Week 3: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Climate Action

Lesson 3.1: Understanding the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 SDGs aimed at addressing global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation.

• Goal 13 (Climate Action): This goal focuses on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Countries are urged to integrate climate change measures into policies, strategies, and planning.
• Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy): Ensures access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, with a focus on renewable energy sources.
• Goal 14 (Life Below Water) and Goal 15 (Life on Land): These goals aim to protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, which are severely impacted by climate change.

Lesson 3.2: Climate Change and the Role of Governments

Governments play a central role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. International agreements, such as the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), are crucial for global climate action. Countries have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to below 2°C, ideally to 1.5°C.

Governments also set national policies on climate adaptation, disaster management, and funding for renewable energy projects. Additionally, they regulate emissions through carbon taxes, emissions trading systems, and environmental protection laws.

Lesson 3.3: Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability

Businesses must play a role in achieving climate goals by adopting sustainable practices. This includes:

• Carbon Disclosure: Companies are increasingly required to report their carbon footprints and the measures they are taking to reduce emissions.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Many businesses integrate sustainability into their operations by reducing waste, supporting environmental initiatives, and ensuring ethical sourcing of materials.

සතිය 3: කාලගුණික විපර්යාස හා සමාජ ආර්ථික බලපෑම්

ඉගෙනුම් අංශය 3.1: කාලගුණික විපර්යාස හා භූමි සංස්කෘතිය

• ඉතාමත් කාලගුණික ගුණදායක යථාර්ථයන්:
  කාලගුණික විපර්යාසයන්, බෝග හා ගොවිජන ආර්ථිකයට, ජල සම්පත් හා ජීවන යුගීන්ට බලපායි. ගිනි, වර්ෂාවන්, සුළග හා අවිස්සාවන් නිසා ගෝලීය ක්ෂේත්‍රවල කෘෂි නිෂ්පාදනය සහ වාසස්ථාන ගැටලු වලට හේතු වෙයි.

ඉගෙනුම් අංශය 3.2: සමාජ හා ආර්ථික බලපෑම්

• සමාජීය බලපෑම්:
  පරිසර හා ආර්ථික විපර්යාසයන්, සමාජය තුල මතභේදයන්, පසුබැසීම්, පවතින පෝෂණ හා සෞඛ්‍ය කේෂ්තු, බේද සහ සාමූහික සෞඛ්‍ය අවස්ථාවන් මත වැළඳේ.

• සමාජ සමාබල මට්ටම්:
  වායුගෝලික වෙනස්වීම, විකිරණ සහ සමාජ සැලැස්වීම දියුණුවට මගක් දෙයි.