Oslo SDG Blog - Page 6

If you have not heard about it already, here is some good news. Africa will soon be officially declared to be free of polio – a highly infectious viral disease.

Over the past 10 days, I have been traveling across India giving a set of public lectures on sustainable development. During this visit I have had the privilege of interacting with a wide range of individuals – politicians, civil servants, fellow academics and the common man on the street. We have discussed and debated the numerous successes the country has achieved in the past five decades as well as the challenges it currently faces.

In a recent report, Philip Alston – the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights – points to the flip side of human progress. He argues that the impact of climate will be greatest on the people living in poverty and that climate disruption will threaten democracy and human rights in large parts of the world.

Over the past decade, “social entrepreneurship” – defined variously as “the use of new approaches to solve old social problems” (Swab Foundation) and “entrepreneurship carried out for societal benefit” (Skoll Foundation) – has attracted increased attention in business circles. This has corresponded with the interest to actively involve businesses in achieving the SDGs.

Building resilient and sustainable infrastructure – promoted most directly in SDG 9 – is not only important for low-income countries but is also a challenge in many parts of the developed world, where new investments and innovations are required to upgrade existing roads, bridges and tunnels.