United Nations Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs 13 & 15

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) unanimously agreed by all the 193-member states countries in the world in September 2015 at UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York are basically the 17 Goals to transform the world. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

SDG 13 (Climate Action) asks us to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Global temperatures are projected to rise up by up to 3.2 degree Celsius by 2100 with 2019 being the warmest year on record. But the global community is still shying away from the commitments required to reverse the climate crisis. Although COVID-19 may result in a 6% drop in greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 when the entire globe came into standstill with no industries working. Surprisingly even the percentage drop is required to be at 7.6% to limit the global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius. In terms of Climate Financing the investments being made in fossil fuel still continuous to be higher than investment in climate activities. Today Climate Change is the prime reason for the rise in the frequency and severity of natural disasters affecting life of 39 million people annually.

SDG 15 (Life on Land) asks us to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Over 31000 species are threatened with extinction which clearly shows that the world is falling short on 2020 targets to halt biodiversity loss. With COVID-19 coming into play Pangolins are possibly the intermediary animal that transferred the coronavirus. Thus proving that Wildlife Trafficking disrupts ecosystems and contributes to the spread of infectious diseases. Surprisingly only a third of 113 countries were on track to achieve their national targets to integrate biodiversity into national planning.

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change is likely to become one of the most significant drivers of biodiversity loss by the end of the century. Climate change is already forcing biodiversity to adapt either through shifting habitat, changing life cycles. Biodiversity can support efforts to reduce the negative effects of climate change. Conserved or restored habitats can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus helping to address climate change by storing carbon. Thus, immediate actions need to be taken for taking actions to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity in order to have a sustainable future.

We under the Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN) Project of TERRE Policy Centre have created a global network of universities committed to pursuing smart and innovative solutions to help achieve the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and create tomorrow's entrepreneurs. Through SCCN, students learn about SDGs and apply their creative and technical knowledge to develop solutions to help their university campuses and local communities become more sustainable. SCCN is promoting the mapping of the biodiversity in the campus , carrying out bench marking, and conserving as well as enhancing the biodiversity in the campus. Learning by doing is the motto of SCCN.