‘Pandemic is major setback for achieving the SDG 12 in Ch’garh’

Central Chronicle News
Raipur, Oct 01: Unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are solely applicable to developing nations, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are applicable to all countries. The evaluation of India’s progress five and a half years into the implementation of the SDGs reveals that India need of effective monitoring and data collection framework to meet any of the objectives of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG12), said by Ajay Singh, Vice Chairman, State Planning Commission, Chhattisgarh at State level consultation on SDG12 at Raipur on Thursday. While referring to the finding of CUTS study, mentioned that several of the indicators’ condition may deteriorate further by 2030, compared to 2015, due to the Pandemic’s detrimental influence and other factors.
A primary concern of worry is a lack of knowledge, coordination, and Collection of data on SDG 12. Many of the achievements of many states’ sustainable initiatives go undetected and unreported, owing to a lack of knowledge among responsible authorities, with the exception of a few who are active in SDG reporting, about the SDG and its relevance. These were the concern expressed by George Cheriyan, Director, CUTS International in the opening remarks of the consultation. The majority of staff from various departments had no idea what an SDG is. The most important obstacles at the state level in SDG implementation appear to be a lack of knowledge among government officials, as well as a lack of funds and technical staff, resulting in poor monitoring and reporting. If left ignored, this may cast a negative picture on the country’s achievements and efforts in the area of sustainable consumption and production.
Dr. K. Subramaniam, Member, State Planning Commission, Chhattisgarh highlighted sustainable or responsible consumption behaviour has the potential to transform the world. Following the creation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, duties and roles have become a significant problem in achieving long-term sustainable development. The involvement of consumers is important for achieving sustainable development goals by promoting sustainable consumption habits and trends .One can choose products and services based on particular environmental and social factors using eco-labels. This environment related marking system should be promoted, he further added.
Anup Kumar Srivastava, Member Secretary, State Planning Commission, Chhattisgarh highlighted the various government’s scheme and initiative on SDG. Partnerships between governments, business, and civil society are required for a successful sustainable development agenda. These 17 ambitious goals, as well as the complicated issues they attempt to solve, don’t fit neatly into defined demarcated sectors. Therefore, multi-stakeholder partnership is required for the mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
12 government departments including Renewable Energy, Environment, Urban Development, Agriculture, NRLM, Tourism, Forest, and others shared their department specific progress and programmes related to the SDG12 in the penal discussion moderated by Amar Deep Singh, Sr. Programme Officer CUTS. He mentioned that Chhattisgarh can improve its performance on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG12) by documenting best practices and initiatives of different sectors and departments.
Amit Babu from CUTS presented the study in the consultation. The consultation, that followed COVID protocol guidelines, saw participation from various government departments, organisations working on sustainable consumption and consumer protection from Chhattisgarh.