What does 'Leave No One Behind' (LNOB) mean?
[before]
PreviousSIGN-POSTED GUIDANCE FOR TOOLS & METHODSNextHow can we engage with the concepts of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)?
Last updated
[before]
Last updated
In today's world, air pollution has emerged as a significant global challenge due to expanding urbanisation, intensive agriculture, and increasing industrialisation. The adverse effects of poor air quality on human health[1] and the environment demand urgent action and collective efforts. In this context, the United Nations' concept of 'leaving no one behind' becomes crucial when inviting community participation in air quality monitoring. This principle, promoted under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasizes inclusivity, equity, and equal access to participation and benefits, ensuring that the most vulnerable and marginalised populations are not overlooked when engaging people and communities in COs and therefore that their needs are considered for policy and decision making.
Equity in Exposure and Vulnerability
Air pollution affects people from all walks of life, but its impacts are disproportionately borne by marginalised communities. The exposure to air pollution is closely linked to poor housing conditions, closeness to polluting industries, and road infrastructure, thus also linked to socio-economic inequalities and discrimination (Buzzelli et al., 2003; Corburn et al., 2006; Mullen et al., 2022, Turbridy et al., 2022). Vulnerable groups, including residents in low-income neighbourhoods or informal settlements, those with lower levels of education, ethnic minorities, dis/abled people, religious minorities, and gender nonconforming individuals, tend to face higher exposure to pollutants due to discriminating housing policies which result in greater exposure to pollution sources and limited access to green spaces (Kaÿmierczak, 2018, 6).
Not only are these communities more exposed to air pollution, a study by Mullen et al. (2022) revealed that the number of PurpleAir air-quality sensors (a community system of PM (10, 2.5, 1.0) low-cost sensors measuring particulate matter) per capita were significantly reduced in areas with higher percentages of Hispanic, Black, and lower income residents in Los Angeles County, making a double burden for these marginalised communities. By incorporating the principle of 'leaving no one behind,' community participation in air quality monitoring can ensure that these groups are not overlooked, and their concerns and experiences are adequately addressed.
Empowering Local Communities
Engaging communities in air quality monitoring processes and resulting actions can foster a sense of ownership and empowerment. Bottom-up approaches, starting at individual- and community- level, are as important as seeking policy-based approaches to reduce emissions and environmental injustice (Rickenbacker et al., 2019). However, Mullen et al (2022, p.9) argued that “the self-organizing nature of a non-governmental air quality monitoring network such as PurpleAir can be exclusionary and may reproduce patterns of environmental injustice.” Without the principle of inclusivity, certain voices may be marginalised or excluded, perpetuating existing power imbalances. Residents of low-income and racialised neighbourhoods also seem to have reduced access to information about local air pollution (Mullen et al., 2022). ‘Leaving no one behind' ensures that all community members, regardless of their socioeconomic status or background, have equal opportunities to engage in decision-making processes, shaping policies that directly impact their lives. (For guidance on the participation dynamics aspects of these latter activities, see the CitiObs D1.6 ‘Participation Dynamics Toolkit’).
Enhancing Data Quality and Representativeness
Accurate and representative air quality data is crucial for informed decision-making and effective policy interventions. However, although appropriate to meet legal provisions, the concepts and indicators used by governments rarely resonate with the lived experience and local experiential knowledge of people living in polluted areas (da Schio, 2022; Gabrys, 2017; Ottinger, 2013; Turbridy et al., 2022). Without diverse participants, monitoring initiatives may fail to capture the full range of local conditions and experiences. Neglecting certain communities undermines the quality and representativeness of the data, potentially leading to skewed analyses and inadequate policies. By embracing the principle of 'leaving no one behind,' community-based monitoring initiatives can collect more comprehensive and representative data, providing a more accurate understanding of air pollution patterns and impacts.
