Tracking SDGs
Context:
- Following the publication of its Voluntary Local Review (VLR), Bhopal became the first city in India to join the expanding global movement on localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
SDG Definitions:
- The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a group of 17 interconnected Global Goals that are intended to serve as a road map for a sustainable and inclusive future.
- The United Nations General Assembly created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2014, with the goal of achieving them by the year 2030.
- The resolution titled Agenda 2030 by the General Assembly included the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are aimed at “Transforming the World.”
Voluntary National Review (VNR):
- In order to be accountable to the people, the resolution outlines procedures for tracking, evaluating, and reporting progress.
- Members of the UN’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF) submit a voluntary national review (VNR) to this aim.
- VNR is a method by which nations evaluate their progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, as well as any obstacles they may be facing.
- VLRs have more recently been used to promote and track local SDG implementation at the city and subnational levels.
India’s development:
- The SDGs have been adopted, localised, and achieved in India with excellent efforts. India’s second VNR was presented at the HLPF in 2020 by NITI Aayog.
- A National Indicator Framework (NIF) for the SDGs has been released by India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which contextualises the UN’s Global Indicator Framework to reflect India’s particular development trajectory.
- At least 23 States and Union Territories have created vision documents based on the SDGs, according to an NITI Aayog report.
- Nearly all of them have started taking action to localise the SDGs. Since the SDGs were first being localised, it has taken some time for India to conduct its first voluntary local review at the municipal level.
VLR (Voluntary Local Review) in Bhopal:
- The VLR is a subnational assessment of the SDGs’ local implementation’s progress and difficulties.
- It is a bottom-up, inclusive approach that includes a range of stakeholders, including members of civil society, business, academia, and the general public.
- It strives to improve local actors’ accountability, transparency, and learning while also informing and influencing national and international policies.
- The Bhopal Municipal Corporation, UN-Habitat, and a group of over 23 local stakeholders worked together to create the VLR in order to measurably show the city’s ambitions for a sustainable and inclusive urban transformation.
- In addition to qualitative mapping of 56 development initiatives, it used quantitative and qualitative methodologies to the examination of the SDGs.
- It identified critical issues with urban governance, climatic resilience, social inclusion, economic development, and innovation as well as potential for Bhopal to meet the SDGs.
- Along with an Agenda for Action: Sustainable Urban Transformation, it was introduced by the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at Bhopal.
- According to the Agenda for Action, Bhopal will be a smart, environmentally friendly, and livable city by 2030.
- Additionally, it suggests specific activities and measures to fill up the gaps and deal with the objectives mentioned in the VLR.
The value of VLR:
- The engagement of local urban stakeholders is essential for achieving goals because cities are the most significant stakeholders in Agenda 2030.
- A VLR is a tool to show how local initiatives are paving the road for fair and lasting changes for people and assembling a team of allies for this goal.
- Although it is ideal for a city’s VLR to be in line with the State-level action plan and the national VNR, the process gives cities a lot of freedom to tell their stories in the frameworks of their choosing.
- The 17 SDGs’ global targets are converted into regional indicators at the country level.
- According to their importance and logistical convenience, cities can decide which individual SDGs to examine in depth. The national indicators under the applicable SDGs may be modified and further localised as a result to reflect the conditions in the cities.
Conclusion:
- It is an incredible chance for Indian cities to put their work front and centre on a global stage while utilising their local language and framework to tell their tales. To promote urban innovations and international collaborations coming out of India, other Indian towns can take Bhopal’s lead.
