Sustainable Development Goals

On September 25, 2015, 193 Heads of State at the United Nations General Assembly established 17 goals known as The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals.
The SDGs and their 169 targets are the core of Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations, called AGENDA 2030.
The goals are to be achieved by all member states by 2030.
They are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all.
The goals are broad, interdependent, and cover social, economic, and environmental issues, making their success a shared responsibility.

End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
Poverty is defined as income less than $1.25$ USD per day.
Targets:
- A world where the poor are not vulnerable to climate change.
- Equal rights to economic resources.
Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.
Aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
Many still suffer from hunger and malnutrition, especially women and children.
The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development and poverty eradication.
Targets:
- Ending malnutrition.
- Protecting small farmers.
- Protecting the genetic diversity of crops.
- Investing in research to make farming more productive.

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Essential to sustainable development.
Includes calls for:
- Universal health coverage.
- Increasing healthcare workforce.
- Reducing illness and death from pollution.
- Comprehensive agenda for tackling global health challenges such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Quality education is the foundation for improving people's lives and sustainable development.
Targets:
- Access to university-level education.
- Vocational training.
- Entrepreneurial skills.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Gender equality is a fundamental human right and a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.
Targets:
- Freedom from discrimination and violence.
- Ensuring equal share of leadership opportunities and responsibilities.
- Property ownership for women.
Several references are made to 'national appropriateness' in interpreting these targets.

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Clean, accessible water is essential.
Basic water scarcity affects $40\%$ of the world population.
Targets:
- Programs providing access to basic technologies like toilets or latrines.
- Protecting ecosystems that provide water.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity.
About 1.3 billion people globally have no access to electricity.
Targets:
- Conversion to renewable sources.
- Dramatic improvement in energy efficiency.

Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
Sustainable economic growth requires societies to create conditions that allow people to have quality jobs.
About 75 million people between ages 15 and 24 are estimated to be unemployed and out of school globally.
This goal targets closing that gap using innovation and separating growth from ecosystem degradation.

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
Investments in infrastructure are crucial to achieving sustainable development.
Targets:
- Fostering a more innovative and environmentally sound approach to industrial development.

Reduce inequality within and among countries.
The world is massively unequal.
Policies should be universal, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.
Targets:
- Financial market regulation to make the playing field more equal.
- Making migration more orderly, safe, regular, and responsible.

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Cities should provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, and transportation.
More than half the world's population lives in cities.
Targets:
- Addressing issues like transportation and disaster preparedness.
- Preservation of the world's cultural and natural heritage.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Targets:
- Reducing food wastage.
- Corporate sustainability practice.
- Educating people on the impact of their lifestyle choices.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.
References the "Paris Agreement" of December 2015, which guides nations to jointly commit to limiting global warming to not more than 2 degrees Celsius.

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
Careful management of this essential global resource is key.
The world's oceans are overfished, under-protected, and stressed from climate change and pollution.
Targets include research and learning to find out more about what lies beneath the oceans.

Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.
Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and remove land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
This goal targets halting the threat to living ecosystems and biodiversity on land.

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.
Access to justice for all and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.
Targets:
- Reduction of violence and an end to torture.
- Reduction of corruption.
- Creation of institutions and governments that work for everyone.

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnerships for sustainable development.
Every country and every sector has a role to play in achieving the SDGs.
This goal targets ensuring countries have the funds, capacities, and technologies needed to achieve the SDGs.
Emphasizes the need for partnership and collaboration.