The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – while tackling

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and working to preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social and economic aspects of

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

Sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

is at the center of the SDGs, as the term ''

'' implies. These goals are ambitious, and the reports and outcomes to date indicate a challenging path. Most, if not all, of the goals are unlikely to be met by 2030. Rising inequalities, climate change, and

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss happens when plant or animal species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in Biodiversity, b ...

are topics of concerns threatening progress. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020 to 2023 made these challenges worse, and some regions, such as Asia, have experienced significant setbacks during that time. There are cross-cutting issues and synergies between the different goals; for example, for SDG 13 on climate action, the

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World M ...

sees robust synergies with SDGs 3 (health), 7 (clean energy), 11 (cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 14 (oceans).IPCC, 2018
Global Warming of 1.5°C.An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty
[Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press On the other hand, critics and observers have also identified

trade-off A trade-off (or tradeoff) is a situational decision that involves diminishing or losing on quality, quantity, or property of a set or design in return for gains in other aspects. In simple terms, a tradeoff is where one thing increases, and anoth ...

s between the goals, such as between ending hunger and promoting environmental sustainability. Furthermore, concerns have arisen over the high number of goals (compared to the eight

Millennium Development Goals In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...

), leading to compounded trade-offs, a weak emphasis on

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, and difficulties tracking qualitative indicators. The political impact of the SDGs has been rather limited, and the SDGs have struggled to achieve transformative changes in policy and institutional structures. Also, funding remains a critical issue for achieving the SDGs. Significant financial resources would be required worldwide. The role of private investment and a shift towards sustainable financing are also essential for realizing the SDGs. Examples of progress from some countries demonstrate that achieving sustainable development through concerted global action is possible. The global effort for the SDGs calls for prioritizing environmental sustainability, understanding the indivisible nature of the goals, and seeking synergies across sectors. The short titles of the 17 SDGs are: No poverty ( SDG 1), Zero hunger ( SDG 2), Good health and well-being ( SDG 3), Quality education ( SDG 4), Gender equality ( SDG 5), Clean water and sanitation ( SDG 6), Affordable and clean energy ( SDG 7), Decent work and economic growth ( SDG 8), Industry, innovation and infrastructure ( SDG 9), Reduced inequalities ( SDG 10), Sustainable cities and communities ( SDG 11), Responsible consumption and production ( SDG 12),

Climate action Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...

( SDG 13), Life below water ( SDG 14), Life on land ( SDG 15), Peace, justice, and strong institutions ( SDG 16), and Partnerships for the goals (

SDG 17 Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG 17 or Global Goal 17) is about "partnerships for the goals." One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Strengthen the means of implementa ...

Principles

The SDGs are universal, time-bound, and legally non-binding policy objectives agreed upon by governments. They come close to prescriptive

international norms A peremptory norm (also called ) is a fundamental principle of international law that is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is permitted. There is no universal agreement regarding precisely whic ...

but are generally more specific, and they can be highly ambitious. The overarching UN program "2030 Agenda" presented the SDGs in 2015 as a "supremely ambitious and transformative vision" that should be accompanied by "bold and transformative steps" with "scale and ambition". Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License The SDGs apply to all countries of the world, not just

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

like the

(MDGs) did (from the year 2000 to 2015). They target all three dimensions of

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and

, namely the environmental, economic and social dimension. Another aspect that makes the SDGs different to the MDGs is that the development and negotiations of the SDGs were not "top down" by civil servants but were relatively open and transparent, aiming to include "bottom up" participation. The SDGs are emphasizing ''inclusiveness'' in the national context and also in

global governance Global governance (or world governance) refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnationality, transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly ...

. For the national context this means a focus on marginalised groups that are affected by exclusion and inequalities. For the global context, ''inclusiveness'' means a special emphasis on the

least developed countries The least developed countries (LDCs) are developing countries listed by the United Nations that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. The concept of LDCs originated in the late 1960s and the first group of LDCs was listed b ...

. At the heart of the SDGs lies the pledge of the United Nations Member States to ''Leave No One Behind'' (abbreviated as LNOB). In other words: to reach the people and countries who are furthest behind first. The LNOB concept is a politically and technically challenging approach that is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
/ref> A study from 2024 investigated 77 voluntary national reviews and found that

people with disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

are most often identified as ''furthest behind'' (>70%), followed by women and girls (>60%), youth (ca. 50%), elderly (45%), children (>40%), and

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

and migrants (ca. 30%).

Structure

Goals and targets

The lists of targets and indicators for each of the 17 SDGs was published in a UN resolution in July 2017.United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
A/RES/71/313
) Each goal typically has eight to 12 targets, and each target has between one and four indicators used to measure progress toward reaching the targets, with the average of 1.5 indicators per target. The targets are either ''outcome targets'' (circumstances to be attained) or ''means of implementation'' targets. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License The latter targets were introduced late in the process of negotiating the SDGs to address the concern of some Member States about how the SDGs were to be achieved. Goal 17 is wholly about how the SDGs will be achieved. The numbering system of targets is as follows: Outcome targets use numbers, whereas means of implementation targets use lower case letters. For example, SDG 6 has a total of 8 targets. The first six are outcome targets and are labeled Targets 6.1 to 6.6. The final two targets are means of implementation targets and are labeled as Targets 6.a and 6.b. However, the connection between ''means of implementation'' with outcomes is not well proven. The ''means of implementation'' targets (those denoted with a letter, for example, ''Target 6.a'') are not well conceptualized and not formulated in a consistent manner. Also, measuring and tracking their indicators is difficult.

