- Home
- Sustainable Development Goals
- ALL SDG Goals
ALL SDG Goals
Foreword
In September 2023 the SDG Summit will mark the mid-point of the period designated to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This milestone is expected to lead to a new phase of accelerated progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However with the reverberating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic the war in Ukraine surging inflation and public debt and the deteriorated short-term economic outlook this will undoubtedly be challenging globally as well as in the UNECE region. In view of these concurrent crises the United Nations Secretary-General has called for an urgent rescue effort for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Introduction
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the pivotal role of the regional dimension in its implementation follow-up and review. Actions at the regional level bridge the global and national levels and provide the necessary focus for international exchanges of experience and peer learning. Every year all five United Nations regional commissions organize regional forums for sustainable development. In the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) which comprises 56 countries of Europe North America and Central Asia the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development will be held for the seventh time on 29 and 30 March 2023 in Geneva.
Growing Challenges for Sustainable Development
This publication assesses progress of UNECE countries towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals relying on the data available in the United Nations global SDG indicators database. Stories on specific topics provide a closer look at how various regional and country level actions relate to sustainable development outcomes. The assessment covers every goal and target for which there are data and for which it is possible to set a target value. The assessment looks at the trends at the regional level only. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the pivotal role of the regional dimension in its implementation follow-up and review. Actions at the regional level bridge the global and national levels and provide the necessary focus for international exchanges of experience and peer learning.
Stories
The agencies and United Nations country teams participating in the Regional Coordination Group on Data and Statistics for Europe and Central Asia and for the first time all UNECE programmes provided stories. These stories are rich in information on how various regional and country level actions relate to sustainable development outcomes. Most of the stories pertain to goals 6 (clean water and sanitation) 7 (affordable and clean energy) 9 (industry innovation and infrastructure) 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and 17 (partnerships for the goals) that are under in-depth review by the 2023 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The stories show concrete ways in which progress towards SDGs is made in the region.
Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development
The report covers the dependencies between population growth and the Sustainable Development Goals focusing on regions were population numbers are rising fast. The analysis elaborates on the social economic and environmental implications of population growth. It highlights demographic trends and drivers of population change namely fertility mortality and international migration and describes the complex interaction between of population growth and poverty hunger health education and human capital gender equality sustained economic growth and decent work. It further investigates the impact of population growth on the environment.
Preface
The present report Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development examines the linkages between global population growth and the social economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It is organized in four sections.
Executive summary
Since the middle of the twentieth century world population has more than tripled in size rising from around 2.5 billion in 1950 to almost 7.9 billion in 2021. Projections by the United Nations suggest that the size of the global population could grow to almost 11 billion by the end of the twenty-first century when it is expected to stabilize. A growth rate close to zero around 2100 would signal the end of the current era of rapid population growth which began around 1800 in some regions and in the middle of the twentieth century on a global scale.
Sustainable agriculture and food systems
Today’s system of global food production is unsustainable: current practices cannot be scaled up to feed a growing population and accommodate changes in consumer preferences without causing further grave damage to the environment. Throughout the food system smart policies are needed to foster sustainable practices that preserve biodiversity and that help societies to mitigate climate change and adapt to its environmental and other impacts. The overarching objective is to transform food systems to ensure that they provide access to safe sufficient affordable and nutritious foods and promote the enjoyment of a diversified balanced and healthy diet for all while protecting the planet and safeguarding its resources for future generations.
Acknowledgments
This report was prepared by staff of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs under the supervision of its Director John Wilmoth. The editorial team consisting of John Wilmoth Clare Menozzi and Lina Bassarsky consolidated the contributions from various colleagues (see below) and wrote the final report. Frank Swiaczny formerly Assistant Director of the Population Division contributed to the initial design of the report and led the editorial team in the early stages.
Fertility
The transition towards historically low levels of fertility has touched all world regions. In some regions this transition ended in the first half of the twentieth century while in others it began near the end of the that century. Over the next several decades this continuing shift will help reduce the rate of global population growth further. The speed and scale of global population growth in the second half of the twenty-first century will depend largely on the future path of fertility in countries that are still in the early stages of the transition. Until mid-century however the annual number of births globally is expected to remain around current levels even as the world’s average level of fertility continues to drop due to the youthful age distribution of today’s global population.
