिन्दी: सतत विकास; अवर कॉमन फ़्यूचर; अंतर-पीढ़ी समता; तीन स्तंभ)

In exam EnglishThe phrase became famous through the World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, whose report Our Common Future appeared in 1987. It described sustainable development as development that meets the needs of people today without taking away the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Two ideas sit inside this. The first is that the poor of today must have their basic needs met, so growth is not the enemy. The second is that nature sets limits, so growth that uses up soil, water or forests faster than they recover only borrows from the future. The idea is usually drawn as three pillars, economic, social and environmental, which must stand together. Fairness towards people not yet born is called intergenerational equity, and Indian courts have used this principle in environmental cases.

एखाद्या तळ्यात किती मासे जगू शकतात तीच धारणक्षमता म्हणायची; जास्त सोडले तर सगळे मरतात. माणूस वापरतो त्या वस्तू किती जमीन आणि समुद्रातून येतात याचा हिशेब म्हणजे पर्यावरणीय पदचिन्ह. आता चक्राकार अर्थव्यवस्था: भंगारवाला आठवतो? वस्तू फेकून न देता दुरुस्त करून, पुन्हा वापरून, शेवटी पुनर्वापर करणे हे तिचे तत्त्व; 'घ्या, बनवा, फेका' या सरळ रेषेच्या पद्धतीऐवजी. (→ English: carrying capacity; ecological footprint; circular economy; linear economy · हिन्दी: धारण क्षमता; पारिस्थितिक पदचिह्न; चक्रीय अर्थव्यवस्था; रैखिक अर्थव्यवस्था)

In exam EnglishThree related ideas help to measure whether growth is sustainable. Carrying capacity is the largest population of a species that an area can support over time without being degraded; applied to people, it asks how many can live in a region, at a given standard of living, before water, soil or air give way. The ecological footprint turns consumption into land: it estimates how much productive land and sea a person, city or country needs to supply what it uses and absorb its waste, and compares that with what nature can renew. The circular economy answers the problem from the side of production. The usual linear economy takes materials, makes products and throws them away; a circular economy designs products to last, to be repaired and to be recycled, so that materials keep circulating and little ends up as waste. India's extended producer responsibility rules for plastic, e-waste and batteries are steps in this direction.

हे एका दिवसात आले नाही, पायरी पायरीने चढले. 1972 स्टॉकहोम ही पहिली पायरी. 1992 च्या रिओ वसुंधरा परिषदेत रिओ घोषणा (27 तत्त्वे) आणि अजेंडा 21 ही मोठी कामांची यादी. 2002 जोहान्सबर्गमध्ये प्रगतीचा आढावा. 2012 च्या रिओ+20 मध्ये 'द फ्यूचर वी वॉन्ट' ने नवी उद्दिष्टे लिहिण्याचा मार्ग खुला केला, जुन्या आयोगाऐवजी उच्चस्तरीय राजकीय मंच आला. (→ English: Earth Summit; Rio Declaration; Agenda 21; Rio+20; High-level Political Forum · हिन्दी: पृथ्वी शिखर सम्मेलन; रियो घोषणा; एजेंडा 21; रियो+20; उच्च-स्तरीय राजनीतिक मंच)

In exam EnglishThe global agenda grew through a chain of summits. The Stockholm Conference of 1972 first put the environment on the world's table and led to UNEP. Twenty years later the UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro, the Earth Summit of June 1992, made sustainable development the organising idea: it adopted the Rio Declaration, a set of 27 principles that include the precautionary approach and the polluter pays idea, and Agenda 21, a long action plan for the twenty-first century, and it led to a UN Commission on Sustainable Development to follow up. The World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg in 2002 reviewed progress. At Rio+20, held again in Rio in June 2012, the outcome document The Future We Want started the process of writing a new set of global goals and replaced the Commission with a stronger High-level Political Forum.

आताच्या उद्दिष्टांआधी सहस्रक विकास उद्दिष्टे होती: 2000 मध्ये सुरू होऊन 2015 पर्यंत, आठ उद्दिष्टे, दारिद्र्य, भूक, शालेय शिक्षण, आई-बाळाचे आरोग्य अशी. छोटी यादी म्हणून लक्षात ठेवायला सोपी. पण ती मुख्यतः गरीब देशांसाठीच लिहिली, श्रीमंत देशांना काही बदलायचेच नाही असे; पर्यावरणाला एकच उद्दिष्ट. घरकामाची यादी फक्त मुलांना देऊन मोठे बसून राहिले तसे. (→ English: Millennium Development Goals; Millennium Declaration · हिन्दी: सहस्राब्दी विकास लक्ष्य; सहस्राब्दी घोषणा)

