Sustainable development goals: all you need to know

What are the sustainable development goals?

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a set of targets and indicators that UN member states agreed to use to frame their political agenda over the 15 years from 2015 to 2030. They were the “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” and . They address the global challenges of poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.
The SDGs expand on the eight expired millennium development goals of the previous 15 years.

The MDGs – reduce poverty and hunger; achieve universal education; promote gender equality; reduce child and maternal deaths; combat diseases including HIV and malaria; ensure environmental sustainability; develop global partnerships – were seen as too narrow and aimed at poor countries, leaving richer countries off the hook, and failing to see some root causes of inequality. The SDGs are an expanded list.

The 17 goals are:

1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages

4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation

10) Reduce inequality within and among countries

11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

Within the goals are 169 targets for example under goal one, the targets include reducing by at least half the number of people living in poverty by 2030.

How were the goals chosen?

The UN held the largest consultation programme in its history to garner views which were fed into an open working group. The group, with representatives from 70 countries, met for the first time in March 2013 and published a final draft, with the 17 suggested goals, in July 2014. It was presented to the UN general assembly in September 2014 and final wording was agreed in August 2015.

Some UN member states, including the UK and Japan, and NGOs weren’t keen, feeling 17 goals was too many to implement or to sell to the public. The then UK prime minister, David Cameron, said he wanted only 12 goals, but insiders claimed getting the number down to 17 had been a struggle in itself.
The SDGs were officially adopted at a UN summit in New York in September 2015 with a deadline of 2030.