Lofty goals, but no real plan

The eradication of poverty and social inequity, the maintenance of good education, the protection of global ecosystems - these are just a small selection of the goals the United Nations wants our world to pursue over the next 15 years.

The entire world, that is. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the precursor to this new set, were only for the planet's developing and newly industrialized nations.

VW scandal indicative of what we're up against

So, just how seriously do industrialized nations take sustainable development? Have a look at the VW emissions scandal and you'll see. With politics turning a blind eye, companies like VW harp on time and time again about their environmental awareness.

One could perhaps argue that the massive attention being paid to the VW scandal and the worldwide outrage are proof that things are changing with regard to global attitudes on sustainability. But that's not good enough.

The core of the SDG list is found in item number eight: "Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth…"

Sustainable economic growth - the use of these words in the modern world is downright inflationary. But what exactly do they signify?

At face value, don't they mean that we simply have to stop growing, that we'll have to get by with less and rearrange our ideas of economy?

Woe is the economy that don't grow

No, rather our world only really screams when China's economic growth numbers are lower than expected. Because China is under pressure to put more cars on the road, and to consume more products, so that, from a global perspective, profits remain on the rise. And the result is that production increases where labor standards are lowest and wages are way at the bottom. And that's how our global economy works.

Economically speaking, a palm oil plantation is worth more than a rainforest, which only provides local communities with coffee and fruits for consumption and local sale.

Even if an army of non-governmental organizations has made it its task to make forests more profitable, in the end it's the palm oil plantation that will prevail - or rather the oil in the earth.

We saw it in the case of the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. The attempt to save the region from oil drilling - by means of compensation from the international community - ultimately failed. And this wasn't only because of the questionable negotiating tactics of the Ecuadorian government. Why would anyone invest in anything that doesn't yield a profit? Economic laws dictate that every sensible investment yields profit! Next year, drilling is set to begin in Yasuni.

Shortsightedness and future generations

Of course, it would be naive to think that we could completely protect nature, forests and our world's ecosystems, given our energy needs. But from the perspective of sustainability, we have to ask ourselves: What are the coming generations going to have left?

Economic growth is built on very short-term goals and unpolluted profit maximization. And any political designs to counteract this are watered down to such an extent that they no longer stand in the way.

Sustainable economic growth - there is an immense gap between goal and reality here. And up until now, despite the goals just agreed upon, we have yet to see any earnest endeavor to close that gap by 2030.