Mr. Shane Conneely:

I thank Deputy Bruton for his questions. On SDGs versus other ways to motivate individuals, the first thing we can think about is where the SDGs came from. We saw the human development index being developed within the UN circa 1989 and 1990 and since then there has been an SDG index. All of these things are moving. They occurred for a reason and they are multifactorial for a reason, the reason being that GDP and GNP did not measure enough of what mattered so these are ways of introducing other things.

The Deputy has asked if it is important to have so many of these issues given that the big issue is climate change. The Deputy is correct that the big issue is climate change. However, staring into the eyes of the apocalypse is a difficult thing to do. We can use the goals as ways of framing solutions to the climate problem in terms of things which are more tangible, and things one can do in the community, business and society. That is the real strength of the goals. They give people paths to taking action as opposed to standing there and looking at the world but thinking that we are all producing CO2 and hastening, potentially, the end. The goals let us look at what we can do in our towns. How do we make our town a better town and more attractive to live in, and how do I make my home a better home for my kids? That is the kind of human scaling of the bigger issue that the goals facilitate.