Ms Colette Bennett:

I will also keep my comments brief. We must be clear about this being about much more than the environment and the energy sector, notwithstanding the fact these are critical to the SDGs. This also concerns the fact that there are 17 goals here and they are all interrelated and interdependent. If we take the goal of there being no poverty, for example, then we need to look at things like income adequacy. Individuals can only do so much concerning this element. People on core social welfare rates, for example, are far below the poverty line for the vast majority of household compositions. They have not been able to keep up with inflation because of the choices made in budgets. Equally, these people are also impacted by not being able to access long-term education and life-long learning. It is the same in terms of the lack of access to sustainable, appropriate accommodation. This has a negative impact on health. We have sought to privatise more and more in respect of social housing.

We have gone from social housing delivery to a social housing solution. We are moving backwards on sustainable development goal No. 11, which relates to sustainable communities. We are also moving backwards on health because we have privatised that sector to a great degree. We are not progressing on primary care provision to a real extent by supporting people at the point of need rather than the point of ability to pay. Again, that comes back to the poverty aspect. It is about looking at how moves can be made by institutions that have great influence, whether that be the State, which is a key driver, or in terms of responsible consumption and production. Individuals absolutely have an obligation to consume responsibly insofar as they can and their income allows them to do so. Instruments of the State also have that obligation. They have an obligation to ensure public procurement is fulfilling the sustainable development goals or at least progressing towards them. There should also be an onus on large corporations and organisations to do the same. Anyone with a Government contract should be under an obligation to demonstrate compliance with or progression towards the sustainable development goals.