17 Sustainable Development Goals
As human development increases rapidly, so does people’s overall well-being. Despite much progress, the challenges humanity faces remain. To combat these problems, the UN formed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2001, which consisted of 8 goals that ranged from ensuring environmental sustainability to combating HIV/AIDs, malaria, and other diseases by the target date of 2015. After the MDGs ‘expired,’ the UN developed a new and improved set of goals which this article focuses on.
In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly drafted a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a list of 17 integrated global goals intended to protect people and the planet and are set to be achieved by the year 2030. All 195 states adopted the SDGs, reaffirming their commitment to defining new methods and exploring new business opportunities as a part of strategies “that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
Goal 1 - End poverty in all its forms, everywhere.
Goal 2 – End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
Goal 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages.
Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Goal 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Goal 6 – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Goal 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
Goal 8 – Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
Goal 9 – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
Goal 10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Goal 11 – Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Goal 12 – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Goal 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Goal 14 – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
Goal 15 – Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, manage forests, combat desertification and biodiversity loss, and halt and reverse land degradation.
Goal 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.
Goal 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
Are we on track to meet all goals by 2030?
In short, no. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the majority of the process. However, it affected many positive changes in consumption and production patterns which work towards achieving a more sustainable future, such as working from home and thus minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. With 8 more years left and UN indicators monitoring our development, we have the encouragement needed to keep working towards all goals.
If you’re interested in reading the official report from 2020 that provides an overview of the world’s implementation, areas of progress, and areas where more action need to be taken, you can find it on the following link:
https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2020.pdf
How can you help?
By signing up as an official UN volunteer – find out more at the following link: https://sdgzone.com/action/how-can-i-volunteer/
By donating directly to the United Nations Joint SDG Fund- https://act.unfoundation.org/a/sdg-donate
Biotech Materials x 17 SDG
As an eco-friendly company, the goal of Biotech Materials is to contribute not only to the environment, but to the whole community. We plan to do so by implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, a list of 17 global goals dedicated to achieving a more sustainable future. So far, our business has implemented 10 out of the 17 goals, as listed below:
- Achieve gender equality
Human potential should be maximized regardless of gender. For this reason, the company founder, Ms. Vučetić, wanted to eliminate gender bias and looked (searched? L.K.) for a male co-founder, who (WHICH, L.K.) is now Mr. Marić. Besides the work position, she also wants to enforce that men have the same rights to paternity leave rights as women (do).
- Promote decent work and economic growth
Although the COVID -19 pandemic resulted in the loss of millions of jobs, economic growth is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 or 2023. As a start-up company whose goal is expansion, Biotech Materials plans to open new workplaces in Croatia, the Netherlands and the EU.
- Promote industry innovation and infrastructure
Even though Biotech Materials still has a long way to go, we plan to open our own factory in 2027 with the support of investors. While there are about a hundred textile factories in Croatia, ours would be the first vegan leather factory.
- Reduce inequalities
Unequal wealth leads to unequal opportunities, which should be accessible to all. That is why we want to reduce income inequality and give people in the Croatian countryside the opportunity to earn higher wages, contribute to economic growth and improve their standard of living.
- Sustainable cities and economies
To live more sustainably and live well, we need to transition to greener living conditions. Our startup aims to encourage other businesses to have a greater impact on the environment by contributing to local circular economies.
- Responsible consumption and production
Our current textile engineering solutions already have a positive impact of:
- 10000+ kg of waste recycled yearly from Eastern European alcohol production
- 40x lower carbon footprint than animal leather
- 2x lower carbon footprint than synthetic leather
and we aim to further improve those numbers as we scale and are able to optimize our process.
- Climate action
The fashion industry is the second biggest polluter in the world, right between the fossil fuel industry and the agricultural industry. We aim to disrupt it with our innovative plant-based leather that is made by dehydrating vegetable waste and uses at least 50% less chemicals in the process.
- Life below water
There is more plastic in the ocean than meets the eye. Most of the plastics in the ocean break down into very small particles called microplastics. Their effect can be very toxic to marine animals, as the plastics can cause oxidative damage and abnormal behavior. To minimize microplastics and plastics overall, we use only biodegradable elements in the production of our Plant Skin.
- Life on land
Plant-based leather production does not use nearly as many land resources as animal leather production, thereby reducing biodiversity modification and many other issues. Our company stands out because we recover waste and give it a new purpose, whereas some of our competitors exploit plants that could be used for food instead of fashion. Biotech Materials' leather is recyclable and contributes to circular economy.
Art of Impact
They say art is the expression of an idea, an emotion and the bigger picture – world's view. We could not agree more. With that said, we expressed our creative skill in a form of a material called Plant skin.
An innovative material that contributes to the community and the Planet with the implementation of circular economy, and more than 1000kg of repurposed waste yearly. A material that is not only sustainable, but durable too.
Also, because of growing concerns for textile industry's carbon footprint and its role in global warming, we partner with companies who aim to offset their own negative impact. With our green sourcing and production, Plant Skin has 40x lower carbon footprint than animal leather and half as much carbon footprint than synthetic leather.
Apart from big corporations, you can also contribute to global warming awareness and individual impact by measuring and keeping track of your own carbon footprint by clicking the link below and also by incorporating small daily habits from our previous blog!
Carbon footprint personal measure: https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/