CDS (II) 2023 GK Q23: Which of the following is/are United Nations Sustainable

Q: What is the answer to CDS (II) 2023 GK Q23?

B. Correct — B, 1, 2 and 3. All three items are genuine Sustainable Development Goals, and they can be placed exactly. Decent work and economic growth is Goal 8. Responsible consumption and production is Goal 12. Peace, justice and strong institutions is Goal 16. The set of seventeen was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, came into effect on 1 January 2016, and carries 169 targets to be met by 2030. They succeeded the eight Millennium Development Goals, which ran from 2000 to 2015, and unlike those they apply to every country, rich and poor alike, though they bind politically rather than legally. Because the question offers three real goals, the only way to get it wrong is to doubt one of them — and the one most often doubted is Goal 16, which sounds more like a political slogan than a development target until you remember that the framers deliberately widened the agenda beyond poverty and health to include institutions and the rule of law.

CDS (II) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 23 of 120

Question text verified against the official CDS question paper.

Which of the following is/are United Nations Sustainable Development Goal(s)? 1. Decent work and economic growth 2. Peace, justice and strong institutions 3. Responsible consumption and production Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a)1 and 2 only
(b)1, 2 and 3
(c)2 only
(d)1 and 3 only

Answer

Why

Correct — B, 1, 2 and 3. All three items are genuine Sustainable Development Goals, and they can be placed exactly. Decent work and economic growth is Goal 8. Responsible consumption and production is Goal 12. Peace, justice and strong institutions is Goal 16. The set of seventeen was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, came into effect on 1 January 2016, and carries 169 targets to be met by 2030. They succeeded the eight Millennium Development Goals, which ran from 2000 to 2015, and unlike those they apply to every country, rich and poor alike, though they bind politically rather than legally. Because the question offers three real goals, the only way to get it wrong is to doubt one of them — and the one most often doubted is Goal 16, which sounds more like a political slogan than a development target until you remember that the framers deliberately widened the agenda beyond poverty and health to include institutions and the rule of law.

Why the others are wrong

(a)1 and 2 only — Drops responsible consumption and production, which is Goal 12 — the one concerned with sustainable consumption patterns, food waste and the efficient use of natural resources.
(c)2 only — Keeps only Goal 16 and rejects two others that are equally real. Decent work and economic growth is Goal 8 and appears in the official list under exactly that name.
(d)1 and 3 only — The pick for a candidate who thinks peace and justice are too political to be a development goal. Goal 16 is precisely that — peace, justice and strong institutions — and its inclusion was one of the main departures from the earlier Millennium Development Goals.

Concept

The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals run: 1 No Poverty; 2 Zero Hunger; 3 Good Health and Well-being; 4 Quality Education; 5 Gender Equality; 6 Clean Water and Sanitation; 7 Affordable and Clean Energy; 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth; 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 10 Reduced Inequalities; 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; 12 Responsible Consumption and Production; 13 Climate Action; 14 Life Below Water; 15 Life on Land; 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; 17 Partnerships for the Goals. They are universal, integrated and voluntary, and progress is reviewed nationally rather than enforced.

Items on the Sustainable Development Goals come in two shapes — this one, which asks whether a named phrase is on the list, and the harder one, which asks for the number attached to a goal. The first is answered by recognising the official wording, and the wording matters: a goal is 'Decent work and economic growth', not 'reduced unemployment'; it is 'Reduced inequalities', not 'poverty eradication'. Anything that paraphrases loosely is likely to be a plant, and this very paper elsewhere asks which of four phrases is not on the index NITI Aayog builds from these goals. India's own tracking runs through that SDG India Index, published by NITI Aayog since 2018, which scores every State and Union Territory against the goals. The framework has not changed since the 2023 exam — still seventeen goals, still 169 targets, still a 2030 deadline — though the periodic global progress reviews have grown steadily more pessimistic about meeting it.

Key facts

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets, adopted on 25 September 2015 and in effect from 1 January 2016, to be achieved by 2030.
Goal 8 is Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 12 is Responsible Consumption and Production, and Goal 16 is Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
They form part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and succeeded the eight Millennium Development Goals of 2000 to 2015.
They apply to all countries, developed and developing, and are politically rather than legally binding.
NITI Aayog is India's nodal institution for the goals and has published the SDG India Index since 2018, ranking States and Union Territories.

Where the three listed items sit in the official list of seventeen

Item 1 — Decent work and economic growth→Goal 8. On the list, under that exact wording.

Item 2 — Peace, justice and strong institutions→Goal 16. On the list, and one of the clearest departures from the older Millennium Development Goals.

Item 3 — Responsible consumption and production→Goal 12. On the list, covering sustainable consumption, food waste and resource efficiency.

Phrases that are NOT goals→Reduced unemployment, space research, population control. Each sounds developmental and each is a standard plant in questions of this kind.

The frame around all seventeen→Adopted 25 September 2015, effective 1 January 2016, 169 targets, deadline 2030, universal and politically binding.

All three items are genuine goals, so the answer has to be the all-of-them option.

Study next

The seventeen goals by number, especially 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, which are the ones most often askedThe Millennium Development Goals and how the 2030 Agenda differs from themSDG India Index of NITI Aayog — methodology, top and bottom performers, and the composite scoreVoluntary National Reviews and how progress towards the goals is reportedClimate commitments alongside the goals — the Paris Agreement, Nationally Determined Contributions and net-zero targets

Common traps

Rejecting Goal 16 as too political; peace, justice and strong institutions is on the official list.
Accepting a loose paraphrase such as 'reduced unemployment' as a goal, when the actual wording is 'decent work and economic growth'.
Confusing the number of goals, 17, with the number of targets, 169, or with the eight Millennium Development Goals they replaced.

As a which-of-these-is-a-goal item, as a goal-to-number match, or through the SDG India Index and State rankings.

Related PYQs

UPSC_2016_GS1_Q982016Open & attempt →

Consider the following statements: 1. The Sustainable Development Goals were first proposed in 1972 by a global think tank called the 'Club of Rome'. 2. The Sustainable Development Goals have to be achieved by 2030. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer(b) 2 only

The same framework tested on its origin and deadline rather than its contents. The 2030 date is right; the attribution to the Club of Rome is not, since that body's contribution was the 1972 report on limits to growth.

CDS_GK_2023_I_Q1092023

Which of the following sets of States is at the bottom of the Composite SDG India Index, 2020-2021 as per the NITI Aayog?

(a) Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar
(b) Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar
(c) Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam
(d) Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand

Answer(a) Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar

The Indian end of the same framework, six months earlier. Once the seventeen goals are known by name, the next thing CDS asks is how NITI Aayog scores States against them.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is Sustainable Development Goal 13?
- (a)Climate Action
- (b)Life Below Water
- (c)Life on Land
- (d)Reduced Inequalities
Answer(a) Climate Action — Goal 14 is Life Below Water, Goal 15 is Life on Land and Goal 10 is Reduced Inequalities.
practice — not a real PYQ
The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in which year, and are to be achieved by which year?
- (a)Adopted 2000, to be achieved by 2015
- (b)Adopted 2012, to be achieved by 2025
- (c)Adopted 2015, to be achieved by 2030
- (d)Adopted 2016, to be achieved by 2035
Answer(c) Adopted 2015, to be achieved by 2030 — adopted on 25 September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda and in effect from 1 January 2016. The 2000 to 2015 span belongs to the Millennium Development Goals.