Realising the “Sustainable Development Goals” Through the Lens of Global Justice

The research problem concerns the responsibility of individual countries for achieving sustainable development goals. It is important because the dominant view in the inter-state debate is that individual countries are responsible for their own socio-economic development. The level of this development is crucial to the achievement of the “Sustainable Development Goals”. This raises the question of how the “Sustainable Development Goals” are to be realised in poor or conflict-ridden countries, i.e. countries that are unable to deal with the current challenges of socio-economic life. Questions of responsibility for achieving the “Sustainable Development Goals” are considered under the concept of global justice in the context of ideas of cosmopolitanism and statism. Theoretical considerations are juxtaposed with what has been implemented to date in the area of the “Sustainable Development Goals”. The subject of the research was the content of the reports issued since 2016 by the United Nations and entitled: “The sustainable development goals report”. These reports were contrasted with the United Nations resolution entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. In the research process, questions were formulated about what the reports communicate and why, and how this communication has changed from year to year. The analysed Reports are based on detailed statistical data. They review the 17 “Sustainable Development Goals”, indicating what has been achieved and what has not been achieved so far. Looking for trends in the analysed Reports, changes in the message were noted. With the intensification of unfavourable phenomena in the environment and the increasing threat to the achievement of the “Sustainable Development Goals” in the 2030 perspective, there is a decline in phrases expressing a positive sentiment. This is a consequence of the overlapping climate, social, health, economic and political crises. The analysis of the reports indicates that the achievement of the 2030 “Sustainable Development Goals” is at risk. It is also emphasised that this tendency can be overturned. The findings of the research process show that the implementation of the “Sustainable Development Goals” in a global perspective requires coordinated action by the international community guided by ideas of cosmopolitanism rather than statism. A prerequisite for the realisation of the “Sustainable Development Goals” is the rejection of national egoisms in favour of international cooperation and action for the common good of all mankind.