Spatial patterns of population growth
The Goals and the narrative of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasize the importance of the spatial dimension of sustainable development. Most of the world’s low-income countries are experiencing rapid population growth. Some middle-income countries are also among the fastest growing. Projections suggest a diverging world over the next few decades with some countries experiencing continued population increase and others population decline. The population of Europe is expected to fall by 5 per cent between 2020 and 2050 while the population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to double in size over the same period. Expected future changes in population size in the other world regions fall in between these two extremes.
Mortality
Increases in survival and longevity have led to rapid population growth throughout the world though regions and countries have experienced these changes at different paces and at different points in time. Mortality has fallen significantly worldwide since 1950 and the global gap in life expectancy at birth has narrowed slightly. Nevertheless large disparities remain across countries and regions. Between 2020 and 2050 the number of deaths worldwide is expected to increase faster than the number of births due in large part to population ageing further slowing the pace of global population growth. Nonetheless it is expected that continuing reductions in mortality rates will contribute about 15 per cent of the total growth in global population over this period.
Why population growth matters for sustainable development
Charting a path towards a more sustainable future requires demographic foresight: anticipating the nature and the consequences of major population shifts before and while they occur and adopting forward-looking and proactive policies guided by such analysis. Today in many low-income and lower-middle-income countries rapid population growth adds to the challenges of achieving social and economic development. The continuing high levels of fertility that drive such growth are both a symptom and a cause of slow progress in development often linked to a lack of choice and empowerment among women and girls. Achieving the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda especially those related to reproductive health education women’s empowerment and gender equality would likely contribute to slowing the pace of global population growth. Yet changes in population trends alone will do little to resolve unsustainable patterns of resource use. Achieving sustainability will depend critically on humanity’s capacity and willingness to increase resource efficiency in consumption and production and to decouple economic growth from damage to the environment with high-income and upper-middle-income countries taking responsibility and leading by example.
Notes on regions, development groups, countries or areas
In this report data for countries and areas are often aggregated in six continental regions: Africa Asia Europe Latin America and the Caribbean Northern America and Oceania. Further information on continental regions is available from https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/. Countries and areas have also been grouped into geographic regions based on the classification being used to track progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (see: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/regional-groups/).
Sustained economic growth and decent work
Changes in the age distribution resulting from fertility declines taking place in countries with rapidly growing populations can help set those countries onto a path of sustained economic growth on a per capita basis. Such growth is essential for creating jobs and lifting people out of poverty. Countries where the fertility level is high but declining can benefit from a “demographic dividend” resulting from the increased concentration of population in the working age range following the decline of fertility. The impact of the favourable age distribution on the rate of economic growth per capita can be amplified by enacting appropriate social and economic policies. Investments in education and health and the promotion of full and productive employment for all including for women and other groups traditionally excluded from the labour force can double or even triple the positive economic impact of the favourable age structure created by a decline in fertility.
International migration
Compared to births and deaths international migration plays a smaller role in population growth or decline in most countries and regions. Nonetheless international migration can have a sizeable effect on population change under certain circumstances. In several high-income countries immigration has made significant contributions to population growth. Over the next few decades immigration is expected to continue to drive growth in some countries while in others it will attenuate or counteract a potential decline in population size due to sustained low levels of fertility. With a few notable exceptions emigration does not have a major impact on population change in countries and regions of origin.
Population, environment and sustainable development
Environmental damage often arises from the economic processes that lead to higher standards of living especially when the full social and environmental costs such as damage from pollution are not factored into decisions about resource extraction production and consumption. Population growth amplifies such environmental pressures by adding to total economic demand. However the countries contributing most to unsustainable patterns of resource use are generally those where income per capita is high and populations are growing slowly if at all not those where income per capita is low and populations are growing rapidly. Looking forward countries that currently have relatively low per capita incomes and high levels of fertility will need to achieve robust and sustained economic growth if they are to meet the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Promoting sustained economic growth in such countries without further damaging the environment will require support from the international community.
Foreword
The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report describes a growing divide between countries that can access affordable financing for development and those that cannot. Without urgent ambitious action this gap will translate into a lasting development deficit for many countries —and a crisis in global trust and solidarity.