SDG-16 commits to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. An important accompanying target is to reduce all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Another one is to ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.

UNDP found that educated women and girls are more likely to seek justice and tackle discrimination such as gender-based violence. They are more aware of their rights and therefore more self-confident. Education - especially literacy - is also a prerequisite to fully participate in democratic activities such as elections. So remembering what you read about SDG-4 and all the issues that as of today still prevent girls and women worldwide from receiving equal education opportunities, it will be easy to see the immediate interlinkage between SDG-16 and SDG-5.

Furthermore, during wars women are most vulnerable, because they are specially targeted by war tactics such as sexual violence. And women and children in conflict frequently make up the majority of displaced and refugee populations. Just like regarding many of the other SDGs, they have a particular interest to achieve SDG-16. Ensuring women’s participation and leadership in all aspects of negotiations and decision-making will therefore accelerate the building of more peaceful and inclusive societies.

Both SDG 14 and SDG 15 (SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss) aim to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of marine and terrestrial resources. For the achievement of SDG-14, prevention and reduction of marine pollution of all kinds is as important as sustainable management and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems. SDG-15 focuses on combatting deforestation and desertification and on halting biodiversity loss. Both goals also include the promotion of fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources as well as appropriate access to such resources.
As mentioned before, women all around the world do not only face the loss of natural resources with fewer assets and alternatives for livelihoods. They are also usually among the first and most affected by natural disasters of all kind, and the ones usually charged with making up shortfalls in daily necessities like food and fuel. Comprising both much of the agricultural and fishing labour force in developing countries, women play a critical role as stewards of the planet’s ecosystems.

To quote UN Women on this topic: „Their (women’s) knowledge about traditional practices that are inherently sustainable, however, is often excluded from decisions about sustainable ecosystems. This is a loss in terms of prospects for sustainable ecosystem use, which also depends on gender equality in all other dimensions - access to land, livelihoods and natural resources, and a say in how they are shared. Women, and indigenous women in particular, need to be included in decision-making on ecosystem use at all levels, as essential players in preserving our planet.“

This goal focuses on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

UNICEF and UN Women agree that educating girls and women is one of the best ways of strengthening communities on climate change. Globally, one fourth of all economically active women are engaged in agriculture, a primary driver of the loss of species and habitats. And as agricultural workers, they are at the frontline when it comes to direct climate consequences such as droughts, floods or crop failures. Many spend increasingly long hours every day hunting for food, fuel and water. UN Women says: „Through their experiences and traditional knowledge as stewards of many natural resources, women can offer valuable insights into better managing scarce resources and mitigating climate risks.“

But most importantly women’s empowerment is key to climate action for some other reason, says the climate research organization Project Drawdown: “Wherever women are empowered educationally, culturally, economically, politically, and legally, fertility rates fall,” they wrote in their paper. “Populations tend to move toward states of zero or negative growth when women achieve equal standing with men, as long as family planning services and contraceptives are readily available.” Reducing the growth of the human population would help a lot to achieve SDG-13.

Main objectives of SDG-12 are to achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. This means especially to reduce food waste and food losses, to reduce waste generation and to reduce the release of chemicals to air, water and soil.

To quote UNGEI: „When girls can access information about how to adapt to a changing climate they can play an instrumental role in reducing consumption. They can also contribute to the resilience of their families and communities.“

Well, sure they can. Women all over the world play a key role in social education, transmitting culture and family patterns. Therefore, as responsible consumers they can be the best role models, teaching their children the right way to use resources and to protect their environment. As producers, women also can be key (remember that rural women and girls make up 50 - 70 % of the agricultural labour force around the world): They can make a great impact here by for example using organic and biological fertilizers or using long-term, environmentally friendly strategies like crop rotation to increase yields.

But all of this requires achievement of SDG-5 first. Only equal educational and technical skills as well as equal financial resources for women can give them the power to act and influence both their families and communities, thus enabling them to establish sustainable patterns of production and consumption.

SDG-11 aspires to ensure access for all to sustainable adequate, safe and affordable housing, transport and public spaces by 2030.

You already read about the gender-gap in environmental awareness in the context of SDG-7 and will remember that women in general are more inclined than men to assure sustainable development. Compared with men, they are also more vulnerable to assaults and harassments. This is why - again! - women’s motivation to achieve SDG-11 is higher because infrastructure safety improvements are in their own best interest. Safe urban public spaces as well as safe public transport to work or hospital are much more vital to them. So strengthening girls’ and women's voice and participation in making decisions about urban development will accelerate the achievement of SDG-11, too.

