Every day, Edouard Lett talks about important topics. Today, I want to look at very important data with you. Do you know about Table 2? It's a kind of document that those interested in the future should know. It contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals designated by the United Nations to be collectively achieved by 2030 for the sustainable development of humanity, which was agreed upon in 2015. The key point is to ensure that no one is left behind. Let's interpret it in Korean. It includes contents such as poverty eradication, clean energy, and reducing inequality. Every time I look at it, I feel that it is well organized. You can see that Seoul has the most important goals for the future here. So, someday on the MiBaek channel, I

I thought I should introduce this material. Fortunately, good data has been released again this time. The latest data on the implementation status of Korea's sustainable development goals has been announced by the Statistics Korea. It would be great to check our current situation and think about the future direction together while looking at this material. Let's take a look at a few things. First, poverty. In fact, this is a more critical issue overseas than in our country. However, what we need to consider is that this varies by generation. It's okay for the younger generation, they feel a bit behind. The problem is that for those aged 76 and older, the level of poverty doesn't drop significantly. The reason for this is that there are many recipients of basic pensions, but the amount is low, according to the report. Have you all heard this?

Among the OECD member countries, the relative poverty rate is the most serious in our country. By comparing with other countries, we can see that the difference is very severe. Therefore, in the future, we will need a variety of measures in Korea, especially in terms of elderly care and preventing death from loneliness. I included various contents in the lecture to prevent the loneliness of elderly single-person households last time, so those who are interested can refer to it. Secondly, globally, is there something as important as food for our future? With the world's population exceeding 7.8 billion and expected to increase even more in the future, food security is a critical issue due to climate change affecting agricultural environments. Of course, in our country, we are doing fine in terms of food security.

Even if it is said to be at a medium level, the situation of insufficient nutrient intake is not that high in Africa. Comparatively, it is very good. So, let's move on to the quiz. What is the self-sufficiency rate of grains in Korea? When introducing our grains in Korea, we are looking at how much is actually produced in Korea. It is quite shocking. As of 2020, it is only 19.3%. So, the remaining 80% ultimately has to be imported. This is a very interesting point. Just 30 years ago, in 1990, the self-sufficiency rate of grain was 43.1%. It was about half of what Korea produced. But now, 30 years later, that figure has dropped to less than half. And the most serious part of this is, of course, wheat and corn. As for rice, all of it is produced in Korea.

You should consider this. Now, while looking at this data, isn't there something worrying you? For example, if the price of wheat suddenly jumps up like 200 million won, which is happening in reality due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the production of wheat in that region has been greatly disrupted. As a result, the future prices have skyrocketed, causing the prices of flour, bread, snacks, and instant noodles that we consume daily to rise. Small business owners are having a very difficult time. So in the future, countries could use food as a weapon and a negotiation tool from abroad. This is because South Korea is a country with very vulnerable food security. Here's an interesting fact. On the other hand, in countries like Canada and the United States, the self-sufficiency rate is around 190 to 222 percent. This means that these countries can feed all their citizens and still have surplus for export.

China has a self-sufficiency rate of 91%. However, in the case of countries like the United States and Japan, this figure is lower, which could pose a significant risk to food security. Even if the crisis in Ukraine is resolved, changes in weather patterns could lead to fluctuations in crop production. According to recent data, NASA's research team predicts a 14% decrease in corn production. Just to give you an idea, our self-sufficiency rate for corn is only 0.7%, so it could become quite challenging if prices rise. Surprisingly, in the United States, on the other hand, crop production could actually increase. If the weather gets warmer, and fortunately, rice production is expected to remain relatively stable. Nevertheless, we should take various precautions. Initiatives like smart agriculture or upgrading local agriculture to more advanced methods are crucial for our food security.

Now, the third one is health and wellness. We need to enhance the health and wellness of three individuals. Look, the infant mortality rate in Korea has sharply increased. It's very low. Why is our healthcare system good? Out of the OECD member countries, do you know which country has the highest suicide rate? Many of you may know, but among the OECD countries, Korea has one of the highest suicide rates. While physical illnesses are well treated, mental health care is lacking. It could be seen as a mentally exhausted country. Let's compare with Japan. Japan is here. Compared to Japan, the suicide rate is almost twice as high. So, let's examine the changes in figures. An interesting point is that in the case of Korea, even in 2000, the suicide rate was not that high compared to other countries.

