The other day, I drew the changing concept of sustainability. At the time of the Earth Summit 1992, sustainability was about balancing the economy, society and the environment. The Stockholm Resilience Centre advocated a framework in which society is part of the environment, and the economy is part of society.
This framework is also applied to the idea of the SDGs. As they are commonly seen, the first tier of the SDGs is a series of basic social tasks that must be accomplished, corresponding to the MDGs. The second tier is a set of more economic issues that apply to developed countries. In the third tier, global environmental problems are listed. The SDG ladder framework is based on the idea that the smaller numbered targets are the basis for the higher numbered ones and that achieving the smaller ones will help achieve the higher ones.
This is true that MDGs are the basis for SDGs and that the challenges of the developed world will come after those of the developing world are solved. However, based on this view, developing countries do not need to address environmental issues or economic issues such as waste reduction.
On the other hand, the Stockholm Resilience Centre's "society in the economy & economy in the society" framework suggests that developing countries need to address environmental issues to stabilise their societies and that social infrastructure is necessary for decent economic development. It also indicates that social infrastructure is essential for proper economic development. This framework is so called SDGs wedding cake.
This framework has been described as the wedding cake of the SDGs. We introduce biogas as social support. We sell coffee and chocolate as an economic activity, and we run a climate change school to address global environmental issues. We can also explain this by replacing the conventional SDGs ladder with the wedding cake.
