A Big Sustainable Development Mistake: Too Much New Jargon Many New Concepts and Models. Too Little Committed Implementation and Follow Through.

If you are in the sustainable development space where the main focus is to balance environmental protection, preservation of natural resources, protecting the planet and ensuring equitable and sustainable prosperity and human life, you are not new to concepts and models. Since the conception of the world sustainable development concepts, many related concepts and ideas have emerged. Among these are the Millenniums Development Goals that gave way to Sustainable Development Goals on the turn of the new century in 2000. Additional concepts of sustainability and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance).

In solid waste management, the concept of Integrated Solid Waste Management emerged as a solution to the growing solid waste management challenges the world was, and is still facing. Before many countries, especially those in the emerging parts of the world, have been able to fully understand, embrace and transition to integrated solid waste management, the concept of The Circular Economy and economic circularity has emerged. To those not familiar with integrated solid waste management, economic circularity appears to be a stand alone concept with no links at all to integrated solid waste management. Yet, in reality, integrated solid waste management and economic circularity have a direct link. Conceptually and theorectically, it is not feasible to talk about economic circularity without talking about integrated solid waste management because the key aspects of integrated solid waste management such as material recovery, recycling, reuse, energy recovery speak to economic circularity. It is theorectically difficult to imagine how one can achieve economic circularity without sustainable solid waste management.

Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainability and ESG are also often treated independently of each other. Many people who talk about ESG or Sustainability and even Sustainable Development Goals struggle to think holistically in a way that encompasses all the for related concepts of sustainable development, sustainable development goals, sustainability and ESG. Thus it is possible to get people who see themselves, or are seen, as sustainability experts but who lack the big picture thinking that puts the concepts of sustainability within its holistic global context that includes sustainable development and the interaction between the environment, business, economics, society and social issues. The problem with this is that implementation around sustainable development and sustainable development goals, as well as around sustainability and ESG become weak, piecemeal and tactical instead of being strategic.

When it comes to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, those who mooted the goals have been very clear that these goals are interrelated and operate as a system. Yet almost everywhere I see implementation on the goals, the implementation is more piece meal and disjointed than being holistic and integrated. Different people choose to implement different goals and in a very independent way, those the strategic syntax and order of the goals. This partly explains why the implementation of the goals have been less than satisfactory, with the UN assessing that progress on their implementation was below 50 percent of the expected implementation success. Worse, the UN asserts that when it comes to the goal of climate, we are still in the business as usual mode in spite of all our talk and hundreds if not thousands of conferences and meetings on the subject.

If we are to make more progress in achieving sustainable development goals, we must be careful that we do not lose focus by recklessly adopting any new environment and development concepts and abandon follow through on existing concepts. Many actors in the environment and development world are guilt of this pick and drop syndrome, throwing away the baby with the water any time some new water has arrived. Examples? Yes!

The Circular economy maybe a newer concept to Integrated Solid Waste Management, but it is a mistake to drop Integrated Solid Waste Management and hope to achieve economic circularity.

Just transition in climate change is not a replacement of climate science, engineering, technology. Just transition does not address the global leadership challenges that are undermining successful and effective climate action. Just transition is not a replacement for the lack of capacity and skills in designing and implementing successful and sustainable climate action programs, initiatives and projects.

Theory improvement is important for sure, but we must not get confused with new jargon, new concepts and new models to the point of losing focus.

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