Indicators and data

Indicators serve as the key tools for decision-makers to track progress towards the SDG targets. Therefore, they have a decisive impact on SDG implementation, as well as the ultimate determination of whether the world is closer to realizing the SDGs by 2030. National and local governments use the indicators to measure own progress towards sustainable development, which they report in their voluntary national and local reviews. The indicators are now widely deployed at all levels of sustainability governance. As of 2025, there are 234 official indicators in use. Each target is typically measured with only 1.5 indicators, which monitor quantifiable changes in proportion, rate, amount, and the like. 62% of the targets are supported by sole indicators, effectively equating progress measured on the 105 indicators with progress on the 105 targets. The implementation of the SDGs is underpinned by statistical data that should be accurate, timely, and reliable. This data, in turn, must be broken down by, for example, income, gender, age, disability, and geographic location. For example, the earlier Millennium Development Goal Number 1 aimed to “halve the proportion of people” suffering from hunger or extreme poverty. In contrast, the SDG Number 1 aims to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License This is also called the central principle of ''leaving no one behind''. The

United Nations Statistics Division The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), formerly the United Nations Statistical Office, serves under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) as the central mechanism within the Secretariat of the United Nations ...

(UNSD) website provides a current official indicator list which includes all updates until the 51st session Statistical Commission in March 2020. The indicators for the targets have varying levels of methodological development and availability of data at the global level. Initially, some indicators (called Tier 3 indicators) had no internationally established methodology or standards. Later, the global indicator framework was adjusted so that Tier 3 indicators were either abandoned, replaced or refined. The indicators were developed and annually reviewed by the ''Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators'' (IAEG-SDGs). The choice of indicators was delegated to

statisticians A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may ...

who met behind closed doors after the goals and targets were established. However, scholars have pointed out that the selection of indicators was never free from politics. Statisticians received instructions from their governments, and the interests of powerful governments had a significant influence over the indicator selection process. The indicator framework was comprehensively reviewed at the 51st session of the

United Nations Statistical Commission The United Nations Statistical Commission (StatCom) is a Functional Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, established in 1946. The Statistical Commission oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). ...

in 2020. It will be reviewed again in 2025. At the 51st session of the Statistical Commission (held in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 3 to 6 March 2020) a total of 36 changes to the global indicator framework were proposed for the commission's consideration. Some indicators were replaced, revised or deleted. Between 15 October 2018 and 17 April 2020, other changes were made to the indicators. Yet their measurement continues to be fraught with difficulties.

Custodian agencies

For each indicator, the ''Inter-Agency and Expert Group'' tried to designate at least one ''custodian agency'' and ''focal point'' that would be responsible for developing the methodology, data collection, data aggregation, and later reporting. The division of indicators was primarily based on existing mandates and organizational capacity. For example, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

established itself as a data gatekeeper in this process through its broad mandate, staff, budget, and expertise in large-scale data collection. The bank became formally involved in about 20 percent of all 231 SDG indicators; it served as the custodian agency for 20 of them and was involved in the development and monitoring of another 22.

Details of 17 goals and targets

Goal 1: No Poverty

SDG 1 is to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere." Achieving SDG 1 would end

extreme poverty Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...

globally by 2030. One of its indicators is the proportion of population living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. The data gets analyzed by sex, age, employment status, and geographical location (urban/rural). One of the key indicators that measure poverty is the proportion of population living below the international and national poverty line. Measuring the proportion of the population covered by social protection systems and living in households with access to basic services is also an indication of the level of poverty.Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina (2018)
Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
" (SDG 1) ''SDG-Tracker.org, website'' Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Goal 2: Zero hunger

SDG 2 is to: "End hunger, achieve

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

and improved nutrition, and promote

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

." Indicators for this goal are for example the prevalence of diet, prevalence of severe food insecurity, and prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age.

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

SDG 3 is to: "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." Important indicators here are

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

as well as child and maternal mortality. Further indicators are for example deaths from road traffic injuries, prevalence of current tobacco use, and suicide mortality rate.

Goal 4: Quality education

SDG 4 is to: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all." The indicators for this goal are, for example, attendance rates at primary schools, completion rates of primary school education, participation in tertiary education, and so forth. In each case, parity indices are looked at to ensure that disadvantaged students do not miss out (data is collected on "female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples"). There is also an indicator around the facilities that the school buildings have (access to electricity, the internet, computers, drinking water, toilets etc.).

Goal 5: Gender equality

SDG 5 is to: "Achieve

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

and empower all women and girls." Indicators include, for example, having suitable legal frameworks and the representation by women in

national parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

or in local deliberative bodies.United Nations Economic and Social Council (2020
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Report of the Secretary-General
, High-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (E/2020/57), 28 April 2020 Numbers on

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) are also included in another indicator.

Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation

SDG 6 is to: "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all." The Joint Monitoring Programme ( JMP) of

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

is responsible for monitoring progress to achieve the first two targets of this goal. Important indicators for this goal are the percentages of the population that uses safely managed drinking water, and has access to safely managed sanitation. The JMP reported in 2017 that 4.5 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation.WHO and UNICEF (2017
Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines
. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 2017 Another indicator looks at the proportion of

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...

and

industrial wastewater Industrial wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment, the treated industrial wastewater (or effluent) may be reused or released to a s ...

that is safely treated.

Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy

SDG 7 is to "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all." One of the indicators for this goal is the percentage of population with access to electricity (progress in expanding access to electricity has been made in several countries, notably

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

IEA, IRENA, UNSD, WB, WHO (2019)
Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2019
, Washington DC (o
Tracking SDG 7 website
)). Other indicators look at the renewable energy share and energy efficiency.

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

SDG 8 is to: "Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all." Important indicators for this goal include economic growth in least developed countries and the rate of real

GDP per capita This is a list of countries by nominal GDP per capita. GDP per capita is the total value of a country's finished goods and services (gross domestic product) divided by its total population (per capita). Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is ...

. Further examples are rates of youth unemployment and occupational injuries or the number of women engaged in the labor force compared to men.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, Technology and Infrastructure

SDG 9 is to: "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation." Indicators in this goal include for example, the proportion of people who are employed in

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

activities, are living in areas covered by a

mobile network A cellular network or mobile network is a telecommunications network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless and the network is distributed over land areas called ''cells'', each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (suc ...

, or who have access to the internet. An indicator that is connected to climate change is "CO₂ emissions per unit of value added."

Goal 10: Reduced inequality

SDG 10 is to: "Reduce inequality within and among countries." Important indicators for this SDG are: income disparities, aspects of gender and disability, as well as policies for migration and mobility of people.United Nations (2020
Sustainable development goals report
, New York

Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities

SDG 11 is to: "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable." Important indicators for this goal are the number of people living in urban slums, the proportion of the urban population who has convenient access to public transport, and the extent of built-up area per person.

Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

SDG 12 is to: "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns." One of the indicators is the number of national policy instruments to promote

sustainable consumption Sustainable consumption (sometimes abbreviated to "SC") is the use of products and services in ways that minimizes human impact on the environment, impacts on the environment. Sustainable consumption can be undertaken in such a way that needs are ...

and production patterns. Another one is global fossil fuel subsidies. An increase in domestic recycling and a reduced reliance on the global plastic waste trade are other actions that might help meet the goal.

Goal 13: Climate action

SDG 13 is to: "Take urgent action to combat

and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy." In 2021 to early 2023, the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

(IPCC) published its Sixth Assessment Report which assesses scientific, technical, and socio-economic information concerning climate change.

Goal 14: Life below water

SDG 14 is to: "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development." The current efforts to protect oceans, marine environments and small-scale fishers are not meeting the need to protect the resources. Increased

ocean temperature The ocean temperature plays a crucial role in the global climate system, ocean currents and for marine habitats. It varies depending on depth, geographical location and season. Not only does the temperature differ in seawater, so does the salin ...

s and oxygen loss act concurrently with ocean acidification to constitute the ''deadly trio'' of climate change pressures on the marine environment. Nusa Lembongan Reef

Goal 15: Life on land

SDG 15 is to: "Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt

." The proportion of remaining forest area, desertification and species extinction risk are example indicators of this goal.

Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

SDG 16 is to: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels." Rates of birth registration and prevalence of bribery are two examples of indicators included in this goal. An ''inclusive society'' has "mechanisms to enable diversity and social justice, accommodate the special needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, and facilitate democratic participation".

Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals

SDG 17 is to: "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development." Increasing

international cooperation In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Multilateralism is based on the principles of inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, and aims to foster a more peaceful, prosperous, an ...

is seen as vital to achieving each of the 16 previous goals. Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships to facilitate knowledge exchange, expertise, technology, and financial resources is recognized as critical to overall success of the SDGs. The goal includes improving north–south and South–South cooperation. Public-private partnerships which involve civil societies are specifically mentioned.

Public relations

The 2030 Agenda did not create specific authority for communicating the SDGs; however, both international and local advocacy organizations have pursued significant non-state resources to communicate the SDGS. UN agencies which are part of the

United Nations Development Group The United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), previously the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), is a group of 37 United Nations funds, programmes, specialized agencies, departments and offices that play a role in development. I ...

decided to support an independent campaign to communicate the new SDGs to a wider audience. This campaign, Project Everyone, had the support of corporate institutions and other

international organization An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own le ...

s. Using the text drafted by diplomats at the UN level, a team of communication specialists developed icons for every goal. They also shortened the title ''The 17 Sustainable Development Goals'' to ''Global Goals'', then ran workshops and conferences to communicate the Global Goals to a global audience. The

Aarhus Convention The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, usually known as the Aarhus Convention, was signed on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus. It entered into ...

is a United Nations convention passed in 2001, explicitly to encourage and promote effective public engagement in environmental decision making. Information transparency related to social media and the engagement of youth are two issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals that the convention has addressed.

