Sustainable development: when utopia becomes a necessity

If one listens to the meaning that the United Nations gives to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -and the seventeen challenges that humanity wants and must accept-, one ends up understanding that utopia is possible. Because it is necessary, and because there is no alternative.

More than 170 nations, possibly the most capable and needed at the same time, agree to work in a positive and measurable way towards “eradicating poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring that all people of the world, without distinction, enjoy peace and prosperity.”

That is, without a doubt, the utopia of the 21st century, conceived not from how a new and idealized society is to be conceived, but from how can we improve, gradually, progressively and universally, based on the virtues and needs of today’s world.

It is not about destroying and raising a new humanity on the ashes, but about convince ourselves that evolution is possible. And it is based on the very high degree of existing intercommunication, the gradual elimination of cultural, physical and social barriers, and the rapid deterioration of life on the planet due to climate change for which we are largely responsible.

It is also a just cause that generations and generations of human beings have dreamed of for centuries. For her they have fought and bled. AND It involves all of us both collectively and individually.

Because if governments can reach agreements on environmental, collaborative and economic matters, citizens can contribute their effort through change of consumption habits, of relationship with nature, of respect for diversity, and of commitment to solidarity.

The immediate precedent allowed for reasonable progress in reducing inequalities at the global level. Those Millennium Development Goals agreed within the United Nations for the period 2001-2015 encourage us, despite everything, to set a more ambitious roadmap, more detailed, more possible.

Is there anyone who really opposes the possibility of “ending poverty in all its forms and in the whole world”? Or to “end hunger”? The fact that there is an explanation for why large pockets of poverty still exist in all societies does not necessarily imply that it is justified.

Have means and ability to redistribute wealth, rebalance access to fundamental goods and, in this way, generate a dynamic of collective development. But it is not only a general idea, it is a battle that must be fought in each locality, in each region, in each nation, on each continent.

It is a battle that must be won in the offices. But also in the streets, in neighborhood communities, in companies.

In recent years we have managed to reduce both scourges for humanity by 50%. This impulse must overcome major humanitarian crises created by wars of these years and allow us to act with intelligence. The best way to stop forced migrations is to create the conditions of peace, well-being and health that are essential so that no one is forced to leave their land against their will.

But all this would not be enough if we stopped advancing in the guarantee of health and well-being, by promoting a healthy life for all people, according to their age. And this forces us to expand access to effective healthcare, in care, but also in prevention.

As a regional government we work on it with our population, but we must also get involved in the universalization of healthcare. Knowing that six million children still die each year before their fifth birthday, or that HIV is still the leading cause of death for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, cannot leave us numb.

There are other no less urgent objectives. Above all, because as they are fulfilled, they allow themselves to be a tool to achieve others. We talk about guarantee “inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all ”.

Or to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. Or guarantee access “to water and its sustainable management, as well as sanitation.” Also to “guarantee access to affordable, safe, sustainable and modern energy” and to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and work.”

We speak of “building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation”, “reducing inequalities within and between countries” and “make cities and human settlements inclusive, resilient and sustainable ”. In ways “of sustainable consumption and production” and of “adopting urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects.”

If we look closely, the SDGs constitute a program of universal government that respects diversity, autonomy, freedom and diversity, but calls for collaboration, understanding and sharing just from a rational exploitation of natural resources.

Precisely for this reason, it includes the challenge of “conserving and using the oceans, seas and marine resources in a sustainable way for sustainable development”, and “protecting, restoring and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, carrying out a sustainable management of forests, fight against desertification, stop and reverse land degradation and curb the loss of biological biodiversity ”.

Humanity does not have to exhaust the planet, whose regeneration capacity is immense if we do not nip the life cycle in the bud. But without a call for peace and justice – and also the commitment of the signatory governments – nothing will really improve.

Therefore, heThe last challenges are as important as the first, since they become a tool and a means of compliance, as well as a desirable end in themselves. “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, facilitate access to justice for all and create effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels” and “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”.

We, as the Government of an autonomous community that knows the harsh climate, the importance of agriculture and the natural environment, the possibility of generating clean energy thanks to the sun and the wind, food as a necessity and as a way of redistribution of wealth, of solidarity so as not to leave anyone behind when the crisis tightens, we are committed to reforming and revitalizing the rural environment. Generating, thus, currents of circular energy and green employment associated with nature and its conservation.

We are also talking about the reversal of the emigration phenomenon through promotion of youth employment and the retention and recovery of talent. We bet that training, to its maximum degree, does not depend on the economic capacity of the families, but rather on the will and capacity of the person.

We generate a permanent climate of social agreement and support for sustainable investment. We defend access to water and its rational use, and we are committed to freedom and cooperation, respect for the norm and citizen participation in decision-making.

And we defend the need for permeate borders and barriers of all kinds, in front of those who believe that they must be raised, cruelly defended and waterproofed so that the vision of the problems of others does not embitter our comfort.

That is why we feel integrated into a Europe that leads the will for universal development in peace, democracy and freedom, and we aspire to a world capable of responding to these seventeen challenges that the UN has launched under the cloak of the SDGs.

*** Emiliano García-Page Sánchez is president of Castilla-La Mancha.

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