Edx Cities and the Challenge of Sustainable development Part 1

17 Sustainable Development Goals up through the year 2030 were set by UN on September 25th, 2015, followed by the Paris Climate Agreement, whose goal is to counteract global warming.

The three core objectives of SDGs are economic progress, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability.

Learning 17 SDGs by heart is homework Professor Sachs would like to give to the world.
SDG 1 is to end extreme poverty.
SDG2 is to end hunger.
SDG 3 is to ensure universal health coverage and end needless death and suffering from treatable or preventable diseases.
SDG 4 is universal access to education at least through the secondary level.
SDG 5 is to accomplish gender equality.
SDG 6 is to secure enough clean water.
SDG 7 is to create sustainable, clean energy.
SDG 8 is decent jobs for all.
SDG 9 is to promote industry, innovation, and infrastructure especially in developing countries.
SDG 10 is the reduction of inequalities within and among countries.
SDG 11 is to create sustainable cities and communities.
SDG 12 is to realize circular economy, or sustainable consumption and production.
SDG 13 is climate action, or implementing the Paris Clime Agreement.
SDG 14 is to protect life below water.
SDG 15 is to protect life on land.
SDG 16 is to achieve peaceful and just societies.
SDG 17 is for all countries to collaborate to achieve these goals.

SDG 11, urban agenda, runs through all 17 SDGs.

HW

• What is the role of international agreements, such as the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, in sustainable development? What types of outcomes and actions comes from them? - International agreements raise awareness of the public on the related issues and make people think seriously about them. It promotes the governments, business, and universities to work on the issues. They also bring hope that countries will be able to corporate to attain mutual goals.
• How could your city be more sustainable? What can you do (take mass transit, recycle, etc.) to lessen your city's impact on the environment and social challenges? - I work in Tokyo. It should stop depending on fossil fuels by installing solar panels on each building and supplying individual generators in preparation for disasters. It has enough public transportation, but it should promote the use of electric cars more. Recycling has been in place, but there should be more to be done for responsible consumption. For example, to reduce or change our use of home delivery services would lessen the burden on truck drivers and the environment. There are systems for consumers to pick up their order at the shop, delivery station, or a designated convenience store. We should use the system more often.
• What are the benefits and challenges of implementing the SDGs at the city level?  - By implementing the SDGs will improve city life because SDGs are closely related to agendas cities have. Cities have tackled poverty (SDG 1), hunger(SDG 2), health issues (SDG 3), and educational gaps (SDG 4). Cities offer places to attain gender equality (SDG 5) as the urban environment is less conservative. Providing clean water (SDG 6) and sustainable, clean energy (SDG 7) is a basic responsibility of the municipality. Job issues (SDG 8) are mainly the issues of cities, where most of the population gather for a decent job and a better life. Innovation occurs in cities and infrastructure is the foundation of the function of a city (SDG 9). The gap between the rich and the poor is severe in cities, so reduction of inequality (SDG 10) is the permanent agenda of cities. Sustainable city (SDG 11) is SDG of the city itself. Circular economy (SDG 12) is important for the future city economy. Softening the impacts of global warming (SDG 13) such as tackling the sea level rise or protecting life below water  (SDG 14) and life on land (SDG 15) is necessary to maintain cities, especially in food supply. Peaceful and just society (SDG 16) should be realized in cities as most people live there and for all these issues to be achieved, the world have to collaborate (SDG 17) to achieve the goals. In terms of drawbacks, securing enough budget will be the challenges of implementing the SDGs. Probably the vicious cycle is there: inability to work on SDGs due to small budget which is due to impacts of climate change and unsustainable economy. In addition, SDGs that are related to economic progress can be more prioritized over those that are related to inclusiveness and sustainability as has ever been.