How Can We Achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

Abstract

With the approval of the UN Sustainable Development Goals comes several questions. How can we implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the national level? Must every country adopt and expend effort at achieving all of the goals? Or is it more suitable for countries to tailor the UN Sustainable Development Goals to the situations and priorities in their countries? The spirit of the agreement is reflected in the latter approach which, I feel, is the only practical way forward, if meaningful progress is to be made. To demonstrate this, an illustrative example is presented, describing the federal approach taken to achieving a sustainable future in one country, Canada.