The SDGs & Best Things First

The SDG Index of India was published last week. If you’re curious about India, the report provides a fascinating peek into the progress that India has made across each goal. The report has an exhaustive breakdown of the various indicators under each goal. Some of the indicators which I didn’t expect to see were: number of ATMs per 100,000, the percentage of Industries complying with Environmental Standards, Rice and Wheat production per hectare (Zero Hunger), Road Accidents, FIRs filed, Married women participating in household decisions etc.

The breadth and scope of the SDGs are breathtaking. One of the criticisms against it has been that there are just too many indicators to track. Substantial progress against one goal can get over-shadowed by a lack of progress in another. For instance, both TB eradication and sustainable tourism are indicators of the SDGs. Which should we prioritize as a country/community/society? Do the preferred choices reflect state capacities? How does ethics come into play? Hannah Ritchie’s argument, against the prevailing sustainability discourse, that its immoral to worry only about future generations without paying heed to the widespread deprivations existing today is also pertinent to note.

Bjorn Lomborg, in Best Things First, attempts to prioritize the interventions that should be the focus of the global community to improve human well-being. With a methodology that estimates the Cost Benefit for each choice, Lomborg concludes that for $35 billion a year, we can save 4.2 million lives annually, and can make the poorer half of the world more than a trillion dollars better off each and every year. His prescription for the 12 best prescriptions (in no particular order) backed by numbers are:

• Tuberculosis
• Maternal and newborn health
• Malaria
• Nutrition
• Chronic diseases
• Childhood immunization
• Education
• Agricultural R&D
• e-procurement
• Land tenure security
• Trade
• Skilled migration