In August 1985, tens of thousands of people gathered to wrap the Pentagon in 15 miles of cloth ribbons to commemorate the fortieth anniversaries of the Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9) bombings. Justine Merritt of Denver conceived the protest, to pressure governments to “find ways of resolving differences between nations other than nuclear weapons." This month, in advance of the 70th anniversary of the Japanese atomic bombings, the United Nations adopted a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons.
Progress on critical human rights, environment, peace, and security often moves forward at a glacial pace, but today’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have a rich array of strategies for educating and communicating critical issues to governments and the public. Information technologies are now deeply imbedded in civil societies around the word.
The United Nations Agenda 2030, adopted in October 2015, is particularly worthy of support among NGOs and educators. It is conceived as an “ambitious plan of action for people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.” The lynchpin for success lies in effective partnerships among nations, corporations, cities, universities, schools, and nonprofits committed to meeting the plan’s 17 interdependent Sustainable Development Goals - the United Nations’ most comprehensive global initiative to date, with the aim that “no one will be left behind.” The success of the SDGs hinges upon government action, public education and advocacy, and adequate financing. The SDGs offer 167 practical and measureable strategies for improving the lives of billions of people while protecting the planet and its climate system.
Goal 16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, includes ten targets for stemming violence but steers away from directly addressing national militaries or nuclear weapons. When Kazakhstan’s President Nazarbayev addressed the General Assembly and the SDG summit in 2015, he urged that one percent of military budgets be set aside for the SDGs. To date, no countries have made such a commitment. UN FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) estimates that eradicating extreme poverty and hunger – SDGs 1 and 2 – requires public resources approximating ten percent of global military spending.
Focusing on youth and seniors may prove to be an effective strategy for refocusing global attention on the SDGs in coming months. Approximately one quarter of the world’s population (1.8 billion) is between the ages of 10 and 24 – the largest youth population in human history. Yet, the world is unprepared to address their health, education, civic, and occupational needs. In many developing countries, two-thirds of their population are under the age of 25. In India, 300 million are under the age of 15. Kristin Lord notes that India is “home to more children than any country, at any time, in all of human history.” Today, 54% of the world’s population is either under the age of 25 or 60 and older. That plurality will remain relatively constant through midcentury, with a lower percentage of children and youth (today’s 41% will drop to 34%) and a higher percentage of seniors (today’s 2017 will rise to 22%) by 2050.
On August 1st, the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) will co-sponsor a day of “Intergenerational Dialogues on the SDGs,” with the NGO DPI Executive Committee in New York City. The “Dialogues will raise awareness of the high value that youth and older persons can bring to [the] implementation of the SDGs, and foster a shift in the perception of youth and older persons from beneficiaries of social policy to agents of social change.” The Dialogues are also an opportunity for frank discussions on the many SDG issues needing greater attention. As noted by Doctors Without Borders, the “SDGs lack a clear plan on how they will be achieved, and their ambitions are out of step with current trends in development policies and funding.”
Over the next two years, new regional and global partnerships are needed. Large funding gaps must be addressed quickly. Yet, incentives for forging new partnerships are lacking. A gulf currently separates the ideals that define the SDGs and current institutional realities. Sustainability is an intergenerational compact, in theory; can this now be made a reality? The August 1 dialogues are useful next step for defining new strategies for implementing and financing the SDGs.
A decade ago, Paul Hawken defined sustainability as the largest social movement ever in world history. Today, countries cannot continue edging toward more authoritarian styles of government. In response to today’s novel threats, can we develop a planetary consciousness that will secure a better future for ourselves and the natural world? In Journey to Earthland, Paul Raskin calls for “a visionary transformation to planetary governance….through a global citizens movement (GCM) that reacts to crises and guides movement toward an internationally inclusive society.” This new Earthland is based on a “deepening interdependence binding humanity and Earth into a single community of fate.” Working together, the young and the old must define new strategies for achieving this needed future.