In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the principle of “leaving no one behind”, the new agenda emphasizes a holistic approach to achieving sustainable development for all.
These goals have become the roadmap for countries, cities and companies who aim to be truly sustainable by looking beyond financial factors and incorporating their social and environmental performance into their policies and business models.
Underlying the goals are the moral obligation to care for people and the planet. No entity can succeed if they are degrading the planet or disenfranchising people.
By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day and reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. End all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births and end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births. End the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. Ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education so that they are ready for primary education. Ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university and substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation. Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all and achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. Improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally. Substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services and increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology.
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries. Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors. Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.
By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average. Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard.
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums. Provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. Achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment. Substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries. Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution. By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans. Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels.
By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements. Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally. Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.
GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere. End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection. Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favorable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed. Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda.
We have listed just a few of the targets for each goal. For a comprehensive list please visit: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html
