When good intentions stall: five blockages to progress on the UN’s sustainable development goals

Social innovators have embraced the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as they provide a framework for their work and spark creativity in addressing global issues. However, progress towards the SDGs has been slow. While various entities are engaged in efforts to achieve the goals, in this article we suggest that there are five blockages that are hindering progress. These five blockages are: (1) financial resources, (2) greenwashing and bluewashing by private firms, (3) the marginalisation of the state, (4) pressure for the social sector to scale, and (5) top-down interventions. We posit these blockages are underpinned by a market-based approach with the responsibility falling disproportionally on the third sector to address the most deep-rooted social problems through forms of “enterprise”. We argue the assumptions underpinning this market-based approach to social change needs to be reconsidered in order to make significant strides towards meeting the SDG targets.