It has been a long time since the sustainable development plan 2030 first came up. In September 2015, the United Nations along with its Member States embraced it. A few endeavors are being made by the member nations to contribute towards accomplishing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals are universal and look to eliminate hunger, poverty, secure our Earth, and guarantee harmony for all individuals. To monitor the progress for every set goal, a bunch of quantifiable targets, indicators and observable data explicit to every goal have been worked out. This requires precise data observations at community level and subsequent decisions, which incorporate the coordinated effort of different stakeholders. Various issues related to quality of data and data collection capacities have been highlighted by the United Nations for quantifying different indicators. It has also asserted on the requirement for a “Data Revolution” to upgrade the quality of information. Geospatial technology is providing one of the most promising data sources which can be applied for monitoring progress in achieving the SDGs.
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Promoting sustainable development
Comprehensive view and continuous coverage of Earth’s features by numerous satellites is an effective and promising technological development. The progress made by the scientific world on this front is excellent. Geospatial data at varied radiometric, temporal, spectral, and spatial resolutions has enabled usage of data for different applications. Geospatial information and methods can be utilized adequately for observing the vast majority of the SDGs. Moreover, the logical outcomes by using geospatial innovations give a solid premise to policymaking to publicize sustainable development at local and provincial levels. For example, using data from census, the measurement of indices might imply spatiotemporal variations in poverty. This geospatial technique can be used as a tool for the attainment of SDG 1, which is “No Poverty”.
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Measuring progress
Also, measurement and similar analysis of green spaces in cities, schools, usage of natural resources, literacy, cases registered against violence, greenhouse gas emissions over product lifecycle, etc. would help communities in the preliminary survey, thereby taking definite actions towards attaining SDG 1, 4,11, 12, and 16, in a specific time period. The effect of Climate Change can be seen in all the sectors from wellbeing to the terrestrial ecosystem. For achieving some of the SDGs concerning preventing diseases by checking water quality and sterilization for various territories (SDG 3, 6, and14), various GIS innovations using spatial statistics that evaluate and study spatial patterns and distributions can be used. In certain SDGs, geospatial data and techniques can be used as proxy data, apart from using it to keep a check on most of the SDGs. Numerous investigations have uncovered that geospatial information is a viable tool to screen the targets of SDGs, geospatial information is one of the essential tools to monitor and evaluate their progress and accomplishment which will ultimately lead up to achieving the SDGs.
SDGs advancement towards accomplishment, and subsequently devise future actions. For the success of SDGs, the monitoring process should be standardized for all countries with the cooperation of the scientific and political communities. Considering the wide range of targets of SDGs, geospatial information is one of the essential tools to monitor and evaluate their progress and accomplishment, which will ultimately lead up to achieving the goals.
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