Advocates

In 2019 and then in 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed 17 ''SDG advocates''. The role of the public figures is to raise awareness, inspire greater ambition, and push for faster action on the SDGs. The co-chairs are:

Mia Mottley Mia "Ma" Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to h ...

, Prime Minister of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

, Prime Minister of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Global events

Global Goals Week Global Goals Week is a shared commitment between a coalition of over 160 partners across all industries, which mobilizes annually in September to bring together communities, demand urgency, and supercharge solutions for the Sustainable Developmen ...

is an annual week-long event in September for action, awareness, and accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a shared commitment for over 100 partners to ensure quick action on the SDGs by sharing ideas and transformative solutions to global problems. It first took place in 2016. It is often held concurrently with

Climate Week NYC Climate Week NYC is a charity event that takes place in New York City every year. Its purpose is to promote climate action by appealing to "business leaders, political change makers, local decision takers and civil society representatives". Clima ...

. The

Arctic Film Festival Arctic Film Festival is an annual film festival held in September in the Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard's town, Longyearbyen. The festival is organized by HF Productions, and is a United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs) initiative ...

is an annual film festival organized by

HF Productions HFP is a pioneer organization that runs Film Festivals and other events showcasing and championing ideas of diversity. Through global series of Film Festivals that spread over 13 countries, HFP opens the path to voices with a compelling story to ...

and supported by the SDGs' Partnership Platform. Held for the first time in 2019, the festival is expected to take place every year in September in

Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (, , "Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlements, northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000, and the capital and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ( ...

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

, Norway.

History

The Post-2015 Development Agenda was a process from 2012 to 2015 led by the United Nations to define the future global development framework that would succeed the

which ended in 2015. In 1983, the United Nations created the

World Commission on Environment and Development The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pér ...

(later known as the Brundtland Commission), which defined sustainable development as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." In 1992, the first

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 t ...

(UNCED) or Earth Summit was held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, where the first agenda for Environment and Development, also known as

Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action ag ...

, was developed and adopted. In 2012, the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20 (), or Earth Summit 2012 was the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals ...

(UNCSD), also known as Rio+20, was held as a 20-year follow up to UNCED.

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

proposed the idea of the SDGs at a preparation event for Rio+20 held in Indonesia in July 2011. In September 2011, this idea was picked up by the

United Nations Department of Public Information The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (prior to 1 January 2019, the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and ...

64th NGO Conference in Bonn, Germany. The outcome document proposed 17 sustainable development goals and associated targets. In the run-up to Rio+20 there was much discussion about the idea of the SDGs. At the Rio+20 Conference, a resolution known as "The Future We Want" was reached by member states. Among the key themes agreed on were poverty eradication, energy, water and sanitation, health, and human settlement. In January 2013, the 30-member UN General Assembly Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals was established to identify specific goals for the SDGs. The OWG submitted their proposal of 8 SDGs and 169 targets to the 68th session of the General Assembly in September 2014. On 5 December 2014, the UN General Assembly accepted the Secretary General's Synthesis Report, which stated that the agenda for the post-2015 SDG process would be based on the OWG proposals. In 2015, the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

(UNGA) created the SDGs as part of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. These goals were formally articulated and adopted in a UNGA resolution known as the ''2030 Agenda''. On 6 July 2017, the SDGs were made more actionable by a UNGA resolution that identifies specific targets for each goal and provides indicators to measure progress. Most targets are to be achieved by 2030, although some have no end date.

Adoption

On 25 September 2015, the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development Agenda titled "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." This agenda has 92 paragraphs. Paragraph 59 outlines the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the associated 169 targets and 232 indicators. The UN-led process involved its 193

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

and global

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. This was a non-binding document released as a result of Rio+20 Conference held in 2012.

Implementation

Implementation of the SDGs started worldwide in 2016. This process can also be called ''Localizing the SDGs''. In 2019

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

(secretary-general of the United Nations) issued a global call for a ''Decade of Action'' to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This decade will last from 2020 to 2030. The plan is that the secretary general of the UN will convene an annual platform for driving the Decade of Action. There are two main types of actors for implementation of the SDGs: state and non-state actors. The former include national governments and sub-national authorities, whereas the latter are corporations and civil society.

Cross-cutting issues

The widespread consensus is that progress on all of the SDGs will be stalled if women's empowerment and gender equality are not prioritized, and treated holistically. The SDGs look to policy makers as well as private sector executives and board members to work toward gender equality. Statements from diverse sources such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...

and the World Pensions Forum, have noted that investments in women and girls have positive impacts on economies. National and global development investments in women and girls often exceed their initial scope. Gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the SDG framework by ensuring that as much sex-disaggregated data as possible are collected.UNESCO (2019
Culture , 2030 Indicators
, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France, , CC-BY-ND 3.0 IGO

Education for sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General Assembly (1987)''Report of th ...

(ESD) is explicitly recognized in the SDGs as part of Target 4.7 of the SDG on education.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

promotes the

Global Citizenship Education Global citizenship education (GCED) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are ' glob ...

