Global awareness is defined as the knowledge surrounding certain concepts that impact the world: socially, politically, environmentally, and economically. The world leaders created 17 goals that they want to achieve by 2030. Each of these 17 goals are interrelated and can be thought about in terms of global awareness.

When considering the 17 goals, many of them are related to combating climate change. One of their goals is to seek out more affordable and clean energy. We also looked at this issue in class because there are so many forms of sustainable energy that I never considered myself. Such as wave energy which has the potential to produce a lot of energy on the coasts. The leaders define the goal relying on more affordable and clean energy types as “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.” In order for this goal to be met, we can all make specific efforts such as being mindful of the energy we are putting out. In 2017, only 11.3% of our energy came from renewable sources. So it is clear that we rely on fossil fuels for majority of our energy. We need to support more sustainable methods. We can turn off the lights when we are not using them, we can buy rechargeable electronics, but most importantly we can stay informed and do all we can to support these efforts being made.

I chose climate action because to me, its the most pressing issue the list is trying to combat. Ice caps are melting at record pace  and the amount of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere is making the temperature Rise. I think that fixing this issue is the most difficult goal on the list because the change in climate can be attributed to more than one human action and in 2018 regulation is not easily passed by the government. The global awareness of this issue is high but, some countries disagree if global warming (Climate Change) is real or not. Because some countries have the perspective that Global Warming is not real it is difficult to truly fix the problem. For example, if you look at the countries with the most change in temperature they are also the ones who denounce global warming as being fake (China and USA). “According to scientists at the U.S Center for Atmospheric Research, if the current rate of global temperature rise continues, the Arctic will be free of Ice by 2040.” It is up to us to Reverse the effect of climate change through global engagement so that future generations will be able to live on earth.

The goal I decided to analyze is goal number 15, Life on Land. This goal sets out to, “protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” This goal is essentially promoting a healthy planet for everyone who inhabits it. Because we are all part of this world’s plethora of ecosystems, goal number 15 works to protect that ecosystem through a collaborative effort. At the global level, the world works together to fight these issues. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations works to enhance the productivity and sustainability of land use through the interaction between climate and human activities, and land resources.  They have created a model (below) to show this relationship. This organization works with the UN to fight climate change by implementing the most productive use of land according to biophysical and socio-economic conditions.  They do this to minimize land degradation, and to promote the rehabilitating of that land, and to promote the sustainable use of land uses as a whole.

Sustainable land use and management (human activities) decide the sustainability/resilience or degradation/vulnerability of land resources

Sources:

http://www.fao.org/land-water/land/sustainable-land-management/en/

https://www.globalgoals.org/15-life-on-land