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Tanzania slips four places in the latest SDG ranking
What you need to know:
- The country was ranked 134th in the SDG Index among the 193 UN Member States in a recent report
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania, like the rest of the world, is still lagging behind in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as the latest updates have shown.
In a recent report, ‘Sustainable Development Report 2023,’ the country was ranked at 134 in the SDG Index among the 193 UN Member States with a score of 56.8 percent.
The score can be interpreted as a percentage of SDG achievement, and a score of 100 indicates that all SDGs have been achieved.
The country lost four positions compared to last year’s ranking, when it placed 130th with a score of 57.37 percent, indicating diminishing progress towards achieving the 2030 target.
“The grim reality is that at the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs are far off track. At the global level, averaging across countries, not a single SDG is currently projected to be met by 2030, with the poorest countries struggling the most,” the report reads in part.
The 17 SDGs encompass a wide range of objectives, including eliminating poverty, achieving zero hunger, promoting good health and well-being, ensuring quality education, fostering gender equality, providing clean water and sanitation, and promoting clean and affordable energy.
Other goals are encouraging decent work and economic growth, supporting industry, innovation, and infrastructure, reducing inequalities, creating sustainable cities and communities, and promoting responsible consumption and production.
The remaining are taking climate action, conserving life below water, protecting life on land, fostering peace, justice, and strong institutions, and fostering partnerships for the goals.
While the country faces significant challenges in various areas, there are also notable areas where progress has been made or is being maintained.
According to the report, one of the areas where Tanzania is on track or maintaining SDG achievements is climate action. The country’s efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and implement measures to adapt to its consequences have been commendable.
Speaking to The Citizen, the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group’s executive director, Mr Charles Meshack, said strategic planning is needed to reduce the pressure on natural resources from a growing population and food and settlement demand. This, he said, will support and facilitate the country towards achieving sustainable goals such as conserving and sustainably using marine resources as well as terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, and halting and reversing land degradation.
“The country can also explore the potential of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) on carbon financing that would also boost investment and economic growth,” he said.
This, he said, must go hand in hand with tackling climate change, which is a major challenge towards achieving sustainable goals.
“Climate resilience must be considered in all developed projects, such as infrastructure, to ensure they support and facilitate the sustainability of the development efforts,” said Mr Meshack.
Tanzania has shown moderate improvement in two other SDG areas: good health and well-being, and quality education. However, these advancements are still insufficient to meet the ambitious targets set by the UN.
Tanzania also maintains SDG achievements in the areas of responsible consumption and production. This accomplishment reflects the country’s commitment to promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production, which are vital for ensuring the efficient use of resources and reducing waste.
The executive director of Tanzania research institute Repoa, Dr Donald Mmari, said global headwinds such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the political tensions in Europe have accelerated the challenges against the implementation of the sustainable goals.
Dr Mmari said the main setback has been a lack of commitment and effective investment towards the attainment of the goals by the member countries.
“The international community also should devise mechanisms to support financing for less developed countries so that they can be able to attain these goals,” he said.
The economist experts asserted that Tanzania, through its Tanzania Development Vision 2050, which is now in the preparation stage, should include and state clear strategies for resource allocation and implementation of the SDGs.
Furthermore, the UN also revealed that by 2023, the world will be off track in meeting the Paris Agreement climate targets, with global warming continuing to grow at an alarming rate.
“Biodiversity targets are also at grave risk. All dimensions of biodiversity, including species abundance, species diversity, and the functioning of ecosystems, are under threat,” the report reads.
