A Preliminary Study on Target 11.4 for UN Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have 17 Goals, 169 Targets and 232 Indicators. The fourth specific target of SDG11 (Target 11.4) is “Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”. Target 11.4 identifies the important role of conservation and preservation of natural and cultural heritage for sustainable development. World heritage exists in different countries and regions with different cultural backgrounds and development levels. Because of the complexity of the system, the evaluation method based on objective system becomes a difficult problem. The in-depth interpretation of the target system, reliable data and measurement are essential for transforming SDGs into practical tools for solving problems. Based on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), authenticity and integrity requirements of world heritage, this paper puts forward the scientific conception of SDG11.4 index decomposition and advocates the quantitative method of indicators. This paper suggests that the indicator given by Target 11.4 for the SDGs should be summarized as 11.4.1 “Increasing investment in protecting and defending the world’s cultural and natural heritage”. Two additional indicators are added, one is 11.4.2 “Increase investment in science and technology to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”, the other is 11.4.3 “Increase education and publicity to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”. This can fully reflect the role of education, science and culture in “further efforts to protect and safeguard world cultural and natural heritage”.