Meeting our global responsibility: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The author critiques the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for focusing on income poverty and development aid rather than structural inequality and the link between social and environmental dimensions. While noting progress in poverty reduction and water access, the text highlights that global inequality is rising and environmental degradation is accelerating due to the consumption patterns of an expanding global middle class. The author asserts that industrialised countries, particularly the European Union, must assume global responsibility by meeting the 0.7% GNI official development assistance target and drastically reducing their per capita CO2 emissions to allow the Global South scope for sustainable development.

• The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) achieved significant but uneven progress; while the percentage of people in the developing world living on less than US$ 1.25 a day was expected to fall from 43 percent in 1990 to 15 percent by the end of 2015, and access to safe water improved, these statistics were boosted by the economic rise of China and Brazil while sub-Saharan Africa saw limited progress.
• A primary flaw of the MDGs was a narrow definition of poverty as a lack of income, failing to address structural inequalities, the denial of rights, and lack of access to land and social infrastructure, which are critical for preventing famine.
• The current model of development is incompatible with planetary boundaries, driven by a global middle class of one billion people whose consumption of resources, land, and energy leads to ecosystem collapse and climate change, which disproportionately affects the poorest countries.
• Industrialised countries have a historical responsibility for climate change and biosphere destruction and must lead by allocating 0.7 percent of GNI to official development assistance and reducing per capita CO2 emissions to 2 tons per year, contrasting with current levels such as 17.6 tons in the USA and 9.1 tons in Germany.

APA

Schmidt, F. (2015). Meeting our global responsibility: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/meeting-our-global-responsibility-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/

Chicago

Schmidt, Frithjof. Meeting our global responsibility: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Green European Journal, 2015. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/meeting-our-global-responsibility-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Schmidt |first1=Frithjof |title=Meeting our global responsibility: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals |publisher=Green European Journal |date=1 March 2015 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/meeting-our-global-responsibility-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{schmidt2015meeting, author = {Schmidt, Frithjof}, title = {{Meeting our global responsibility: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/meeting-our-global-responsibility-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }