SGD 12: Responsible comsupmtion and production 

Mining, civil, mechanical, electrical and environmental engineers play critical roles in managing the Earth’s resources efficiently through processing essential minerals, generating energy from renewable resources, using water resources sustainably, supporting agricultural production and managing biodiversity.

Engineering innovations support resource management and responsible consumption through the ‘circular economy’ where outputs and products can become inputs into other processes and products. Innovations to recycle or reuse waste materials, including plastics, are being developed by materials and chemical engineers.

SDG 13: Climate change 

Engineering enables climate change action. Engineered renewable energy sources with zero carbon emissions include hydroelectric, solar, wind and wave power, with green hydrogen facilitating energy storage at low cost. Resilient infrastructure addresses the escalating impacts of natural disasters including cyclones and floods.

Greenhouse gas reductions through carbon capture, the transformation of waste bio-solids into energy, and timber building from rapid growth forests are other established actions. Other fast-evolving technologies to absorb carbon dioxide include the chemical processing of carbon from air to re-use as chemical feedstock and the use of low carbon building materials for housing.

SGD 14: Life below water

Engineers have a vital role in preserving and protecting oceans and seas, and the life within them. Marine engineers are working with scientists and other engineering disciplines to address the degradation of fisheries, the pollution of oceans and the use of resources, including wave energy.

Engineers are addressing solutions such as plastic pollution in oceans and managing ocean assets such as the Great Barrier Reef that are threatened by the impacts of climate change.

SGD 15: Life on land

Environmental engineers are managing biodiversity through the responsible use of forestry resources and the preservation of habitats. Innovative technologies map the Earth’s surface to provide geospatial information for agricultural monitoring and infrastructure design, and to predict natural disasters like earthquakes.

These technologies are assisting indigenous and disadvantaged groups to enhance their capacity to map, analyse and negotiate for sustainable development while protecting natural forests. Sensor and drone technologies can map forests and identify diminishing animal populations. DNA sequencing and microchips are used to track endangered species.

SGD 17: Partnership for goals 

Partnership in engineering is essential to advance the goals of sustainable development, whether within engineering disciplines or across national and international engineering institutions, involving government, industry and universities.

These partnerships are developing solutions and roadmaps to implement technologies, to build capacity and knowledge transfer mechanisms, and to establish inclusive approaches to sustainable development. World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, celebrated annually on 4 March, is a collaborative international effort to bring engineering and the community together to achieve these goals.