Mains Marathon

• Give a brief introduction about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and localization of Sustainable Development Goal.
• Discuss the importance of localization of SDGs for India to achieve SDG by 2030.
• Give a fair conclusion.

Answer:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are largely adopted by the United Nations in 2015. There are 17 different types of SDGs that are prominently discussed in the 2030 agenda. The primary guiding principle of this particular objective is to build a new and better world.

The process of developing, implementation, and overseeing localized strategies for achieving global, national, and subnational sustainable development goals and targets is known as localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Localization of the Sustainable Development Goals is essential to achieving these international and national goals. It describes how the SDGs may serve as a framework for local policy and how local and state governments can assist the SDGs' successes through a bottom-up strategy.

It also aspires to create synergies with other agendas, such as the Paris Agreement and the National Determined Contributions, by preparing all urban stakeholders on a global scale to better comprehend and apply the ideas for the localization of the SDGs.

Paris Agreement on Climate Change:

• Paris Agreement was concluded at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), COP 21 that was held in Paris in 2015, which was also the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (CMP 11).
• The Paris Agreement's aim is to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
• The Paris Agreement, in contrast with the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, makes all countries responsible for reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) instead of just the developed or Annex-1 countries, which are responsible for the bulk of the total GHG concentrations in the atmosphere.

National Determined Contribution (NDCs):

• The Paris Agreement and the fulfilment of these long-term objectives are fundamentally dependent on nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
• NDCs represent each nation's efforts to lower national emissions and prepare for climate change's effects.
• According to the Paris Agreement, each nation must specify and publicly announce its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs):

• To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level.
• To achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030, with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance, including from Green Climate Fund.
• To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion Tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

India’s local initiative to achieve Sustainable Development Goals:

• India did well on eight out of the 15 SDGs assessed by the NITI Aayog SDG India Index, despite 2020–21 being a pandemic year.
• The SDG scores range between 0 and 100 with a higher score indicating that a state is closer to achieving the targets.
• Kerala and Chandigarh emerged as the top state and UT in 2021-22.
• The survey shows that the number of front runners (scoring 65-99) increased to 22 states and UTs in 2020-21 from 10 in 2019-20.
• NITI Aayog has been constructed with 84 indicators and covers 15 global goals, 50 SDG targets and 103 districts in the eight states of the Northeast region.

Challenges:

• Challenges of Limited Resources: Undoubtedly, there are inherent challenges associated with involving community institutions like SHGs in developing the Gram Panchayat Development Plan, including human resources, capacities, and disaggregating department budgets. Lack of knowledge and proper orientation among SHG-members to take up suitable and profitable livelihood options.
• Lack of Rural Banking Facilities: Many public sector banks and micro-finance institutions are unwilling to provide financial services to the poor as the cost of servicing remains high.
• Sustainability and the quality of operations of the SHGs have been a matter of considerable debate.

Way Forward:

• Leverage the Strength of Women Collectives: Today, 76 million women have been mobilized into SHGs under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and there are 3.1 million elected panchayat representatives. For localization of SDGs to truly work, there is a need to leverage the strength of both (PRIs & SHGs) these institutions through a partnership.
• Reinforcing the Panchayat: To truly localize the SDGs, the route ought to be taken within the framework of the Constitution. Any action should not form a parallel track, but become a way of reinforcing the institutional capacity of panchayats.
• Learning From the Experience: The five southern States: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana have done better than the others when it comes to poverty reduction.
• More Responsibility for PRIs: The 73^rd Constitution Amendment transferred 29 subjects to PRIs. For successful localization of development, PRIs need not only emphasize their governance role but also focus on their developmental role.