Co-Designing Solutions
Community engagement is not limited to data collection; it should also extend to the co-designing of solutions. Embracing the concept of 'leaving no one behind' ensures that decision-making processes consider the unique needs, priorities, and knowledge of all community members. Studies have shown that local communities engaging with researchers in a practice of perceiving and documenting air pollution are “responding to environmental problems and creating political capacities” (Pritchard & Gabrys, 2016, p. 368) and marginalised communities have been seen to create new knowledge about local effects of air pollution emissions (Ottinger, 2017, Mullen et al., 2022). By actively involving marginalised groups, air quality interventions can be tailored to address specific challenges faced by these communities, fostering more effective and sustainable solutions for everybody.
Start by familiarising yourself with the LNOB concept, and the factors that can lead to people being left behind.
The UNDP document ‘ provides a framework to enable and accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It describes five factors that are key to understanding who is being left behind and why, namely: discrimination; place of residence; socio-economic status; governance; and vulnerability to shocks. The factors can be used as guiding notions to examine the disadvantages people face; empower those who are being left behind [or who are at risk of being left behind]; and to enact inclusive, far-sighted and progressive actions.
Take the time to consider which groups of people in your local context might be left behind and in what ways, and who among them is likely the most affected (UNSDG, 2022).
✓ Seek locally available data and statistics that might reveal these gaps. Your municipality can advise on where to find this data.
✓ Include data and information from a range of sources, including from national statistical offices, national human rights institutions, international human rights mechanisms, labour organisations, and civil society organisations (particularly organisations of marginalised communities such as women’s or migrants), as well as community-level data, and citizen science initiatives. You can also approach your local higher education institution and enquire whether similar projects are being carried out by them or if they can share literature from scientific journals.
✓ Seek feedback and input from diverse stakeholders, including vulnerable groups, throughout the process, from initial gathering of data to review and analysis.
(Not yet identified.)
FRAMEWORK/PAPER: UNDP's What does it mean to leave no one behind? This paper proposes a framework that governments and stakeholders can use to take action to leave no one behind in a way that enables, reinforces and accelerates progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
FRAMEWORK/PAPER: The Brookings Institute book 'Leave No One Behind', looks into the LNOB pledge and aims to translate that global commitment into an action-oriented mindset, focused on supporting specific people in specific places who are facing specific problems. While the whole book is interesting, the most relevant chapters to become familiarised with the concept and some specific cases are:
Chapter 1, Getting Specific to Leave No One Behind on Sustainable Development, introduces the LNOB concept, how it is used in some official documents, and describes indicators that are used to measure who is being left behind.
Chapter 2, Women on the Move. Can We Achieve Gender Equality by 2030?, focuses on the challenges to achieve gender equality.
Chapter 3, Breaking Out of the Poverty Trap, describes the microeconomic and psychological reality of what it means to be ultra-poor. While most of the chapter focuses on policies that can tackle this issue, the first part is relevant to advance an understanding of the complex set of interrelated causes of poverty.
Chapter 4, No Refugees and Migrants Left Behind, looks into the vulnerabilities that refugees and migrants face, and argues that including them in activities and policies can help achieve lasting sustainable and development goals.
Chapter 13, Left Behind or Pushed Behind? Redistributing Power Over the Sustainable Development Goals, discusses various notions of power and proposes to use the approach of redistributable power.
FRAMEWORK: The UN's SDG 5-Factors Framework in What does it mean to leave no one behind? is a framework that stakeholders can use to gather and analyse information within and across the five factors. The text suggests key foci of existing data and information to consider. Information across the five factors can show who is left behind, how, and to what degree. .
TOOLKIT: The Leave No One Behind Partnership's toolkit aims to equip civil society and other stakeholder organisations, groups, and individuals with relevant information and tools to enable them to understand and carry out campaigning and advocacy activities on the ‘Leave No One Behind’ commitment. Most relevant sections for understanding LNOB are Part 1 (Understanding the SDGs) and Part 2 (Examine: understand ‘Leave no One Behind’).
Kharas, H., McArthur, J. W., & Ohno, I. (2019). Leave No One Behind. Time for Specifics on the Sustainable Development Goals. Brookings Institution Press.
The Global Goals for Sustainable Development. (n.d.) Leave No One Behind Toolkit.
United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). What does it mean to leave no one behind? A framework for implementation.
United Nations Development Programme. (2018). What does it mean to leave no one behind? A UNDP discussion paper and framework for implementation.