(GCED) as a complementary approach. Education for sustainable development is important for all the other 16 SDGs. Culture is explicitly referenced in SDG 11 Target 4 ("Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage"). However, culture is seen as a cross-cutting theme because it impacts several SDGs. For example, culture plays a role in SDG targets where they relate to environment and resilience (within SDGs 11, 12 and 16), prosperity and livelihoods (within SDG 8), inclusion and participation (within SDG 11 and 16). SDGs 1 to 6 directly address

health disparities Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequit ...

, primarily in developing countries. These six goals address key issues in global public health, poverty, hunger and food security, health, education, gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as water and sanitation. Public health officials can use these goals to set their own agenda and plan for smaller scale initiatives for their organizations. The links between the various sustainable development goals and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

are numerous and well established: * SDG 1: Living below the poverty line is attributed to poorer health outcomes and can be even worse for persons living in developing countries where extreme poverty is more common. A child born into poverty is twice as likely to die before the age of five compared to a child from a wealthier family. * SDG 2: The detrimental effects of hunger and malnutrition that can arise from systemic challenges with food security are enormous. The World Health Organization estimates that 12.9 percent of the population in developing countries is undernourished. * SDG 4 and 5: Educational equity has yet to be reached in the world. Public health efforts are impeded by this, as a lack of education can lead to poorer health outcomes. This is shown by children of mothers who have no education having a lower survival rate compared to children born to mothers with primary or greater levels of education.

Synergies

Synergies amongst the SDGs are "the good antagonists of trade-offs."With regards to SDG 13 on climate action, the IPCC sees robust synergies particularly for the SDGs 3 (health), 7 (clean energy), 11 (cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 14 (oceans). To meet SDG 13 and other SDGs, sustained long-term investment in green innovation is required to: decarbonize the physical capital stock – energy, industry, and transportation infrastructure – and ensure its resilience to a changing future climate; to preserve and enhance

natural capital Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...

– forests, oceans, and wetlands; and to train people to work in a climate-neutral economy.

International organizations

Many

s have committed to the SDGs since 2015. Examples for international organizations include:

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

UN Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

. However, some international organizations, such as the

, often have "cherry-picked" goals and engaged in selective mainstreaming. In general, the SDGs might be a low priority for international organizations that have many other assignments that are often more binding, have more urgent deliverables, and have more repercussions in case of inaction. The breadth of the SDGs, covering nearly all areas of

, is at odds with international organizations that over time have become highly functionally differentiated and that operate through intra-organizational compromises. Most international organizations primarily see the SDGs as separate goals rather than an integrated agenda, leading to the cherry-picking of those goals that best fit their agenda. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Funding

Cost estimates

The United Nations estimates that for Africa, considering the continent's population growth, yearly funding of $1.3 trillion would be needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also estimates that $50 billion may be needed only to cover the expenses of

climate adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger ...

. The IMF has also taken the initiative to achieve the SDGs by offering their support to developing countries. Estimates for providing clean water and sanitation for the whole population of all continents have been as high as US$200 billion. The

says that estimates need to be made country by country, and reevaluated frequently over time. In 2014,

UNCTAD UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembl ...

estimated the annual costs to achieving the UN Goals at US$2.5 trillion per year. Another estimate from 2018 (by the Basel Institute of Commons and Economics, that conducts the World Social Capital Monitor) found that to reach all of the SDGs this would require between US$2.5 and $5.0 trillion per year.Alexander Dill (2018
The SDGs are public goods – Costs, Sources and Measures of Financing for Development
– Policy paper to the UN Inter-Agency Taskforce on Financing for Development, Basel Institute of Commons and Economics A cost estimate from 2020 stated that: "In developing countries, the inancialgap is estimated to be US$ 2.5 trillion per year pre-COVID-19 pandemic, which was projected to have risen to US$ 4.2 trillion in 2020 alone." For example in Indonesia, the ''SDG financing gap'' (or costs to achieve the SDGs), was estimated in 2021 to be US$4.7 trillion. The same study explains that the SDGs are also an ''investable proposition''. This means that the SDGs are also a

business opportunity A business opportunity refers to the process of selling or leasing product, service, equipment, etc., to help buyers or renters start a new business. It usually includes support or guidance to help someone begin a business, such as choosing a loc ...

. The financial value of this opportunity amounts to "US$ 12 trillion per annum in four sectors alone – food, cities, energy and materials and health and well-being – with developing countries accounting for more than half the value of SDG business opportunities".

Sources of finance

There have been several processes and agendas at the United Nations level for financing the SDGs, for example the ''Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development'' in 2015 (the Addis Ababa Action Agenda was the outcome of the 2015 Third International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) and the ''

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda'' in 2018''.'' In 2017 the UN launched the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development (UN IATF on FfD) that invited a public dialogue. Also,

multilateral development banks An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, alt ...

initiated the agenda ''From Billions to Trillions: Transforming Development Finance'' in 2015''.'' The top-5 sources of financing for development were estimated in 2018 to be: Real new

sovereign debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occ ...

OECD countries, military expenditures, official increase sovereign debt OECD countries,

remittance A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes ...

s from expats to developing countries,

official development assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It is w ...

