IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i23p10671-d1537431.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Imagine: A Sustainable World: Utopia or Delusion

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Carlsen

    (Awareness Center, Linkøpingvej 35, Trekroner, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark)

Abstract

Halfway through the fifteen-year period stipulated for the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is evident that we are still far away from having a sustainable world and even complete compliance with the SDGs will only be a step in the right direction. The present paper reflects, with Earth Overshoot Day and the seventeen SDGs, as starting points, on the actual status as well as the possible way forward. A simple estimate discloses that we, based on the last 24 years, are lacking the resources from roughly ten additional earths due to the overexploitation of the available planetary resources. The paper looks at the relationships between the development in the Earth Overshoot Day and selected SDGs, which strongly suggests that at least in the wealthier part of the world growth, growth for the sake of growth, appears more in focus than sustainability. To actively focus on sustainability and environmental health, a stronger focus on the SDGs 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), and 17 (partnerships for the goals) is suggested as the cornerstones in a future approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Carlsen, 2024. "Imagine: A Sustainable World: Utopia or Delusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10671-:d:1537431
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10671/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10671/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lars Carlsen, 2024. "Sustainability: An Ethical Challenge: The Overexploitation of the Planet as an Exemplary Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-16, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10671-:d:1537431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.