Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Scores: Singapore VS Rest of the world
What is SDG?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, are part of UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda.
How Singapore is contributing to SDG?
Being a land and resource scarce nation, we have recognized the challenges of sustainable development within our city state and also of contributing and supporting this global initiative. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore has been sharing our experiences and training officials in developing countries around the world.
GreenDay's SDGs
At GreenDay, we are committed to contribute to the SDGs as a technology startup. We believe that digital technology can be put to greater use in areas of sustainability and we are intensely focused on 2 of the 17 goals - Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities and Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production which are very relevant in this part of the world.
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities (Singapore's Score: 94.72)
According to UNDP, this goal is to "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable." According to the 2019 Global Index Rank, Singapore is ranked 4th with a score of 94.72 behind Switzerland, Maldives and Fiji. This is to be expected given that the majority of Singapore’s population has access to safe and affordable housing due to the success of HDB and the urbanization of our small nation. While housing is a major theme for this goal, GreenDay intends to continue moving the needle to create more sustainable and vibrant virtual communities using digital technologies. With a basic digital infrastructure and inter-connectivity already in place, it seems only natural that digital platforms can be utilized for more social good rather than just generic entertainment and social networking. The COVID-19 circuit breaker period is a living testament of the creative opportunities of our people doing good and maintaining community bonds online (TikTok, Houseparty, mehgowhere) when physical meetings are made impossible. At GreenDay, we intend to utilize our digital platform solely for building virtual eco-conscious communities and inspiring sustainable behaviors. This is in line with Target 11.3 (Inclusive & Sustainable Urbanization) where we aim to empower virtual communities to self-organize, plan and manage sustainable initiatives. We also believe that this is a scalable solution for other geographies and are excited/ curious about how localized virtual communities will grow and thrive in different geographies on our platform.
Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production (Singapore's Score: 34.98)
Singapore fared much worse as a nation for this goal to "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns", achieving a low score of 34.98 in the 2019 Global Index Rank. Consumerism in Asia is on a rising trend driven by online shipping, which exacerbates the situation, especially by driving plastic waste. As a resource-constrained nation, we are striving to close the waste loop. Our current focus is on the 3Rs: Reduce, Re-use and Recycle, through which we aim to minimise waste and encourage upcycling in the pursuit of a more circular economy. At GreenDay, we align ourselves with the targets 12.5, 12.6, 12.8, 12.C. These targets include reducing waste generation, encouraging companies to adopt sustainable practices, promote awareness of sustainable lifestyles and removing market distortions that encourage wasteful consumption. GreenDay and our partners are committed to set an example to inspire consumers and other businesses to adopt sustainable practices and reduce waste. Our mobile platform is designed to elevate brand stories for inspiring responsible consumerism. Our community section promotes the understanding of sustainable lifestyles so that users do not have the misconception that sustainable lifestyle will be a downgraded standard of living. We intend to remove market distortion through education that sustainable products and practices are higher in terms of value and returns on investment in the long term for both consumers and companies.
GreenDay's relevance in the region
As a budding tech startup starting from a small-island nation like Singapore, we have no wishful intentions to have a direct global impact. Instead, we prefer to convert our tiny corner of the world in south-east asia (SEA) and show the rest of the world how it is being done. Our plan is to ride on the e-commerce and social media trends in SEA to make sustainable living not just an alternative lifestyle for those who care, but more so, an appealing and fun way to live. We aim to inspire and attract more users to see the value of sustainability and live a fulfilling life through our platform.
We invite you to try out our platform and give us your feedback on how to improve!
AppStore: https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/greenday-live-sustainably/id1491641729 Playstore: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greendayapp.userportal