Nation’s waste on the scale: The first Bhutan waste inventory report

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 915-924
Author(s):  
Tashi Namgay

Knowing the quantity and the composition of waste is essential to designing and delivering sound waste management policies and waste management systems. Bhutan’s 12th Five-Year Development Plan emphasizes effective waste management as one of its key performance indicators and globally, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes the importance of waste in two of its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, the Bhutan National Statistics Bureau undertook its first ever survey of solid waste management. The survey covered waste generating sectors including households, commercial units, institutes, health centers, industries, Government offices and vegetable markets. Results show Bhutan generated more than 170 metric tons of waste daily – equivalent to 170,000 kilograms of sugar. More than 50 percent of solid wastes came from households, almost 50 percent was food waste, and around 50 percent was potentially recyclable. The survey posed many challenges for Bhutan, a land-locked least developed country in the Eastern Himalayas in South Asia, yet provided the opportunity to strengthen stakeholder engagement in the Bhutan National Statistical System and delivered statistics which meet a practical use for Bhutan and its people.

2021 ◽  
Vol 850 (1) ◽  
pp. 012007
Author(s):  
E. Prema

Abstract The Indian construction industry contributes nearly 5% - 6% to the Nation’s GDP and is one of the largest in the world economy. The building and construction sector is one of the essential industries contributing highly towards environmental impacts. Balancing development at all stages with environmental protection is the prime aim of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The construction sector paves the way for greater economic development in a country and thus has an obligation to protect the environment against degradation. A few of the notable SDG’s relating to the construction and building sectors concerning the environment and climate change issues are SDG 11-Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG7- Affordable and Clean Energy. Solid waste management is very crucial as the solid waste from construction sites highly degrade the environment. Using of green resources of constructing buildings may reduce the energy efficiency and after construction can reduce the carbon emission. But the construction materials which are not disposed properly have become a moot question on the effectiveness of the existing regulations and the legislations. The solid wastes which are disposed in unregulated dumps or when openly burned may lead to serious health issues, effect the safety and results in environmental degradation. This solid waste, when disposed of, emits gases like methane, carbon and contributes to global climate change. India has an obligation to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, by balancing development and environmental protection. This paper will analyse the existing legislation relating to solid waste management, its effectiveness in regulating the construction sector and how far they comply with the international standard or requirement in protecting the environment. This research is conducted by analysing existing judgments, legislations, national reports as primary data. United Nations and its specialised agencies reports are utilised as secondary data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Elsheekh ◽  
R. R. Kamel ◽  
D. M. Elsherif ◽  
A. M. Shalaby

AbstractAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 ad is one of the challenges and among the cross-cutting issues that countries around the world strive to achieve, despite it is not mandatory, to take control of the various negative environmental, economic, social, and urban impacts that threatened cities, in addition to benefits that are realized from achieving it. The research aims to promote the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals from the perspective of solid waste management (SWM) plans and programs, through analyzing and finding the interrelationship between SWM plans and programs and the related specific targets for each goal, in addition to using experts’ questionnaires to conclude the varying degrees of impact of SWM plans and programs at the level of 17 SDGs, which have been classified into groups, according to the most and the least affected by the SWM plans and programs. Where the goals of “sustainable cities and communities” and “good health and well-being” came in the lead of the goals; however, the goals of “quality education” and “peace, justice, and institutions” came in the tail of the goals that are affected by SWM plans and programs, according to the experts’ opinion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa ◽  
Linda Liebenberg ◽  
Dorothy Bottrell ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller

Abstract. Economic changes in the context of globalization have left adolescents from Latin American contexts with few opportunities to make satisfactory transitions into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that there is a protracted period between the end of schooling and entering into formal working activities. While in this “limbo,” illicit activities, such as drug trafficking may emerge as an alternative for young people to ensure their social participation. This article aims to deepen the understanding of Brazilian youth’s involvement in drug trafficking and its intersection with their schooling, work, and aspirations, connecting with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 16 as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 .