It's about the suicide rate. Do you know the reason for the sudden increase in Turkey? I don't really know the cause well. Is it due to the increase in non-regular workers after the IMF, or is it because of the widening wealth gap leading to the collapse of the community? So, we have a suicide rate more than twice the OECD average. Now, who has a higher suicide rate between men and women? Of course, men's suicide rate is 2.4 times higher than women's. It seems that economic burdens may play a significant role. When looking at the age groups, the highest suicide rate is among young people in their teens, twenties, and thirties. It seems that young people, who are generally healthy, have the highest suicide rate as the leading cause of death, which can be somewhat predicted. However, there may be aspects that cannot be interpreted based solely on that. It seems that the quality of life for young people is not just about the quality of life.

Because it's good, we should also think about the high suicide rate. Is it because of competition, academic stress, job stress, or the bleak despair about the future? The disadvantages of the wealth gap are all significant issues within us. So, trying to solve the quality of life issues for these young people, I believe the most important thing would be policies on information rather than companies. Look, if you look at the age group of the current members of the National Assembly, the 50s are overwhelmingly dominant, representing 20s and 30s. This is a very grim situation where there are not enough representatives for the younger generations. So, those National Assembly members who are over 50 should either do a good job or step down; now is the time to think. It seems to be a very important issue. This is the end of the fifth conversation.

We cannot deny that the issue of gender equality is inevitable. Due to the late start of women's social advancement, they are bound to lag behind. Therefore, let's strive for equality. Now, let's take a look at the data in our country. When we observe the changes in the gender division of household labor for the population aged 10 and above, from 1999 to 2019, it is quite surprising that there is not much difference. Women spend around 2 hours and 58 minutes on housework per day, while men have increased slightly to about 52 minutes per day. Although the gap is narrowing, the fact that it is still three times higher for women indicates that there is still a long way to go. Now, here comes a quiz. Among OECD member countries, which country has the lowest percentage of women in managerial positions? The country with the lowest percentage is not Korea, but Japan. With a similar figure, Korea ranks second to last in this aspect.

Did you know that Korea ranks quite low in terms of female representation compared to other countries? It's almost half, so with the recent change in government, there's talk of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. How should we interpret this? Even though the ministry existed, it didn't achieve significant results, so it's difficult to say it made a big impact. Will the issues be resolved without this ministry? I hope that a new department, if created, will play a more important and efficient role. Looking at the changes in the ratio of female lawmakers, it has increased, but it's still only around 20%. When compared to OECD countries, Korea ranks fourth from the bottom, which is quite alarming.

So, the number of people representing women is still too low. Well, in our country, half of the population are women, so it's not a reasonable figure, right? In the last presidential debate, candidate Ahn Cheol-soo showed this, the equality and equity difference. So, we need to focus on fairness rather than just equality. I found this material quite interesting. It's not just about skills; there are structural issues that need to be addressed and improved, in my personal opinion. So, the 7th important issue for the future is a shift to clean energy, such as environmentally friendly energy. We have no choice but to focus on this in the future. In the OECD, among the top countries with the highest energy consumption, which country has the lowest proportion of renewable energy? You don't need to search for it, it's South Korea.

Because it is at the very end, even when compared to other countries, it can be seen that the ratio is really dismal. Nevertheless, the amount of production of renewable energy and new renewable energy is increasing. However, the proportion itself is only 4.2% as of 2020. If you look at it mostly, solar and bio are the largest. If you look at it, wind power is quite low. Compared to Europe, there seems to be a lot of areas that need to be improved in the future. How should we solve this? We know that we need to improve, but it seems difficult to come up with a solution easily. The first goal is sustainable cities and communities. As people gather in cities, the city must be sustainable. However, the problem with planning is quite serious.

Even when comparing to other countries, in the case of South Korea, the trend of fine dust concentration is extremely high. If you look at the data, the average level of PM2.5 particles in Korea is about twice that of the OECD countries. Therefore, it can be said that the air quality in Korean cities is quite poor. In our neighboring country, China, where coal power generation accounts for about 40%, we can see similar issues arising in countries with heavy industry focus. If we do not solve this problem, how will we live? People may even have to wear air purifiers on their faces. Dyson is planning to release them this fall, and they might sell very well in Korea, maybe even better than in China. It's not easy to address this issue; it will require many efforts. The 12th sustainable development goal area has yielded unexpected results in OECD countries' recycling of household waste.

