Sustainability

Argentina ranks 54th out of 165 countries on the SDG Global Index 2021. It has achieved the SDG goals of 'gender equality' and 'quality education' and is making progress on 'sustainable cities and communities'.

After officially adopting the goals in 2015, the Argentinian government created the National Council for the Co-ordination of Social Policies to oversee the implementation and monitoring of strategy to achieve the goals. Argentina has signed up to the Paris Agreement and is also prioritising gender equality and female empowerment, particularly in an economic sense. The SDG theme of leaving no-one behind has been a key driver of the country’s inclusion policies for minority groups.

The past 20 years have seen reductions in poverty rates, the introduction of social policies and the amelioration of high inflation rates on basic food products through the adoption of both government-led and consumer-led mechanisms. Improvements in access to free healthcare have also been made alongside increases in education budgets and the extension of compulsory secondary age education. Challenges remain for the country's drive towards sustainability, but Argentina is taking its commitments to climate action seriously.

Collaboration between the government, the private sector and society in general will be important in helping Argentina realise the SDGs. The Argentine Network for International Cooperation (RACI) is helping to coordinate civil society organisations and the public and private sector, using ICT to communicate their actions and the projects being undertaken to achieve the SDGs to a wider audience. The platform will also help identify gaps and opportunities for businesses to create and share solutions. It has been instrumental in helping Argentina achieve the first of its SDGs, ‘partnerships for the goals’.

A further collaboration between The Business Council for Sustainable Development Argentina (CEADS) and EY Argentina is helping to identify opportunities for business through the SDGs. Together, they have launched an SDG Platform to provide information on corporate initiatives and strategies aligned with the SDG agenda. To date, private sector companies have contributed to all 17 of the SDGs. During its presidency of the G20 in 2018, the Argentinian government reiterated its commitment to the key principles of the SDGs, prioritising:

• Unleashing people’s potential through quality education;
• Building infrastructure for development; and
• Ensuring a sustainable food future, while promoting gender equality.

With the G20 working alongside the B20 business leaders, the role of the private sector and the opportunities for both national and global businesses was made clear.

The UN Development Program (UNDP) has partnered with Argentina to support a number of actions towards the SDGs, including supporting health and social policies and equality of justice. With climate change a key challenge for the country, which faces periods of drought and flood, innovative methods have been established to measure and monitor emissions – a first step in helping Argentina understand and address the impact of many of its emissions-intensive sectors.

The UNDP has also been instrumental in providing funding to improve productivity and prosperity by supporting the growth of small and medium sized business enterprises in some of the more outlying areas of the country.