_page-0001.jpg)
What's the article about?
- It talks about the global movement on localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Relevance:
- GS3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment;
- Essay;
- Prelims
Context:
- Bhopal has become the first city in India to join the growing global movement on localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) following the release of its Voluntary Local Review (VLR).
- In this article, the writer explains why every city of India should join this global movement.
What are Sustainable Development Goals?
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is officially known as Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- It is a set of 17 Global Goals with 169 targets between them.
- UN member states are expected to use these goals while framing their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years.
- The resolution specifies mechanisms for the monitoring, review, and reporting of progress as a measure of accountability towards the people.
- To this end, member-states submit a Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the UN’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF), and, more recently, VLRs as a means for driving and reporting local implementation of SDGs at the sub-national and city levels.
What is Localization of SDGs?
- It is the process of translating the global agenda into local actions and impacts that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.
- It involves adapting the goals and targets to the local context, aligning them with local plans and priorities, engaging local stakeholders and actors, and monitoring and reporting on progress at the local level.
- India has initiated the ‘localisation’ process with the implementation of TADP (Transformation of an Aspirational District Programme) in 2018.
- SDG localisation takes it from district to the Gram Panchayat (GP) level.
What is Voluntary local reviews (VLR)?
- The VLR is a subnational review of the progress and challenges in implementing the SDGs at the local level.
- It is a bottom-up and participatory approach that involves multiple stakeholders, such as civil society, the private sector, academia and citizens.
- It aims to enhance accountability, transparency and learning among local actors, as well as to inform and influence national and global policies.
Analysis:
- India’s progress:
- India has made commendable efforts towards the adoption, localisation, and achievement of the SDGs.
- NITI Aayog presented India’s second VNR at the HLPF convened in 2020.
India’s Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) has published a National Indicator Framework (NIF) for the review and monitoring of the SDGs, which contextualises the UN’s Global Indicator Framework to represent India’s unique development journey. - As noted in a NITI Aayog report, at least 23 States and Union Territories have prepared a vision document based on SDGs.
- Almost all of them have initiated steps to localise the SDGs.
- However, it has taken a while to get to India’s first Voluntary Local Review at the city level since the efforts to localise the SDGs began.
- Role of cities:
- Cities are the most important stakeholders in Agenda 2030 as at least 65% of the 169 targets could not possibly be achieved without the engagement of local urban stakeholders.
- A VLR is a tool to demonstrate how local actions are leading the way in equitable and sustainable transformations for people and building a coalition of partners towards this endeavour.
- While it is desirable to align a city’s VLR to the State-level action plan (where available) and the country’s VNR, the process allows a great deal of flexibility to the cities to tell their story within a framework of their choice.
- The Bhopal plan:
- Bhopal’s VLR is the result of a collaboration between the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, UN-Habitat, and a collective of over 23 local stakeholders.
- It has mapped 56 developmental projects to the SDGs across the three pillars, of ‘people’ (SDGs 1,3,4,5), ‘planet’ (SDGs 6,13,15) and ‘prosperity’ (SDGs 7,8,11).
- The objectives of building basic infrastructure and resilience emerge as a priority for the city from the number of projects mapped to the SDGs.
Way Forward:
- It is a remarkable opportunity for Indian cities to tell their stories in their own vocabulary, using a framework of their choice to forefront their work at a global platform.
- We hope more Indian cities will follow Bhopal’s lead, to showcase urban innovations and collaborations emerging from India on the global map.