When we look at the rankings, South Korea is in first place for recycling. Especially in terms of plastic recycling, the rate of recycling is continuously increasing. On the other hand, the amount of landfill is decreasing. So, we can praise South Korea for doing well in this area. However, when we look at the amount of plastic waste generated per person, South Korea ranks third, meaning that although recycling is high, we are using a lot of plastic. In South Korea, each person uses about 88kg of plastic, while surprisingly, China only uses 16kg per person. Perhaps this is because China is still somewhat underdeveloped. Since 2010, the amount of plastic waste generated per person in South Korea has not decreased but remains at around 0.8kg per day, which seems to be a problem.

So, starting from April 1st, there is a system where disposable cups are used in cafes and restaurants. I think strong regulations are the best way to solve this issue because if it's left to individual autonomy, people may not use them. It's good to use convenient disposable items, but depending on this, there could be damage to the lower class or immediate economic damage, so it's really not an easy problem. It's not easy to just pretend to be good unilaterally and say we should use different products next time. If we don't use these things, the cost per person in the family will increase, ultimately harming the lower class. So, this is the thirteenth point, dealing with change. One of the most important things is regulations. In Korea, among OECD member countries, if you look at the total greenhouse gas emissions, Korea is ahead of some advanced countries like the United States and Japan.

Germany and Canada are taking over oil here, but since it's a non-OECD country, if you remove China and India, when it comes to the top five oil-consuming countries, China overwhelmingly takes the first place. But the problem is, look at the scale of South Korea. With a population of 50 million, it's a significant figure for such a small country to emit this much. If you look at this in terms of per capita total greenhouse gas emissions, it decreases a bit. Surprisingly, Australia emits a lot per capita. Then, when you look at it in terms of GDP, South Korea falls into a considerably high category. Recently, the IPCC announced that by 2030, we need to cut 43% based on the 2019 standard. If we fail to reduce it by 43%, we won't be able to achieve the target proposed for our goal, which is to reduce 40% by 2030.

I did it, but this alone is not enough. A significant and rapid change is needed. Therefore, this area of ​​environmental conversion seems to be a place of great change where various crises and opportunities coexist. Now, in the 15th area of terrestrial ecosystem conservation, let's have a quiz. Is the forest area in Korea increasing or decreasing? It's decreasing. Oh, while the population is also decreasing, it makes one wonder if this decrease is actually correct. However, when other OECD countries look at this, there are actually more countries where it is increasing. Out of the 38 OECD member countries, only ten countries show a decrease, and Korea ranks 4th or 5th among them. You should think about this once. Meanwhile, the area of ​​damaged forest continues to increase. One of the reasons is climate change.

It seems that an environment that is easy to catch fire is being created, especially as it becomes dry. Due to the atmospheric stagnation caused by weather changes, the situation of no rain continues, leading to an increase in large-scale fires. It seems to be a significant issue even in our country. The last, the sixteenth, is the effectiveness of justice, peace, and efficient institutions in society. In the case of our country, the system seems to be working well, which I find interesting. Looking at the murder rate within our country, the proportion in South Korea is 0.6 cases per 100,000 people. Therefore, South Korea has a very low rate compared to the OECD average of 2.4 people, indicating that the country has fewer murder cases. However, here's a quiz: Is the murder victim rate higher for men or women?

If I say this, many people might think I'm not a woman, but in 2020, there were actually more men, which was quite interesting. So, rather than being too afraid of women, don't overreact. Another thing is that 75.1% of the chairs are occupied by men. By going this far, we looked at how much we are implementing the United Nations' sustainable development goals together. How about you? What you are doing now, what investments you are making in the future dreams that teenagers want to pursue, are you investing in those areas? One of the reasons why I have a negative perception of investment is that it is not done for the purpose of sending, but it seems that these sustainable development goals are not taken into account.

So, ESG is coming out a lot these days, but it seems like it's falling behind a lot. So, I also think about how much activities like NFT, which is the hottest trend these days, can help achieve sustainable development goals. I think activities for these goals might be the most important for the future. Lastly, I'll try to wrap up by pretending to be a good person. Now, let's end with these questions. What roles can you play to achieve these sustainable development goals? There might be opportunities for our future here, so if you need to update social change, trend education for innovative companies and institutions, or other related work, please contact us via email at mys21@naver.com.

한국은 'UN 지속가능한 발전 목표'를 얼마나 이행하고 있을까?

한국은 'UN 지속가능한 발전 목표'를 얼마나 이행하고 있을까?