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Dickens ◽  
Vladimir Smakhtin ◽  
Matthew McCartney ◽  
Gordon O’Brien ◽  
Lula Dahir

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are high on the agenda for most countries of the world. In its publication of the SDGs, the UN has provided the goals and target descriptions that, if implemented at a country level, would lead towards a sustainable future. The IAEG (InterAgency Expert Group of the SDGs) was tasked with disseminating indicators and methods to countries that can be used to gather data describing the global progress towards sustainability. However, 2030 Agenda leaves it to countries to adopt the targets with each government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. At present, guidance on how to go about this is scant but it is clear that the responsibility is with countries to implement and that it is actions at a country level that will determine the success of the SDGs. Reporting on SDGs by country takes on two forms: i) global reporting using prescribed indicator methods and data; ii) National Voluntary Reviews where a country reports on its own progress in more detail but is also able to present data that are more appropriate for the country. For the latter, countries need to be able to adapt the global indicators to fit national priorities and context, thus the global description of an indicator could be reduced to describe only what is relevant to the country. Countries may also, for the National Voluntary Review, use indicators that are unique to the country but nevertheless contribute to measurement of progress towards the global SDG target. Importantly, for those indicators that relate to the security of natural resources security (e.g., water) indicators, there are no prescribed numerical targets/standards or benchmarks. Rather countries will need to set their own benchmarks or standards against which performance can be evaluated. This paper presents a procedure that would enable a country to describe national targets with associated benchmarks that are appropriate for the country. The procedure builds on precedent set in other countries but in particular on a procedure developed for the setting of Resource Quality Objectives in South Africa. The procedure focusses on those SDG targets that are natural resource-security focused, for example, extent of water-related ecosystems (6.6), desertification (15.3) and so forth, because the selection of indicator methods and benchmarks is based on the location of natural resources, their use and present state and how they fit into national strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7738
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gambetta ◽  
Fernando Azcárate-Llanes ◽  
Laura Sierra-García ◽  
María Antonia García-Benau

This study analyses the impact of Spanish financial institutions’ risk profile on their contribution to the 2030 Agenda. Financial institutions play a significant role in ensuring financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth and usually incorporate environmental and social considerations into their risk management systems. The results show that financial institutions with less capital risk, with lower management efficiency and with higher market risk usually make higher contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to their sustainability reports. The novel aspect of the present study is that it identifies the risk profile of financial institutions that incorporate sustainability into their business operations and measure the impact generated in the environment and in society. The study findings have important implications for shareholders, investors and analysts, according to the view that sustainability reporting is a vehicle that financial institutions use to express their commitment to the 2030 Agenda and to higher quality corporate reporting.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110055
Author(s):  
Clare Thorpe ◽  
Lyndelle Gunton

The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development identifies 17 goals as a shared blueprint for peace, prosperity, people and the planet. Australian academic libraries have started documenting and planning how academic libraries contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the identification of assessment frameworks and key performance indicators. In 2019, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Library stepped through an exercise of understanding how our day-to-day work and annual planning targets mapped to the SDGs. The article is a case study. The authors outline how an academic library’s services, projects and action plans were mapped to the SDGs and how the mapping exercise was communicated to the community. The article will situate this activity among the broader approaches being taken by the Australian library community, including the 2030 stretch targets for Australian libraries. USQ Library staff found that existing services, collections and projects correlated to eight of the 17 SDGs. Activities were mapped to these eight goals and reported to senior executive of the University. The mapping exercise increased the awareness of library staff about the broader cultural and societal implications of their roles. The communication strategy led to conversations that increased university leaders’ awareness of the SDGs and the value and impact of USQ Library in improving access to information as well as the library’s role in transforming the lives of USQ students and community. By undertaking an exercise to map collections, services and projects to the SDGs, USQ Library has been able to demonstrate how their knowledge and information infrastructures which enable student achievement and research excellence. The SDGs can be used by university libraries as a benchmarking tool and as a challenge to set stretch targets aligned with the United Nation’s 2030 agenda.


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