Canadians rank ending hunger, eliminating poverty, and ensuring healthy lives as top priorities among U.N. SDGs
Toronto, ON June 21, 2021 — A new Ipsos survey conducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals finds “zero hunger”, “no poverty” and “good health and well-being” rank as the top priorities for Canadians.
In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 goals (also referred to as “SDGs”) for a better world by 2030. They engage governments, the private sector, civil society, and citizens to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. Ipsos asked 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ to rank 8 randomly selected SDGs among 16 of them, in order of priority to address today.
Canadians indicate that their #1 priority is “zero hunger”, in line with this SDG being #1 priority globally. Subsequent SDG priorities for Canadians include:
- “No Poverty” and “Good health and well-being” which tie for second place
- “Clean water and sanitation” which rounds out the top four
Notably the priorities of Candians largely align with the global averages: zero hunger, no poverty, good health and well-being, and clean water and sanitation rank as the top 4 SDGs among the 28,000 citizens polled globally, suggesting that the views of Canadians are closely aligned with those of the broader international community.
The Canadian priority ranking based on all 16 goals is as follows:
|
Canadian Priority Rank |
U.N. Sustainable Development Goal |
Goal Number and Description |
|
1 |
Zero hunger |
2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture |
|
2 (tie) |
No poverty |
1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere |
|
2 (tie) |
Good health and well-being |
3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages |
|
4 |
Clean water and sanitation |
6 -Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all |
|
5 (tie) |
Climate action |
13 -Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy |
|
5 (tie) |
Life on land |
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 |
|
7 |
Life below water |
14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development |
|
8 |
Quality education |
4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all |
|
9 |
Decent work and economic growth |
8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all |
|
10 (tie) |
Sustainable cities and communities |
11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable |
|
10 (tie) |
Gender equality |
5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls |
|
12 (tie) |
Affordable and clean energy |
7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all |
|
12 (tie) |
Peace, justice and strong institutions |
16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels |
|
14 |
Reduced inequality |
10 - Reduce income inequality within and among countries |
|
15 |
Responsible consumption and production |
12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns |
|
16 |
Industry, innovation and infrastructure |
9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation |
Half of Canadians feel that neither the government, business, nor “most people” are doing enough to work towards the SDGs. Just over half (55% respectively) agree that the Canadian government and Canadian businesses are taking less than their share of responsibility in achieving the SDGs. Half (52%) also agree that “most people” are taking less than their share of responsibility in achieving the goals overall.
While globally, governments see the greatest criticism (on average 53% agree that governments are shirking their responsibility), Canadians appear to be more critical of their businesses and of their own population than other countries.
- On average globally, 42% say businesses are taking less than their share of responsibility in achieiving the SDGs, compared to 55% in Canada
- On average globally, 40% say most people are doing less than their share to achieve the SDGs, compared to 52% in Canada
In fact, Canadians are some of the most self critical, registering some of the highest scores that most people are taking less than their share of responsibility.
- The 52% of Canadians who feel most people are shirking their responsibilities is second only to the 60% of Turkish respondents, 56% of Hungarian respondents, and 53% of Italians who share this same sentiment about their respective countrymen
Read the World Economic Forum article.
About the Study
These are the results of a 28-market survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform. Ipsos interviewed a total of 19,585 adults aged 18-74 in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, and Turkey, and people 16-74 in 24 other markets between April 23 and May 7, 2021.
The sample consists of approximately 1,000 individuals in each of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland), France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals in each of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and Turkey.
The samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S. can be taken as representative of these countries’ general adult population under the age of 75.
The samples in Brazil, Chile, China (mainland), Colombia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these countries should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of their population.
The data is weighted so that each market’s sample composition best reflects the demographic profile of the adult population according to the most recent census data.
Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don't knows or not stated responses.
The precision of Ipsos online polls are calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 4.8 percentage points. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.
The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Jennifer McLeod Macey
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]
Haley Jones
Account Manager, Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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