(ODA). Private finance or ''market-making processes'' are another option for development finance, for example

green bond A green bond is a fixed-income financial instrument ( bond) which is used to fund projects that have positive environmental benefits. When referring to climate change mitigation projects they are also known as ''climate bonds''. Green bonds follow ...

s and SDG bonds.'''' The

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

asserted in 2017 that "The key to financing and achieving the SDGs lies in mobilizing a greater share of the $200+ trillion in annual private capital investment flows toward development efforts, and philanthropy has a critical role to play in catalyzing this shift." Large-scale funders participating in a Rockefeller Foundation-hosted design thinking workshop concluded that "while there is a moral imperative to achieve the SDGs, failure is inevitable if there aren't drastic changes to how we go about financing large scale change." A meta-analysis published in 2022 found that there was scant evidence that governments have substantially reallocated funding to implement the SDGs, either for national implementation or for international cooperation. The SDGs do not seem to have changed public budgets and financial allocation mechanisms in any important way, except for some local governance contexts. National budgets cannot easily be reallocated.

SDG-driven investment

Capital stewardship is expected to play a crucial part in the progressive advancement of the SDG agenda to "shift the economic system towards sustainable investment by using the SDG framework across all

asset class In finance, an asset class is a group of marketable financial assets that have similar financial characteristics and behave similarly in the marketplace. These instruments can be distinguished as either having to do with real assets or having ...

es." The notion of ''SDG Driven Investment'' gained further ground amongst institutional investors in 2019. In 2017, 2018 and early 2019, the World Pensions Council (WPC) held a series of ESG-focused (Environmental, Social and Governance) discussions with pension board members (trustees) and senior investment executives from across G20 nations. Many pension investment executives and board members confirmed they were in the process of adopting or developing SDG-informed investment processes, with more ambitious investment governance requirements – notably when it comes to climate action, gender equality and social fairness. Some studies, however, warn of selective implementation of SDGs and political risks linked to private investments in the context of continued shortage of

public funding A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...

Results and outcomes

Most or all of the goals and targets are unlikely to be achieved by 2030. Countries are falling particularly short in efforts to reduce inequality ( SDG 10), with inequality actually widening according to many indicators (as of 2023). Of particular concern - which cut across many of the SDGs – are rising inequalities, ongoing climate change and increasing biodiversity loss. In addition, there is a

between the planetary boundaries of Earth and the aspirations for wealth and well-being. This has been described as follows: "the world's social and natural biophysical systems cannot support the aspirations for universal human well-being embedded in the SDGs." Due to various economic and social issues, many countries are seeing a major decline in the progress made. In Asia for example, data shows a loss of progress on goals 2, 8,10,11, and 15. Recommended approaches to still achieve the SDGs are: "Set priorities, focus on harnessing the environmental dimension of the SDGs, understand how the SDGs work as an indivisible system, and look for synergies."

Assessing the political impact of the SDGs

In 2022, a research project analyzed the political impacts of the SDGs as well as their "steering effects". The project was a "systematic meta-analysis of peer-reviewed academic literature". It reviewed over 3,000 scientific articles, mainly from the

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

s. These steering effects could be one of three types: discursive, normative or institutional effects. The presence of all three types of effects throughout a political system was defined as ''transformative impact'', which is the eventual goal of the 2030 Agenda. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ''Discursive effects'' relate to changes in global and national debates that make them more aligned with the SDGs. ''Normative effects'' would be adjustments in legislative and regulatory frameworks and policies in line with, and because of, the SDGs. ''Institutional effects'' would be the creation of new departments, committees, offices or programs linked to the achievement of the SDGs or the realignment of existing institutions. The review found that the SDGs have had only limited transformative political impact thus far. There have been some ''discursive'' impacts, like the broad uptake of the principle of ''leaving no one behind'' in pronouncements by policymakers and civil society activists. However, there is doubt that the SDGs can steer societies towards more ecological integrity at the planetary scale. This is because countries generally prioritize the socioeconomic SDGs (e.g. SDGs 8 to 12) over the environmentally oriented ones (e.g. SDGs 13 to 15), in alignment with their long-standing national development policies.

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic

The

slowed progress towards achieving the SDGs. It was "the worst human and economic crisis in a lifetime." The pandemic threatened progress made in particular for SDG 3 (health), SDG 4 (education), SDG 6 (water and sanitation for all), SDG 10 (reduce inequality) and SDG 17 (partnerships). At the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2023, speakers remarked that the pandemic, and multiple worldwide crises such as climate change, threatened decades of progress on the SDGs.

Uneven priorities of goals

There is a risk of countries favoring (or

cherry-picking Cherry picking, suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data th ...

) certain goals, thereby creating trade-offs and threatening policy coherence. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License As a result, some goals are "left behind" and hardly prioritized. For example, global and domestic inequality only barely made it into the final set of SDGs as SDG 10, and this goal is still poorly supported and often marginalized. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License In 2020, researchers conducted a content analysis of the voluntary national reviews of 19 countries of varying income levels to find out which SDGs receive more attention than the others in national policies. They found that SDGs 1 and 8 (on poverty eradication and economic growth) are by far most widely prioritized. Some commentators argue that insufficient capacity of many countries to fully implement all SDGs makes prioritization inevitable or even necessary. The practice of prioritizing certain SDGs by national governments is real and happening. Which SDGs are prioritized depends at least in part on the level of economic development of respective countries. The goals that are prioritized often correspond with what their existing priorities were before the SDGs came about. This implies the SDGs themselves do not directly steer national policies but rather the goals are used to legitimize existing priorities of national governments. In 2019 five progress reports on the 17 SDGs were published. Three came from the

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Econ ...