In exam EnglishBefore the present goals came the Millennium Development Goals. They grew out of the Millennium Declaration adopted by world leaders at the UN in September 2000 and set eight goals for the period up to 2015: ending extreme poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality, lower child mortality, better maternal health, fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, environmental sustainability, and a global partnership for development. They were short, easy to remember and measurable, and they helped to focus aid and attention; the share of people in extreme poverty worldwide fell sharply over those years. Their limits shaped what came next. They were written mainly for developing countries, as if richer countries had nothing to change; they gave the environment only one goal; and they were drafted by a small group of experts rather than negotiated by all countries.
Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals compared
FeatureMDGsSDGs
Period2000–20152016–2030
Number of goals817 (169 targets)
Who must actMainly developing countriesAll countries (universal)
How draftedBy a small group of expertsNegotiated by all UN member states
EnvironmentOne goalSeveral goals (6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15)

25 सप्टेंबर 2015 रोजी संयुक्त राष्ट्रांनी 2030 अजेंडा स्वीकारला: 17 शाश्वत विकास उद्दिष्टे, 169 उप-लक्ष्ये. या वेळी ती सर्वांसाठी: श्रीमंत देशांनीही आपल्या घरात बदल करायचा. सगळे एकमेकांत गुंतलेले: गावची विहीर स्वच्छ केली की आरोग्य आणि शाळेतली हजेरी दोन्ही वाढतात तसे. कायद्याने बंधनकारक नाही; कसे गाठायचे ते प्रत्येक सरकार ठरवते. 'कोणालाही मागे सोडू नका' हेच ब्रीद. (→ English: 2030 Agenda; Sustainable Development Goals; targets; leave no one behind · हिन्दी: 2030 एजेंडा; सतत विकास लक्ष्य; लक्ष्य; किसी को पीछे न छोड़ना)

In exam EnglishOn 25 September 2015 the UN General Assembly adopted 'Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets, in force from 1 January 2016 and running to 2030. Three features set them apart from the earlier goals. They are universal: every country, rich or poor, is expected to act at home. They are integrated: poverty, health, cities, energy, climate, oceans and forests are treated as linked, so progress on one should not come at the cost of another. And they were negotiated openly by all member states. The goals are not legally binding; each government chooses how to pursue them. The Agenda groups its aims under five Ps, people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership, and promises to 'leave no one behind', reaching the furthest behind first. The table below lists all seventeen goals.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals
GoalTheme
SDG 1No poverty
SDG 2Zero hunger
SDG 3Good health and well-being
SDG 4Quality education
SDG 5Gender equality
SDG 6Clean water and sanitation
SDG 7Affordable and clean energy
SDG 8Decent work and economic growth
SDG 9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG 10Reduced inequalities
SDG 11Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 12Responsible consumption and production
SDG 13Climate action
SDG 14Life below water
SDG 15Life on land
SDG 16Peace, justice and strong institutions
SDG 17Partnerships for the goals

शाळेत प्रगतिपुस्तक नसेल तर अभ्यास किती पुढे गेला ते कळत नाही. उद्दिष्टांचेही तसेच: 230 हून अधिक निर्देशकांचा जागतिक मापदंड. दरवर्षी उच्चस्तरीय राजकीय मंचावर देश आपला स्वैच्छिक राष्ट्रीय आढावा मांडतात; हा ऐच्छिक, सक्तीचा नाही. भारतासाठी नीती आयोगाने 2017 आणि 2020 मध्ये आढावे दिले. शिक्षा नाही; शेजाऱ्यांसमोर गुण दाखवण्याची लाज हाच दबाव. (→ English: global indicator framework; High-level Political Forum; Voluntary National Review; NITI Aayog · हिन्दी: वैश्विक संकेतक ढाँचा; उच्च-स्तरीय राजनीतिक मंच; स्वैच्छिक राष्ट्रीय समीक्षा; नीति आयोग)

In exam EnglishGoals mean little unless someone keeps score. The UN Statistical Commission agreed a global indicator framework, now with more than 230 indicators, so that each target can be measured. Follow-up happens every year at the High-level Political Forum, which meets under the UN Economic and Social Council and, every four years, at the level of heads of state under the General Assembly. Countries report through Voluntary National Reviews, in which a government describes its own progress and problems before the forum; as the name says, presenting one is a choice, not a duty. India presented its first two reviews in 2017 and 2020, both prepared by NITI Aayog. The UN Secretary-General also publishes a yearly Sustainable Development Goals Report on global progress. This light system relies on peer pressure and public data rather than penalties, which matches the voluntary nature of the goals themselves.

