October 13, 2016

SDG’s in the UK inquiry | Evidence Submission

Evidence by the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity
Submitted on 16 September 2016

sdg-submission — Collecting scrap phone (CC-BY-NC 2.0) Fairphone / flickr.com

At the centre of international efforts on the environment, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals could play a key role in delivering sustainable prosperity. They are intended to guide the world’s economic and social development from 2015 up to 2030. Yet, it is still unclear how they will be put into practice in the UK.

In July 2016, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has launched an inquiry into domestic implementation of the SDGs to which the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity responded. In our reply, we are calling for the Government to strengthen a focus on SDG12, one of the most challenging goals for advanced economies as it seeks to end excessive pressure on the environment from the production and consumption of goods. Some of this pressure, for example on green space and air quality, can be experienced inside the UK, but we are recommending action to cut down on our impact overseas, too (e.g. tropical forest destruction and plastics pollution in the oceans). Furthermore, we’d like to encourage a cross-government co-ordination of SDG implementation, with the explicit support of the Prime Minister and HM Treasury.