Skene Keith R
Biosphere Research Institute, Angus, UK.
Environ Dev Sustain. 2021;23(7):9993-10012. doi: 10.1007/s10668-020-01043-y. Epub 2020 Oct 19.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have now been in place for 4 years, as the center-piece of the sustainable development program of the United Nations. This paper argues that the Earth system fundamentally represents the organizational framework of the planet and, therefore, any attempt at avoiding the existential threat to humanity that our activities are creating must be integrated within this system. We examine how complex systems function in order to identify the key characteristics that any sustainability policy must possess in order to deliver successful, long-term coexistence of humanity within the biosphere. We then examine what this means in terms of the SDGs, currently the dominant policy document on global sustainability and lying at the heart of Agenda 30. The paper explores what a sustainable program of actions, aimed at properly integrating within the Earth system, should look like, and what changes are needed if humanity is to address the multiple challenges facing us, based on systems theory. Central to this is the acknowledgement of shortcomings in current policy and the urgent need to address these in practice.
可持续发展目标（SDGs）作为联合国可持续发展计划的核心内容，现已实施4年。本文认为，地球系统从根本上代表了地球的组织框架，因此，任何避免我们的活动正在给人类带来的生存威胁的尝试都必须纳入这个系统。我们研究复杂系统如何运作，以便确定任何可持续性政策必须具备的关键特征，从而实现人类在生物圈中的长期成功共存。然后，我们考察这在可持续发展目标方面意味着什么，可持续发展目标是目前关于全球可持续性的主要政策文件，也是《2030年议程》的核心。本文基于系统理论探讨了一个旨在妥善融入地球系统的可持续行动方案应该是什么样的，以及如果人类要应对我们面临的多重挑战需要做出哪些改变。这其中的核心是认识到当前政策的不足之处以及在实践中解决这些问题的迫切需要。