देशात नीती आयोग या उद्दिष्टांचा समन्वयक: कोणते उद्दिष्ट कोणत्या मंत्रालयाचे काम ते जोडून दिले. सांख्यिकी मंत्रालय आपली स्वतःची निर्देशक यादी ठेवते. राज्यांमधली परीक्षा म्हणजे SDG इंडिया इंडेक्स: प्रत्येक राज्याला 0 ते 100 गुण. 2023–24 मध्ये देशाचे गुण 71; केरळ आणि उत्तराखंड मिळून पहिले. शेजारच्या मुलाशी स्पर्धा केली की अभ्यास वाढतो तसे, राज्यांची स्पर्धा प्रगती वाढवते. (→ English: NITI Aayog; National Indicator Framework; SDG India Index; competitive federalism · हिन्दी: नीति आयोग; राष्ट्रीय संकेतक ढाँचा; SDG इंडिया इंडेक्स; प्रतिस्पर्धी संघवाद)

In exam EnglishInside India, NITI Aayog coordinates the goals: it has mapped each goal and target to the ministries and central schemes responsible for it. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation keeps the National Indicator Framework, India's own list of indicators adapted from the global one, and publishes yearly progress reports. To turn a national promise into state action, NITI Aayog brings out the SDG India Index, which scores every state and union territory from 0 to 100 on the goals and ranks them; the first edition came out in December 2018. In the 2023–24 edition, released in July 2024, India's overall score was 71, up from 66 in 2020–21, and Kerala and Uttarakhand jointly topped the states. The index uses rivalry between states, a form of competitive federalism, to push progress. Many states have gone further, setting up SDG cells and tracking indicators down to the district.

आपल्या संविधानातही ही कल्पना आहे. 1976 मध्ये अनुच्छेद 48A राज्य धोरणाची मार्गदर्शक तत्त्वे यांत आला: शासनाने पर्यावरण, जंगले, वन्यजीव यांचे रक्षण करावे. 51A(g) मूलभूत कर्तव्ये यांत: प्रत्येक नागरिकाने निसर्गाचे रक्षण करावे. पालार नदी चर्मोद्योगांनी प्रदूषित केल्याच्या प्रकरणात (वेल्लोर, 1996) सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने सांगितले: शाश्वत विकास हा देशाच्या कायद्याचा भाग; सावधगिरीचे तत्त्व आणि प्रदूषक भरपाई तत्त्व हे त्याचे मुख्य घटक. 'विकास की पर्यावरण' नव्हे; दोन्ही एकत्र कसे? (→ English: Article 48A; Article 51A(g); Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum; precautionary principle; polluter pays principle · हिन्दी: अनुच्छेद 48A; अनुच्छेद 51A(g); वेल्लोर सिटिज़न्स वेलफ़ेयर फ़ोरम; एहतियाती सिद्धांत; प्रदूषक भुगतान सिद्धांत)

In exam EnglishSustainable development is also part of Indian law. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 added Article 48A, a Directive Principles of State Policy provision asking the State to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wildlife, and Article 51A(g), one of the Fundamental Duties, asking every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment and to have compassion for living creatures. The courts have read the idea into the right to life under Article 21. In Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v Union of India (1996), a case about tanneries in Tamil Nadu polluting the Palar river, the Supreme Court held that sustainable development is part of the law of the land, and that the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle are essential features of it. Since then, judges have weighed projects by asking whether development can go ahead in a way that does not destroy the environment, rather than choosing one against the other.

शाश्वत विकास उद्दिष्टे पैकी 12 वे जबाबदार उपभोग आणि उत्पादन. प्रत्येक घराच्या छोट्या सवयी मिळून मोठी बेरीज होते, थेंबे थेंबे तळे साचे तसे. म्हणून मिशन LiFE: 2021 ग्लासगोत प्रस्ताव, 2022 मध्ये गुजरातच्या एकता नगरमध्ये सुरुवात. नको असलेला दिवा बंद करणे, पाणी वाचवणे, पिशवी सोबत नेणे, अन्न वाया न घालवणे. चक्राकार अर्थव्यवस्था कारखान्यातच नव्हे, स्वयंपाकघरातही यायला हवी. (→ English: SDG 12; responsible consumption and production; Mission LiFE; circular economy · हिन्दी: SDG 12; ज़िम्मेदार उपभोग और उत्पादन; मिशन LiFE; चक्रीय अर्थव्यवस्था)

In exam EnglishGoal 12 of the Sustainable Development Goals asks for responsible consumption and production, a reminder that the habits of ordinary people add up. India has put this idea at the front of its climate diplomacy through Mission LiFE, short for Lifestyle for Environment. The Prime Minister first proposed it at the Glasgow climate conference in November 2021, and it was launched as a global mass movement on 20 October 2022 at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat, in the presence of the UN Secretary-General. LiFE asks people to make mindful choices rather than wasteful ones: switching off unused lights, saving water, choosing reusable bags over single-use plastic, cutting food waste, using public transport. Its argument is that technology and policy alone cannot reach the goals if consumption keeps rising without limit; the ideas of a circular economy have to reach the household as well as the factory.