SDG-10 aims to reduce inequality within and among countries, which means, for example, to progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 % of the population at a rate higher than the national average. And, of course, to ensure equal opportunities for all by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices.

Well, while we are on the subject of inequalities: In January 2020, Oxfam revealed that the world’s 2,153 billionaires owned more wealth than the the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 % of the total population. Now think back for a second about what you read earlier about SDG-1, and you will surely remember that phenomenon called „feminization of poverty“. According to the global wage report 2019, women on average earn 20 % less than men for the same work, with varied gaps between countries. Women are also more likely than men to be in vulnerable employment, with up to 75 % of women’s jobs being informal or unprotected in developing countries. Not to mention the 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work women and girls are putting in each and every day. Oxfam brings it all down to one shocking sentence: „The 22 richest men in the world have more wealth than all the women in Africa.“

Only ensuring empowered women’s constant participation and leadership in decision making can help address these global inequalities, break down barriers and achieve SDG-10. They must be heard at all levels of decision-making, from households to political arenas.

DG-9 commits to building a resilient, reliable and sustainable infrastructure, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all. More than half of the world’s population now live in urban areas, increasingly in highly-dense cities. Therefore, mass transport and renewable energy are becoming ever more important, as are the growth of new industries and information and communication technologies.

It probably comes as no surprise, when PLAN International states: „Girls and women often have less access to technology and the internet compared to boys and men.“ Although this so called Gender Digital Divide can be found in all countries, it is definitely largest in the world’s least developed countries at 32.9 %: „Particularly in developing countries, girls and women struggle to afford technology and internet access. In addition, stereotypes around technology being ‘for boys’ and fear of being discriminated against stop girls from using digital tools. Without equal access to technology and the internet, girls and women are not able to equally participate in our ever more digital societies. (..) Moreover, if girls and women are not involved in creating digital tools and online content, they may exacerbate existing inequalities.“  

Bridging this Gender Digital Divide by creating gender equality and empowering women is therefore mandatory to break this cycle and ensure the achievement of SDG-9. Equal access to information and knowledge is a prerequisite for this goal.

SDG-8 aspires to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, higher levels of productivity and technological innovation by 2030. Vital accompanying targets are full and productive employment and decent work (equally paid) for all - men, women, young people and persons with disabilities.

The direct link of SDG-8 to SDG-5 is very well documented: According to a World Bank’s study in 100 countries, every 1 % increase in the number of women with a secondary education produces an increase of 0.3 percentage points in the country’s annual per capita income growth rate. So far, on average women still work at lower rates than men globally. A lack of education as well as gender stereotypes in many countries channel women into vulnerable and low-paid jobs. Additionally, among 143 countries, at least 90 % have some legal restriction on women’s employment.

Experts say that if women’s paid employment rates were raised to the same level as men’s, per capita income in developing economies would rise by 20 % by 2030. Moreover, in an inclusive economy, decent work does not only mean a living wage, but also workplace safety and protection against discrimination. Surveys show that once women gain equal access to productive resources and an equal voice in economic decisions, they strive to work towards positive social change such as fairer societies and higher sustainability of economic growth.

SDG-7 is not only to ensure access to universal affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, but also to increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

The statement from UN Women puts in a nutshell why women’s empowerment is key to achieving this goal, too: „Women’s responsibilities in households and communities, as stewards of natural and household resources, positions them well to contribute to livelihood strategies adapted to changing environmental realities.“

Indeed, some indications from global surveys suggest that women are in general more likely than men to conserve energy and more willing to alter everyday behaviors. This gender-gap in environmental awareness can be found everywhere, also in industrial countries. In developing countries, however, the lack of clean energy can even be a matter of life and death for women: As almost 3 billion people there still have to rely on cooking over an open fire, inhaling toxic fumes and soot from rudimentary, heavily smoking stoves leads to about 4 million premature deaths each year - mostly among women and kids. Moreover, the inefficiency of this cooking method consumes hours of women’s time each day (starting with fuel or wood collecting), and even puts them in danger of violence while doing so alone.

So as for SDG-6 you can rest assured that women’s motivation to achieve SDG-7 is highest, too. As primary energy managers in households, they can play important roles in extending sustainable modern energy - if they are empowered and get equal opportunities for representation and leadership in energy planning and policy-making as well as in national and global energy councils.