As 2015 rolled around, so did the United Nation’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030. 17 goals were set as the blueprint for peace and prosperity, measured against targets ranging from poverty, health, affordable energy, decent work, and more.
This agenda is considered a step up from the Millenium Development Goals, as, unlike its ancestor, it acknowledges and strives to improve the lives of Indigenous people worldwide, promising to ‘leave no one behind.’
Indigenous groups globally were encouraged to participate in discussions around formulating these goals, their indicators, development, and follow-ups. Its six direct references to Indigenous people include agricultural output and access to education, which are vital to promoting prosperity.
Despite the following promises, the solution is not as straightforward as it seems. Some of these goals include energy projects that violate the land and territories of Indigenous people.
As Indigenous expert Daniel Ole Sapit stated in an interview, “Land for Indigenous Peoples is not just a means of production. It is an interactive space for us to engage with all of our livelihood options and opportunities. If you remove the land from the discussion, you are leaving us completely off, not just behind, but completely off the discussion.”
Indigenous peoples make up 5% of the world’s population but 15% of the poorest, and that’s where the dire need to improve their economic and social outcomes comes from. Criticisms of the 2030 SDGs include the reliance on old industrial methods to alleviate poverty and the failure to address Indigenous land ownership.
As 2030 edges closer, the likeliness of the UN meeting its sustainability goals seems increasingly improbable. Recent trends indicate the rising of inequalities, forest degradation, and continuation of the Indigenous community being vulnerable to land dispossession as a large part of this land had been attained through traditional means with no secure legal rights.
Besides land, another focus was on providing the Indigenous community with decent work (Goal 8). Indigenous representatives stated their opinion and highlighted the importance of protecting sustainable traditional occupations, including farming and fishing, emphasizing how it is an integral part of their identity and needs to be implemented within the new SDGs.
An essential step in getting decent work is the provision of quality education. In Canada, it is no surprise that public services, including education, healthcare, and social services, have been severely underfunded on the reserves, resulting in increasing disparities within the Indigenous communities.
The funding gap means no med school for some and a low income for another. Climbing the ladder isn’t an option when you haven’t been given a ladder to climb. It reflects on the need for a profound structural change, and even though the Canadian government is charged with underfunding welfare services on the reserves, we’re still yet to see any changes being implemented. The government’s consistent discrimination and lack of action have left a trail of broken promises in its wake.
Given the extensive history of Indigenous communities being exploited by governments, the criticism and distrust over the new SDGs are naturally called for, especially when fruition is still yet to occur. Although the prospects of meeting these goals may seem bleak, the targets may be achievable. Based on current projections, and the state of the world with the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN might benefit from pushing back the 2030 deadline and further narrowing its goals down to address specific issues.