हा भाग म्हणजे एक कथा: ब्रंटलँड कल्पनेने ध्येय दिले; परिषदांनी मार्ग आखला; सहस्रक उद्दिष्टे हा एक प्रयोग; 2015 ची शाश्वत विकास उद्दिष्टे सर्वांना लागू असलेली पूर्ण योजना. भारताने हे नीती आयोग मार्फत नियोजनात, न्यायालयांमार्फत कायद्यात, LiFE मार्फत घरात आणले. पण वीज कशी तयार होते, अन्न कसे पिकते हीच शाश्वत विकास ची खरी परीक्षा; तेच पुढचे भाग. (→ English: sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goals; NITI Aayog · हिन्दी: सतत विकास; सतत विकास लक्ष्य; नीति आयोग)

In exam EnglishThe pieces of this part fit into one story. The Brundtland idea of meeting today's needs without robbing the future gave the world a goal; Stockholm, Rio, Johannesburg and Rio+20 turned it into an agenda; the eight Millennium goals tested whether global targets could work; and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of 2015 widened them to every country and every side of life, with indicators, yearly reviews and national reports to keep score. India has built the goals into planning through NITI Aayog and the SDG India Index, into law through Article 48A and the Vellore judgment, and into daily life through Mission LiFE. What the goals cannot do on their own is change how energy is produced and how food is grown. Those are the two largest tests of sustainable development for India, and they are the subjects of Parts 2 and 3.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. The best-known definition of sustainable development, which asks that today's wants be satisfied while leaving people yet to be born free to satisfy theirs, first appeared in:

  1. the Rio Declaration, 1992
  2. the report Our Common Future, 1987
  3. the Stockholm Declaration, 1972
  4. the Millennium Declaration, 2000
Show answer

Answer: B. the report Our Common Future, 1987

The definition comes from the Brundtland Commission's report Our Common Future (1987). The Rio Declaration (1992) built on it with 27 principles, the Stockholm Declaration (1972) came before the term was popularised, and the Millennium Declaration (2000) led to the MDGs.

Q2. Consider the following statements about the Sustainable Development Goals:
1. They are legally binding on all UN member states.
2. They apply to developed as well as developing countries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

Statement 1 is wrong: the SDGs are not legally binding; each government decides how to pursue them. Statement 2 is correct: they are universal. Option 1 picks the false statement, option 3 includes it, and option 4 rejects the true statement 2.

Q3. Which of the following were outcomes of the UN Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992?
1. Agenda 21
2. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
3. The document 'The Future We Want'
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration came from the 1992 Earth Summit. 'The Future We Want' was the outcome of Rio+20 in 2012, so options 2, 3 and 4, which include item 3, are wrong.

Q4. Match the following Sustainable Development Goals with their themes:
A. SDG 6 B. SDG 7 C. SDG 13 D. SDG 14
1. Climate action 2. Life below water 3. Clean water and sanitation 4. Affordable and clean energy
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
  2. A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
  3. A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
  4. A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2

SDG 6 is clean water and sanitation, SDG 7 affordable and clean energy, SDG 13 climate action and SDG 14 life below water. Option 2 swaps SDGs 6 and 7, option 3 swaps SDGs 13 and 14, and option 4 swaps SDGs 6 and 14.

Q5. The SDG India Index, which ranks states and union territories on their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, is released by:

  1. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
  2. NITI Aayog
  3. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  4. Reserve Bank of India
Show answer

Answer: B. NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog brings out the SDG India Index (first edition December 2018). MoSPI maintains the National Indicator Framework but does not publish this index; the environment ministry and the RBI have no role in it.

Q6. Consider the following statements:
1. Article 48A of the Constitution, a Directive Principle, asks the State to protect and improve the environment.
2. Article 48A was part of the Constitution as originally adopted in 1950.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: Article 48A was inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. Option 2 picks the false statement, option 3 includes it, and option 4 rejects the true statement 1.

Q7. In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court hold that the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle are part of the environmental law of India?

  1. Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala
  2. Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v Union of India
  3. Maneka Gandhi v Union of India
  4. S R Bommai v Union of India
Show answer

Answer: B. Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v Union of India

Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum (1996), on tannery pollution of the Palar river, held both principles to be essential features of sustainable development and part of the law of the land. Kesavananda Bharati is the basic structure case, Maneka Gandhi widened Article 21's procedure test, and S R Bommai concerned President's Rule.

Q8. With reference to Mission LiFE, consider the following statements:
1. It was first proposed by India at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
2. It mainly provides subsidies to industries for installing pollution control equipment.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct (November 2021). Statement 2 is wrong: LiFE is a mass movement for mindful individual and community choices, not an industrial subsidy scheme. Option 2 picks the false statement, option 3 includes it, and option 4 rejects the true one.

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