When
you were a kid, did you ever catch yourself fantasizing about saving the world
after watching your favourite super hero cartoon or movie? That’s probably
Superman or Batman. For me it was the Care Bears, Voltron and the Power Rangers
episodes. After watching so much of them, I always had this strategy all
playing out in my mind about how I was also going to have my own team of
superheroes to combat crime around the world, flying around the world in a combat
air balloon or hovercraft.
When
I grew older, it dawned on me that there were no spaceships on planet earth and
there might not be any experimental mistake, thunder strike or spider sting
that would turn me into a super hero like it did to Peter Parker of Spider Man.
I obviously had to give up on these childhood fantasies.
However
in reality, I only grew up and dreamt differently. Now, I live everyday with
the hope and zeal to save the world; to combat diseases especially preventable
ones, alleviate stress, optimize their physical and mental performance and help
people improve their quality of life.
The
first time I came across the word ‘sustainability’ was in 2013 when I took part
in an online course titled “Sustainable Healthy Diets” offered by a UK
university. I was amazed by the information I was exposed to and learnt a lot
about how some of our actions and choices can negatively impact the
environment. Humans have in recent years, adopted unsustainable living practices
and lifestyles that endanger our very home- planet, Earth.
The
world right now is a ‘mess’. Despite the many technological advancements and
discoveries, we have never had so much threat to the existence of planet earth
and humans. From disease outbreaks to climate change, from extreme food waste
on one hand to extreme poverty, from environmental degradation to threats to
wildlife, insecurity, poverty, conflicts and wars. These man-made events tamper
with the earth’s ecosystem and threatens the hard-won development gains of recent
decades the continued ability of the earth to
support human existence.
If nothing
is done to change the current trend, we would activate the self-destruct button
of the earth in no distant time. To drive the point home, let’s have a look at
the numbers.
It is
saddening to know that roughly one third of the food produced in the world for
human consumption every year (approximately 1.3 billion tonnes) gets lost or
wasted while millions of children go to bed every night hungry? In Nigeria
alone, about 65%, of agricultural produce is wasted (worth approximately $750
billion yearly).
Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that even if just one-fourth of the food
currently lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed
870 million hungry people in the world. So much is being done to save
lives, but would you have imagined that indoor and outdoor air pollution are
jointly responsible for about 7 million premature deaths with a majority of
these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries?
Human and industrial waste, including pharmaceutical and
personal care products have continued to contaminate water sources as it is
estimated that about 30 per cent of the population in developing countries use
drinking water contaminated by human faeces and water-related diseases and
unsafe water contribute to 1.8 million deaths annually.
Quoting Jim Leape, the International Director General
of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), "We are
using 50 percent more resources that the Earth can sustainably produce and
unless we change course, that number will grow fast -- by 2030, even two
planets will not be enough." Do you know it takes around 9,000 litres of
water to produce a chicken, 3,000 litres of water to produce a burger and
72,000 litres of water to produce one of the 'chips' that typically powers your
laptops, phones, iPads and cars?
This
one is the irony of ironies, it takes about four litres of water to produce a
plastic bottle of one-litre. World over, that would be many trillion litres of
water, used completely unnecessarily; wasted to produce bottles – for water. While I have not even scratched the surface
of the current global trends, enough of this ear-wrenching numbers. What can be
done about it?
In September
2015, the United Nations (UN) adopted a 15-year agenda; the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) which were crafted to transform the world into one
where environmental sustainability, social inclusion and economic development
are equally valued all over the world. The SDGs have been described by the UN
as a ‘supremely ambitious and transformational vision’. In my opinion, it is
our greatest opportunity to save our planet from self-destruction and every one
of us, especially, YOU. You have a
huge role to play to achieve the set goals.
Going through the entire targets and benchmarks
of the SDGs, you
will realize they are indeed a comprehensive, far-reaching
and people-centred set of universal and transformative goals and targets. The UN report detailing the 2030 agenda described
the SDGs as ‘a supremely ambitious and transformational vision’. The
agenda specifically reflects the needs of all children, youth, persons with
disability (of whom more than 80% live in poverty), people living with
HIV/AIDS, older persons, indigenous peoples, refugees and internally displaced
persons and migrants. (Read more about the goals here here)
Truly, the goals in the agenda are indeed lofty but they are only
achievable if all world leaders and every citizen play their part. With the adoption
of the SDGs must come the paradigm shift that we are all global citizens and
not just individuals nor citizens of one Country. As a global citizen, I should
be concerned with what happens around the world and not just in my country.
It
is either you are with the world on this or you are against the world. There is
no sitting on the fence and doing nothing. All your action and inactions will
either work to achieve one or more of the goals or make it difficult to achieve
the goals. To save the planet, everyone needs to play their part.
Another
way to say it is ‘whatever you do, think the planet, think the SDGs’. Whether
in your career, in business, or in your hobby, you should work to achieve one
or more of the 17 SDGs. Look at everything through the lens of the sustainable
development goals. It is a herculean task but it is achievable. We can save the
planet from extinction with our concerted individual efforts.
We need to go beyond talk to taking actions that promotes sustainability.
We need to begin to create more solutions that will solve the world’s many
challenges from the local to the global stage without causing more harm. What can you do
to provide or promote clean and renewable energy? How can you contribute to the
reality of energy efficient buildings?
What
can you do to minimize food waste from your kitchen and at the thousands of
parties across the country? How can you improve waste reduction and innovate
solutions for recycling so that burning of solid and agricultural waste no
longer happens? How can you preserve the nutritional value of processed foods
and reduce the added sugar content of food products? What can you do to improve
sanitation and safe disposal of untreated
wastewater in small and large production plants? How can you prevent the runoff
of agrochemicals on our farms?
There is something you can do no matter how little. You might
think it is insignificant but it is not. Look around your home, office,
schools, churches and environment. When you find that one thing you can begin
to do or that problem you want to begin to innovate and solve. In the doing,
lies your chance to save the world. Will you?
References
Sustainable
development goals development fund http://www.sdgfund.org/mdgs-sdgs
"Transforming our world: the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".United
Nations - Sustainable Development knowledge platform. Retrieved16
September, 2015
Technical
report by the Bureau of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on the
process of the development of an indicator framework for the goals and targets
of the post-2015 development agenda - working draft" (PDF). March 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
About the Author
Ebenezer
Anifowose, is a nutritionist and public health specialist. He has developed
Nigeria’s first and arguably, Africa’s first health and fitness education board
game which help children and adults through his social enterprise, Healthucate
Nigeria. Ebenezer is also the founder of the Centre for Productivity and Stress
Management. He is a writer, leisure musician and lover of nature.
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