Bill Gates and economist Bjorn Lomborg recently posted on
Linked In that we are behind on the global goals set out in 2016 by the U.N.
known as sustainable development goals. These are 17 goals pointed out by the
UN as the world’s most pressing problems and proposed pathways for achieving
them. The goals have a 2030 timeline for completion. We are now halfway there
and notably behind on many of those goals. The 17 goals also have 169 targets,
or sub-goals. That is quite a lot.
The main issue
with the lack of ability to meet the goals is simply the financial investment
required to meet those goals. A Reuters article in September 2022 noted that it
would take a whopping $176 trillion to meet those goal in time, rising 25% in
2022 with the higher costs of goods and services due to inflation and energy
costs. That has likely dropped a little since then, but the costs are quite
daunting. Gates and Lomborg think we will be short by $10-15 trillion per year,
or about $70-100 trillion short. They note that there is no way we can meet
those financial goals, so we need to prioritize to get the most bang for the
buck by funding the investments that will do the most good.
Lomborg, in
his new book, Best Things First, identified 12 policies that can deliver
the most beneficial and efficient ways to solve some of these global problems.
Gates and Lomborg write:
“In all, the project found that the 12 policies would
save more than 4 million lives a year by 2030 and generate annual economic
benefits worth $1.1 trillion for low- and lower-middle income countries. At a
cost of about $35 billion per year (in 2023 dollars) between now and 2030,
that’s a return of roughly 52 times the investment.”
Investments in safe birthing and newborn care,
agricultural R&D for the poor to help defeat malnutrition and help farmers
in poor countries produce more food, disease prevention (mainly malaria and TB),
immunization, education, and the strengthening of land ownership rights should
be some of the priorities that can give the most benefits the fastest.
I just ordered Lomborg’s book to delve deeper into these
issues. I will likely offer a review of it here on this blog. I read and mostly
agreed with his previous book, False Alarm, about toning down climate
catastrophism and approaching the problem more realistically.
A commenter on the post notes: “The 17 goals are
ranked hierarchically according to the results of a worldwide survey conducted
by the United Nations. The first is to eradicate poverty, the second is to
eradicate hunger, in third and fourth place are health and education, and so on
until, in fourteenth place is climate action.” The commenter then asks why
so many resources are going to goal 14, climate action, when other issues are
clearly more pressing. Good question.
References:
We’re not reaching
the Global Goals. What now? Bill Gates and Bjorn Lomborg. Gates Notes – Blog of
Bill Gates. Linked In. June 1, 2023. (23)
We’re not reaching the Global Goals. What now? | LinkedIn
Cost to hit U.N.
sustainability goals rises to $176 trillion – report. Simon Jessop. September 8,
2022. Reuters. Cost
to hit U.N. sustainability goals rises to $176 trillion - report | Reuters
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