Development as usual

Abstract

This chapter engages critically with ethical aspects of the foundations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), examining the moral challenges that this initiative seeks to overcome, and the limitations of the moral foundation of the global development agenda. The ethics of the SDGs are not different from the ethics governing the previous development thinking that was hegemonic in the last forty years. This approach suffers from the same shortcomings as the previous dominant agenda, including the centrality of economic growth, consumerism, and a neoliberal notion of social justice. Additionally, while the SDGs’ adherence to the UN principles, including human rights, environmental protection, and global partnership, is considered as a positive aspect, this global initiative does not specifically address the global political and economic structures that contribute to global poverty, inequality, and other social and environmental problems. The SDGs simply follow minimal morality values in addressing the side-effects of systemic problems. Reflecting on the main ethical inadequacies of the SDGs, this chapter highlights that global development governance ought to pay attention to the ethical and political aspects of development for improving legitimacy and effectiveness. If a more comprehensive incorporation of ethical reasoning is worked into development, future global governance efforts will need more than existing instrumental approaches.

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