UN Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals to guide global action to 2030
September 25, 2015
A Blueprint for a Better World
On September 25, 2015, world leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York and unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. The goals set out an ambitious agenda to transform the world by 2030, covering challenges from poverty and hunger to climate change, gender equality, clean water, and quality education. Unlike their predecessors — the Millennium Development Goals — the SDGs applied to all countries, not just developing ones. Every nation, rich or poor, was asked to work toward the same shared targets. The goals were the result of years of global consultation and represented the most comprehensive development framework the world had ever agreed on.
What the 17 Goals Cover
The 17 SDGs are broad and interconnected. They include ending extreme poverty, achieving zero hunger, ensuring good health and well-being, providing quality education, achieving gender equality, providing clean water and sanitation, ensuring affordable clean energy, promoting decent work and economic growth, building sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate action, protecting life below water and on land, promoting peace and strong institutions, and strengthening global partnerships. Each goal has specific, measurable targets — 169 in total — that countries are expected to work toward and report on. The breadth of the agenda reflects the understanding that these challenges are deeply linked and cannot be solved in isolation.
Progress and Setbacks
Progress toward the SDGs has been uneven. Significant advances were made in reducing extreme poverty and improving access to education and healthcare during the late 2010s. But the COVID-19 pandemic reversed many of those gains, pushing hundreds of millions of people back into poverty and disrupting education systems worldwide. Climate change continued to accelerate, threatening food security, water supplies, and coastal communities. As 2030 approaches, many goals look likely to be missed. Yet the SDGs remain a vital framework — a shared language for measuring progress and holding governments and institutions accountable. The year progress tracker is one small way to stay mindful of time passing while bigger goals are being worked toward.