Page 95 - GIS for Science, Volume 3 Preview

MEASURING PROGRESS TOWARD THE GOALS
Why is geospatial data important for the SDGs? When I was training in economics, we did not have modern GIS tools at hand. We may have looked at maps, but the data for our statistical models came mostly from national income accounts, or state and local data. Much public policy was therefore blind to geography. Policy decisions on poverty, schooling, healthcare, even infrastructure was taken with far too little regard for the spatial distribution of real needs and opportunities. Now we can do vastly better because of the powerful GIS tools and massive digital data now available.
Indeed, to meet the SDGs, we absolutely need reliable, quality, and timely geospatial data, for example, to monitor environmental changes in real time (climate change, deforestation, pollution) and to assess by region the most urgent economic needs (poverty, hunger, access to healthcare and education, access to safe water and sanitation, and so forth). Real-time geospatial data is crucial for implementing urgent policies such as controlling the COVID-19 epidemic, and for holding governments accountable for their commitments.”13
—Jeffrey Sachs, discussing the critical roles of GIS and storytelling in solving global challenges
From community participatory mapping to global satellite data collection, GIS has quickly permeated the world of sustainable development as a critical tool for meeting environmental, social, and economic development targets. As a global community, our technological and financial capacity to protect the natural environment and ensure all basic human needs are met have never been greater, but our potential for actionable solutions, sustainable planning, and monitoring progress rely critically on knowing where people and resources are, and how things are changing in real time.
Beyond the 17 SDGs, The Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG- SDGs)14 defined 169 targets and 232 indicators to monitor the SDG framework and ensure that we meet the economic, environmental, and social objectives of the global goals.
To effectively track the status of the SDGs, we need quality, spatially disaggregated and timely data. Five years into the implementation of the SDGs, much of the data is either out-of-date or simply unavailable with far too many people left behind in the numbers. According to the 2021 Sustainable Development Report, only 59% of the data points needed to track progress on the SDGs are covered in the SDG Database (up from 41% in March 2019). Moreover, only 54% of environmental data points have observations for at least one year after 2015, and just 46% also have observations for multiple years (necessary for tracking changes over time).59 There is an urgent need for quality, timely, and geographically disaggregated data for the SDGs.
The myriad of data and tools available cannot address the challenges of implementing the SDGs while the information is produced and used in silos. Often, data used for reporting or analysis at subnational, national, and global levels has not been effectively curated to convey or address the issues at hand. Key stakeholders, including policy makers, government officials, journalists, academics, students, and members of civil society, need a virtual space to access timely and spatially disaggregated data relevant to the SDGs and learn to use the data effectively to push the 2030 Agenda forward. As a leader in this effort, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) integrates research, policy analysis, the data revolution, education, and global cooperation to promote SDG implementation.
UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
The SDSN was established in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. The SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development. Its work includes implementing the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. The SDSN works closely with UN agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society.
“Timely data are the key to achieving the SDGs—if we don’t know where we are and how we can progress, we certainly can’t arrive at the future we want,” says Jeffrey Sachs, president of the SDSN.
The SDSN organizes its work around three priorities: national and regional networks and membership, research and policy tools, and The SDG Academy. The SDSN’s networks of universities, research centers, and other knowledge institutions span six continents and comprise more than 1,500 members. They promote the local implementation of the SDGs, develop long-term transformation pathways for sustainable development, provide education around the 2030 Agenda, and launch solution initiatives to solve particular challenges.
Map of SDSN member institutions.15
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