GEF

Unit 6  |  Social Changes of Sustainable Development 128 richest 1 percent of the world’s population controls 50 percent of global wealth, while the poorest 50 percent hold only 1 percent of global wealth. Sustainability advocates maintain that reducing this severe inequality through taxation or other economic tools may be a key component of successful sustainable development. The United Nations MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) were established at the Millennium Summit in 2000 to gauge progress in improving quality of life, health, economic viability, and equality for all global citizens by the year 2015. These goals addressed poverty, debt relief, access to education, gender equality, child and maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, and environmental sustainability. Despite progress, these goals were not met globally. Headway was uneven, with countries such as China making dramatic improvements in some of the goals, while most sub-Saharan African countries made very little progress. In 2017, the UN created the Sustainable Development Goals , which build on the MDGs with an ambitious agenda to achieve by 2030. They address the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental, as well as aspects related to peace, justice, and effective institutions. The three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS A set of eight development goals outlined by the United Nations to increase global well-being and improve global health by 2015. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS Seventeen universal goals aimed to end all forms of poverty.