Driving goals toward a secure, green future

Ireland’s Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan provides a whole-of-government commitment to fully achieving all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.

The Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment is responsible for officially reporting on Ireland’s progress toward meeting the targets, while the CSO has a central role in the identification, management, and presentation of the data needed to meet the requirements.

While governments have primary responsibility for implementing the SD’s, the goals do not belong to them alone. To achieve the goals, governments, businesses, communities and individuals will all have to work together in an effort encompassing all of civil society.

“In our interconnected and interdependent world, the major challenges of our time are increasingly global in nature,” said Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. “Those challenges require the international community to respond collectively, cohesively and ambitiously. Throughout its history, Ireland has understood that no one country can stand alone.

Now is the time for a cohesive, age friendly healthcare system

---

How your legacy gift to Concern Worldwide leaves a better future for some of the world’s poorest families

---

Good governance is critical for effective healthcare investigations

---

Joined-up IT means medics have more time to focus on patient care

---

“The UN Sustainable Development Goals are the international community’s roadmap for collective progress towards the kind of world we want to see. For the first time, all nations have developed a shared vision and agreed targets to overcome global challenge such as poverty, injustice and damage to our planet.”

Varadkar added that the 17 goals are much more than targets – they are an expression of the international community’s shared responsibility and determination to improve our world and the quality of life of our citizens.

‘We know we can only thrive if the planet and our communities thrive'

“Over the past decade, Brew a Better World [BaBW] has had a profound influence on our business,” says Barbara Anne Richardson, Heineken Ireland’s sustainability and public affairs manager. “It has driven us to innovate and collaborate to protect the environment, support local communities, and make a positive contribution to society, all with the goal of supporting delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“Being the most international brewer with operations around the world, we have a responsibility and an ambition to brew a better world, both globally and locally, from barley to bar. We believe in working in partnerships to achieve shared goals, scale our positive contribution and limit our negative impacts.”

At the same time, however, we are moving into a decade in which the world must face even more complex challenges, she cautions: “We know we can only thrive if the planet and our communities thrive. Our Brew a Better World 2030 ambitions are woven into the fabric of our balanced growth strategy, EverGreen, putting sustainability and responsibility front and centre as we write our next growth chapter.

“For more than 150 years, we’ve been passionate about making a positive impact on the world around us. In this Decade of Action, we are committed to raising the bar and together, we will do our part to Brew a Better World.”

The brewer continues to raise the bar on its support of the UN SDGs during a decade in which more ambitious collective action is the only way forward.

“We are accelerating our efforts to support the social agenda and will be ambitious and bold in promoting moderate consumption of alcohol. Building brands that deliver our sustainability agenda will remain a fundamental priority for the decade ahead.”

While governments have primary responsibility for implementing the SDGs, the goals belong to everyone, in every community, in every country across the world.

To achieve them successfully, everyone can contribute, from businesses adopting sustainable corporate strategies, to communities working together to improve their local environment, to the individual choices we all make as consumers.

The 2030 Agenda is a global one, but its substance is equally important and relevant to our own daily lives here in Ireland.

Together with ending global poverty and combatting climate change, the 17 goals also aim to make our towns and cities cleaner and safer, to ensure people have access to decent jobs, to promote better health and education for all, and to end all forms of inequality including gender inequality and discrimination.