Goal 9 – Industries, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Industries, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Industries, Innovation, and Infrastructure. Three sectors that seem so large individually, but are even more largely connected.

Increased infrastructure investments have a trend of increasing other positive aspects of life. The United Nations reports infrastructure as important to a rise in rates of health, education, income, and productivity.

Infrastructure allows transfer of people, goods, and ideas in a safe way. This gives more children access to schooling, and brings medical care closer to those who need it.

Infrastructure helps industries. Transportation for shipping is crucial to many businesses. Emergence of new roads and ways to ship also allow industries to thrive.

These industries then give people jobs and income.

Not only is shipping important to industries, but even in a digital world, industries need innovation to occur in person. This innovation is what allows industries to grow over time, and infrastructure provides an easier route to do that.

Industries such as manufacturing do this on a large scale. For every one job created in manufacturing, over 2 jobs are needed in other sectors.

These sectors are all entwined, and have the potential to improve the lives of many people in the world.

Yet 16% of the world doesn’t have access to a large range of infrastructure, and many countries are not developed in terms of industry capability. Leaving a large number of people not only without easy access to communities, healthcare, and education, but without access to steady forms of income.

How Trees Can Help

There are two primary issues that increasing infrastructure and industries face. Accessibility, and environmental effect.

Trees serve to diminish the negatives of both these issues.

Trees can generate an income.

They can be planted, harvested, and their fruit can be sold. They can also be used to create new items, such as furniture, or their debris sold, such as for biofuel. Planting trees in areas that need more income opportunities can provide just that.

The income opportunities are not only limited to rural areas, or areas in which the tree itself has to be harvested or worked. Urban forestry, tree nurseries, and forestation are all industries that are growing trees, and growing in size.

This opens up doors to employ people across many sectors, all while relying on trees.

Trees also work to counteract the negatives of industries. Often factories and transportation pollute the air. Trees are a natural solution to taking carbon dioxide out of the air and turning it to oxygen.

Not only can trees help increase accessibility and opportunities for people around the world in terms of jobs and income, but they can help clean the world as well.

Trees create opportunities. These opportunities are what can assist the positive effects of industries, innovation, and infrastructure.

See how trees support all sustainable development goals here.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay.