Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Implementation, Achievements and Challenges faced in Sri Lanka

Abstract

1.1. Introduction The United Nations was established after World War II, with the main objective of maintaining peace and security in the world. Sri Lanka, soon after independence in 1948 applied to obtain membership of the United Nations (UN). It was not successful in the first few attempts, until 1955 due to cold war politics of superpowers at the time. Sri Lanka persisted until it got the UN membership as country believes in sustainable peace and security in the world for development and peaceful co-existance. Maintaining peace and security, especially focusing on human security since independence, has been a mandate of successive governments of Sri Lanka up to date. More than 30 years have passed since UN introduced Human Development as a result of global discussions on the connecting link between development and economic growth in a people-centred manner. People-centred relations (social constructivism in International Relations) are at the center of Multilateralism today. Human Development Index published yearly results from this UN initiative, where the people-centred approach focuses on improving the lives people lead rather than assuming that economic growth will lead automatically to greater opportunities for all people. In modern times international cooperation and Multilateralism focus on humans, animals, plants and the environment as the centre of all development initiatives. Sri Lanka, a littoral state in the Indian Ocean region. The ocean around us is crucial to the country in economic development. Sri Lanka has 1,340 km of coastline while benefiting 12 nautical miles (nm) of the territorial sea. The territorial sea cover 21500 sqkm, approximately 1/3 of Sri Lankan total area, where the vast unexplored resources lie in the seabeds (Martenstyn, 2021). In addition to that, Sri Lanka has 1 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Imlementation, Achevements and Challenges Faced in Sri Lanka Hasith Kandaudahewa and Nayani Melegoda 2 Business Sustainability through Lean and Green Practices: Manufacturing SMEs in Sri Lanka the authority to explore the marine and other resources within the 24nm of the contiguous zone and 200cnm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982). According to The International Trade Administration - US Department of Commerce (2021) report, around 30,000 sqkm in Mannar Basin in Northern area has over five million barrels of oil resources so far unexplored. Thus, these reserves of energy resources will undoubtedly facilitate Sri Lanka’s future economic development. Sri Lanka today has a population of 21.8 million, a Gross National Income per capita of Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) 688, 719 while the unemployment rate is at 5.8% in 2020 according to key economic indicators of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2021). According to the Human Development Report, Sri Lanka is categorised as a high human development country, achieving the world rank of 72 out of 189 countries (excluding other countries or territories) (The United Nations Development Programme, 2021). Sri Lanka is a country that underwent an internal war1 for over three decades, ending in 2009. From mid - 1980’s till the end of the war, a major proportion of the income generated was spent on establishing peace and security in the country (Ministry of Finance - Sri Lanka, 2010, 2011). In the context of this book on Business sustainability through lean and green practices in Manufacturing SMEs in Sri Lanka, the main purpose of this chapter is to set the background to adopt sustainable development goals as much as possible for businesses in the country, which the world today is adopting. Further, the authors briefly introduce the reader of the backdrop of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Sri Lanka is striving to achieve by 2030. The forthcoming sections in this chapter outline evolution of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the development initiatives of Sri Lanka prior to SDGs while focusing on pre and post-independence development agendas, universal Multilateralism and introduction of the SDGs. The last section will focus on the post-2015 scenario related to Sri Lanka, including the implementation, progress and challenges faced in the Sri Lankan post-2015 context.