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Four years after the adoption by the 193 UN member states of the 2030 Agenda, an agreement setting out 17 sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030, a report released on September 11 by 15 researchers raises alarming reports about the work that remains to be done. Interview.
Massive loss of biodiversity, excessive waste production, energy-intensive production and consumption modes ... In this report, which will be presented at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development on 24 and 25 September 2019, the experts urge countries to act quickly to return home in a phase of sustainable growth. At eleven years of the deadline, the objectives are still far from being achieved.
Interview with one of the authors of the report, Jean-Paul Moatti, CEO of the Research Institute for Development ( IRD ) and President of the National Alliance for Research on the Environment ( Allenvi ).
RFI : This is the first report that has been published on the progress of Agenda 2030 since its adoption in September 2015. What is your assessment today ?
Jean-Paul Moatti: The first message is an emergency message. Not only are we not at all on the right path to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or at least the overwhelming majority of them, but on some key objectives that threaten to defeat the entire world. 'Agenda 2030, we are in a state of regression. The implementation of the SDGs is not yet sufficient to halt and reverse the negative trends that have emerged for quite some time. This is the case, for example, with the unprecedented loss of biodiversity. This is also the case for waste, the ecological footprint, greenhouse gas emissions and our production and consumption patterns that fuel global warming. We are therefore launching a call to action message as soon as possible, because there is a very serious risk that the situation will get worse. We are close to the critical points, that is to say situations where the irreversible effects on the global environment and on societies will arrive and can not be contained. The loss of biodiversity is a shining example.
What are the causes of this finding ?
They are mainly due to the fact that the objectives set call for a profound transformation and that we have not taken the measure of the change of development model that implies. For example, by 2050, 9 to 10 billion people will have to be fed . If we want to achieve this by keeping an agricultural model where productivity is guaranteed by an unprecedented increase in chemical inputs, we may be able to guarantee the food security of the inhabitants, but the price to be paid in terms of gas greenhouse and land use available will be unsustainable.
Is it too late to reach the targets in 2030 ?
We pass an alarm message but we also have a deeply optimistic message. With the technologies and knowledge that we already have, if we give ourselves the means, if we make the necessary transformations and if the innovations are implemented, we can do it. Part of the research practices must be changed and a new form of science promoted: the science of sustainability. We must build research programs with the populations concerned, work with farmers if we want to promote research on agroecology, for example.
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Is there a common strategy that could apply to all countries ?
Each country is, in its own way, in the process of sustainable development but none can reconcile the requirements of sustainable growth with the protection of the environment and good social conditions for the moment. It is obvious that in the most developed countries, we must change our consumption patterns, reduce our consumption of meat, fossil fuels, etc. On the other hand, in developing countries, economic growth that improves people's well-being is absolutely essential. Above all, they must avoid reproducing the model that we have put forward for sixty years in developed countries. They must find their own balance voice.
But to put all this in place, the investments that are needed are so considerable that they imply that not only the public sector and the governments or local authorities, but also the private sector, are involved in this development. Private investments must be diverted from areas that hinder sustainability, such as fossil fuels or infrastructure that endangers the environment.
You propose the creation of a label for sustainable investments, what is it ?
We propose that the UN strive to put in place a sustainable investment label that is standardized and transparent. It would thus certify investments that are truly in the field of sustainable development and differentiate them from operations that simply serve to "green" a product or brand .