Sustainable Development Goal 8 is the most criticized and most controversially debated SDG. It clearly highlights the ambivalence and contradictions within the individual goals of the 2030 Agenda. Before examining this in more detail, it is first necessary to take a look at the core ideas of sustainable development and economic activity:

Economic activity is purposeful action aimed at meeting basic human needs—a planned approach that seeks to reduce scarcity and achieve its goals through rational decision-making. It follows the economic principle of achieving the greatest possible outcome with the least possible effort.

Sustainable development means meeting the needs of people living today in a way that does not limit the opportunities of future generations to live a good life. Global economic progress and prosperity can therefore only be achieved in harmony with social justice and within the ecological limits of the Earth.

Sustainable economic activity seeks to align economic action with ecological compatibility and social justice. It is not oriented toward short-term profit and increasing production, but instead aims to conserve the Earth’s resources in the long term and to improve quality of life and equal opportunities for all people. Sustainable economic growth can therefore only take place within the ecological carrying capacity of our planet; human needs and their provision can only be considered and guaranteed within planetary boundaries.

Decent work is enshrined as a human right in the United Nations’ human rights charter. Work is defined as conscious, purposeful action by each individual to secure their existence and meet their needs. Decent work is productive and provides fair incomes. It offers safe working conditions, social protection, equality, personal development, and social integration. It includes the freedom to organize, protects against discrimination, reduces poverty, and ensures dignity, security, and justice.

These ideas and development concepts lie at the heart of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. However, the current global economic and labor situation is still far removed from these ideals:

Worldwide, millions of people live in (sometimes extreme) poverty despite being employed (the so-called working poor). In 2022, 28 million people worldwide were subjected to forced labor, including in agriculture, the textile industry, and raw material extraction. Around 160 million children worldwide are affected by child labor. Fifty-eight percent of the employed population—around 2 billion people—work in informal employment. Most of them have no social protection at all. The share of these precarious jobs has increased further since the COVID-19 crisis. Unemployment among young people and women has remained consistently high. Workers’ rights have also seen significant setbacks in recent years: many states have restricted, for example, the formation of trade unions and the right to collective bargaining.

Economic Growth and GDP

In industrialized societies, the traditional understanding of the economy is based on the principle of growth—that is, the continuous increase in the production and consumption of goods and services. Economic growth is equated with securing and increasing prosperity and is measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If GDP grows, prosperity grows—this mantra is repeated almost incessantly in politics, society, and the economy, not only in Germany but in most countries around the world. Whether an economy is growing or stagnating has a significant impact on the political mood in a country.

GDP includes everything that is produced and sold as goods in a country each year, as well as the services that are offered and used. If people in a country earn and spend a lot, GDP rises and the economy grows. However, GDP can also grow during times of war, pandemics, or other crises, for example when the arms or pharmaceutical industries make high profits. GDP therefore does not necessarily say anything about the population’s quality of life.

For example, it makes no statements about social factors such as unequal income distribution or the extent of informal and unpaid care work; about youth unemployment and homelessness; about environmental damage, the climate crisis, and excessive resource consumption; or about (missing) prosperity factors such as healthcare, high-quality education, respect for human rights, affordable housing, life expectancy, an intact environment, or decent and living-wage employment.

Countries such as Luxembourg or Switzerland—leaders in terms of the highest per capita incomes—are also among the countries with the most unequal wealth distribution. In Ireland, which ranks second among the highest-income countries measured by GDP per capita, nearly 20% of the population lives in poverty, with the trend rising. In the United States, which still ranks seventh in terms of highest per capita income, the poverty rate is around 11.5%. And even in a wealthy country like Germany, millions of people cannot make a living from their work: around 7% of all employed people were below the poverty line in 2022.

By contrast, the happiest people are not necessarily found only in the richest countries. After Finland in first place, people in Costa Rica, Israel, and Mexico are also among the happiest (World Happiness Report, 2022).

“Gross Domestic Product measures everything – except that which makes life worthwhile,” is a quote attributed to U.S. President Robert F. Kennedy. In short, GDP as an indicator for measuring prosperity has long been controversial, especially in qualitative terms.

Can there be social justice, decent work, and ecological sustainability at all in a system based on profit maximization and continuous economic growth? The creators of the mural motif for SDG 8 give a clear answer:

“Decent work and (sustainable) economic growth are incompatible.”

You can hear more about this in the podcast with the artist LAPIZ.