(UNDESA), one from the Bertelsmann Foundation and one from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. A review of the five reports analyzed which of the 17 Goals were addressed in priority and which ones were left behind. In explanation of the findings, the Basel Institute of Commons and Economics said

Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

, Peace and Social Inclusion were "left behind" by quoting the official SDGs motto "Leaving no one behind."

Monitoring progress

Voluntary national reviews

Countries can carry out voluntary national reviews (VNRs), thereby documenting their progress in achieving the SDGs and sharing their experiences with other interested parties. VNRs are loosely based on common guidelines that the UN published for VNRs which makes it relatively easy to compare them. For example, as part of these guidelines, countries are asked to include a separate chapter on ''Leave No One Behind'' in which they explain how the principle has been translated into concrete actions. Annual synthesis reports summarise the VNRs across a group of countries. For example, the ninth annual VNR Synthesis Report was published in 2024 and included notable experiences and trends from 36 countries.

Tools and websites

To facilitate monitoring of progress on SDG implementation, the online SDG Tracker was launched in June 2018 to present all available data across all indicators. It relies on the

Our World in Data Our World in Data (OWID) is a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, war, climate change, population growth, existential risks, and inequality. It is a project of the Global Cha ...

database and is also based at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

.Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina.
Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
. SDG-Tracker.org, 2018. . The publication has global coverage and tracks whether the world is making progress towards the SDGs. It aims to make the data on the 17 goals available and understandable to a wide audience. The SDG-Tracker highlights that the world is currently (early 2019) very far away from achieving the goals. The ''Global SDG Index and Dashboards Report'' is the first publication to track countries' performance on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The annual publication, co-produced by

Bertelsmann Stiftung The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent Foundation (nonprofit), foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. The foundati ...

and SDSN, includes a ranking and dashboards that show key challenges for each country in terms of implementing the SDGs. The publication also shows an analysis of government efforts to implement the SDGs.

UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)

The SDGs are monitored by the United Nations' High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), an annual forum held under the auspices of the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

. This subdivision should be a "regular meeting place for governments and non-state representatives to assess global progress towards sustainable development." High-level progress reports for all the SDGs are published in the form of reports by the

United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secr ...

. The HLPF has several problems due to a lack of political leadership and divergent

national interest The national interest is a sovereign state's goals and ambitions – be they economic, military, cultural, or otherwise – taken to be the aim of its government. Etymology The Italian phrase ''ragione degli stati'' was first used by Giovanni de ...

s. It has not been able to promote system-wide coherence. Therefore, this reporting system is mainly just a platform for voluntary reporting and

peer learning One of the most visible approaches to peer learning comes out of cognitive psychology, and is applied within a "mainstream" educational framework: "Peer learning is an educational practice in which students interact with other students to attain e ...

among governments.

Challenges

Too many goals and overall problems

Scholars have pointed out flaws in the design of the SDGs for the following aspects: "the number of goals, the structure of the goal framework (for example, the non-hierarchical structure), the coherence between the goals, the specificity or measurability of the targets, the language used in the text, and their reliance on

neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

economic development-oriented sustainable development as their core orientation." The SDGs may simply maintain the ''status quo'' and fall short of delivering an ambitious development agenda. The current status quo has been described as "separating human wellbeing and

, failing to change governance and to pay attention to trade-offs, root causes of poverty and environmental degradation, and social justice issues." A commentary in ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' in 2015 argued that 169 targets for the SDGs is too many, describing them as sprawling, misconceived and a mess compared to the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Problems with indicators

A concern has been raised over the large number of indicators and the associated cost of SDG monitoring, which is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Investments in building statistical capacity in developing countries through training, resources, and support is needed. This burden, coupled with the fact that many indicators have been found to be inadequate measures of progress, has sparked debate among scholars. Some have called for reducing the number of indicators whereas others say more, and more diverse, indicators are needed. Some indicators are controversial such as those based on

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP). For example, GDP forms the basis of 17 indicators used to measure progress towards 9 goals and 15 targets, when most of these goals and targets do not include GDP in their wording. Scholars have suggested developing alternative indicators by creating of a new measure that could complement and eventually replace GDP. The SDG framework, specifically Target 17.19 of

, already provides a basis for organizing such an effort. This target highlights the need to move beyond indicators such as GDP and to embrace ''well-being'', ''happiness'', or ''life satisfaction'' as key measures.

