We need to localise Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have great data to back it up, said Permanent Representative of India to the UN TS Tirumurti. Speaking virtually at MOP Vaishnav College for Women as they marked UN Day with an Intercollegiate Fest, he said, "India is walking the talk on SDGs. We need to have implementation and data collection right from the grass root level. For this, we need to localise the SDGs. To enhance data collection at the local level, we have developed the SDG India Index and Dashboard. The 2021 edition of the index covers all the 17 goals, 70 targets and 115 indicators," said Tirumurti about the broad framework of meeting the SDGs in India.
Trimurti delivered the UN Day address and awarded the prizes to the winners as well. "Implementing SDGs is a whole society effort which includes not just the government but the private sector, civil society, universities, think tanks etc. MOP Vaishnav College has given the SDGs a people-centric focus, that too among the youth, the future of our country," he said while commending the efforts taken by the institution to raise awareness about the UN goals.
The UN delegate was highly appreciative of the role India has played in meeting the SDG targets. "India is the only country among the G20 nations which is on course to meet the Paris Agreement of 2030. It is important to understand the implications of the net zero targets that nations want to meet. We should be focusing on global net zero rather than individual net zero by the countries. This will accommodate the reality of developing countries peaking later than developed countries," he said when speaking about the efforts to meet net zero carbon emission targets by the member states of the UN.
The diplomat also spoke at length about the issue of women's development. "India has moved from women's development to women-led development. The government has been extremely conscious of the digital divide that fosters between men and women when a digital revolution takes place, as it has in other countries. We not only have women in various leadership positions at the UN but they are actively contributing to the cause of women-led development. India has a very positive influence on the UN in this direction," he explained.
Tirumurti also spoke of how individual citizens should expand their horizons since the ideas one has are waiting to be heard by the world. "We need to connect the local to the state, the state to the nation and even the nation to the international level. For example, the Mid Day Meal scheme that was developed by the Tamil Nadu government has been taken worldwide and fostered by the UN. One must never be constrained by the environment one lives in," he said.
