Geopolitics and the environment: a critical reading of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN Agenda 2030)

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the trajectory and limitations of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations. The SDGs must be understood within the broader historical context of the political and economic instrumentalization of the environment, a process that intensified after World War II and gained momentum during major environmental conferences such as Stockholm 1972, Rio 1992, and Rio+20. In this context, the concept of sustainable development – though presented as a solution to the ecological crisis – is, in reality, a compromise between economy and ecology aligned with the hegemonic interests. Rio+20 marked the consolidation of the so-called 'green economy,' which reinforces the commodification of nature under the rhetoric of sustainability. The 2030 Agenda, which expanded the themes of the Millennium Development Goals by incorporating environmental issues across many of its 17 goals, still lacks effective mechanisms for implementation and financing. The article highlights the weakness of global action in the face of the climate crisis and critiques the SDGs for their failure to adequately address inequality and environmental degradation. It concludes that global development plans have proven largely ineffective, especially in peripheral nations, and that the decade from 2010 to 2020 was a lost decade for the environment – marked by setbacks, hollow discourse, and a lack of genuine commitment.