Weak on environmental sustainability

Scholars have criticized that the SDGs "fail to recognize that planetary, people and prosperity concerns are all part of one earth system, and that the protection of planetary integrity should not be a means to an end, but an end in itself." The SDGs "remain fixated on the idea that economic growth is foundational to achieve all pillars of sustainable development." They do not prioritize

environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

. In regions still dependent on fossil fuels, the rapid growth and profitability of AI infrastructure is creating economic incentives to invest in clean energy. However, AI-driven expansion has also led to higher emissions, revealing a tension between economic growth and sustainable goals. The SDGs include three environment-focused SDGs, which are Goal 13, 14 and 15 (climate, land and oceans), but there is no overarching environmental or planetary goal. The SDGs do not pursue planetary integrity as such. Environmental constraints and

planetary boundaries Planetary boundaries are a framework to describe limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system. Beyond these limits, the environment may not be able to continue to self-regulate. This would mean the Earth system would leave th ...

are underrepresented within the SDGs. For instance, the way the current SDGs are structured leads to a negative correlation between environmental sustainability and SDGs, with most indicators within even the sustainability-focused goals focusing on social or economic outcomes. They could unintentionally promote

environmental destruction Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

in the name of sustainable development. Certain studies also argue that the focus of the SDGs on

sustainable development is detrimental to planetary integrity and justice. Both of these ambitions (planetary integrity and justice) would require limits to economic growth. Scientists have proposed several ways to address the weaknesses regarding environmental sustainability in the SDGs: * The monitoring of essential variables to better capture the essence of coupled environmental and social systems that underpin sustainable development, helping to guide coordination and systems transformation. * More attention to the context of the biophysical systems in different places (e.g., coastal

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

s, mountain areas) * Better understanding of feedbacks across scales in space (e.g., through

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

) and time (e.g., affecting future generations) that could ultimately determine the success or failure of the SDGs.

Ethical aspects

There are concerns about the ethical orientation of the SDGs: they remain "underpinned by strong (Western) modernist notions of development: sovereignty of humans over their environment (anthropocentricism),

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

, competition, freedom (rights rather than duties), self-interest, belief in the market leading to collective welfare,

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Capacity (law), legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which is owned by a state entity, and from Collective ownership ...

(protected by legal systems), rewards based on merit,

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

, quantification of value, and instrumentalization of labor.": 453 A meta-analysis review study in 2022 found that: "There is even emerging evidence that the SDGs might have even adverse effects, by providing a "smokescreen of hectic political activity" that blurs a reality of stagnation, dead ends and business-as-usual."

Trade-offs and priorities

The trade-offs among the 17 SDGs might prevent their realization. For example, these are three difficult trade-offs to consider: "How can ending hunger be reconciled with environmental sustainability? (SDG targets 2.3 and 15.2) How can economic growth be reconciled with environmental sustainability? (SDG targets 9.2 and 9.4) How can income inequality be reconciled with economic growth? (SDG targets 10.1 and 8.1)." The SDGs do not specifically address the tensions between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Instead, they emphasize "longstanding but dubious claims about decoupling and resource efficiency as technological solutions to the environmental crisis." For example, continued global economic growth of 3 percent (SDG 8) may not be reconcilable with ecological sustainability goals, because the required rate of absolute global

eco-economic decoupling In economic and environmental fields, decoupling refers to an economy that would be able to grow without corresponding increases in environmental pressure. In many economies, increasing production ( GDP) raises pressure on the environment. An ...

is far higher than any country has achieved in the past. The SDGs are also said to be internally incoherent, with some inherently conflictive targets.

Examples of progress

A study in 2024 predicted SDG scores of regions until 2030 using

machine learning model Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

s. The forecast results for 2030 show that "OECD countries" (80) (with a 2.8% change) and "Eastern Europe and Central Asia" (74) (with a 2.37% change) are expected to achieve the highest SDG scores. "Latin America and the Caribbean" (73) (with a 4.17% change), "East and South Asia" (69) (with a 2.64% change), "Middle East and North Africa" (68) (with a 2.32% change), and "Sub-Saharan Africa" (56) (with a 7.2% change) will display lower levels of SDG achievement, respectively.

Asia and Pacific

Australia

China

UN Secretary General Guterres has praised China's

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

for its capacity to advance the sustainable development goals. Institutional connections between the BRI and multiple UN bodies have also been established.

Africa

The

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP) has collected information to show how awareness about the SDGs among government officers, civil society and others has been created in many African countries.

Nigeria

Europe and the Middle East

Baltic nations, via the Council of the Baltic Sea States, have created the Baltic 2030 Action Plan.

Lebanon

Syria

Higher education in Syria began with sustainable development steps through Damascus University.

United Kingdom

The UK's approach to delivering the Global SDGs is outlined in Agenda 2030: Delivering the Global Goals, developed by the

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

. In 2019, the Bond network analyzed the UK's global progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Bond report highlights crucial gaps where attention and investment are most needed. The report was compiled by 49 organizations and 14 networks and working groups.

References

External links

UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform – The SDGs

"Global Goals" Campaign
Campaign on the SDGs published by Project Everyone
Global SDG Indicators Database of the United Nations

SDG-Tracker.org
– Visualized tracking of progress towards the SDGs
SDG Pathfinder
– Explore content on SDGs from six international organizations (powered by the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

) {{Authority control Global policy organizations International sustainable development Sustainability Sustainable development United Nations Common Agenda United Nations documents