sustainable development goals sustainable development goals the sustainable development goals (sdgs), also known as the global goals, are a set of seventeen interconnected objectives aimed at promoting sustainable development across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. they were formulated in 2015 by the united nations general assembly (unga) as part of the post-2015 development agenda, which sought to create a future global development framework to succeed the millennium development goals, a similar set of eight goals adopted in 2000 to address poverty, health, education, gender equality and other issues, which ended that year. the sustainable development goals are: ending poverty in all its forms everywhere ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation reducing inequality within and among countries making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combatting desertification, and halting and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development sustainable development goalsmission statement"a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future"type of projectnon-profitlocationglobalfounderunited nationsestablished2015websitesdgs.un.org they were formally articulated and adopted in a unga resolution called the 2030 agenda. in 2017, a unga resolution established specific targets for each sdg and provided indicators to measure progress towards achieving them. most targets are to be achieved by 2030, although some have no end date. the imf has also offered its support to developing countries in achieving the sdgs. there are cross-cutting issues and synergies between the different goals; for example, the ipcc has observed strong synergies between sdg 13 on climate action and sdgs 3 (health), 7 (clean energy), 11 (cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), and 14 (oceans).: 70 critics have also found trade-offs between the goals,: 67 such as between ending hunger and promoting environmental sustainability.: 26 other concerns include there being too many goals, a weak emphasis on environmental sustainability, and difficulties tracking qualitative indicators. the sdgs are monitored by the un high-level political forum on sustainable development (hlpf), an annual forum held under the auspices of the united nations economic and social council. some people have concerns about the hplf's effectiveness due to a lack of political leadership and divergent national interests.: 206 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. in 2020, the covid-19 pandemic had serious negative impacts on all 17 sdgs. a 2022 scientific assessment on the political impacts of the sdgs was made. it was concluded that the goals had only achieved "limited transformative political impact". adoption transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (un resolution a/res/70/1), containing the goals (october 2015) a diagram listing the 17 sustainable development goals 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 and global civil society. the resolution is a broad intergovernmental agreement that acts as the post-2015 development agenda. the sdgs build on the principles agreed upon in resolution a/res/66/288, entitled "the future we want". this was a non-binding document released as a result of rio+20 conference held in 2012. implementation cost comparison for un goalsimplementation of the sdgs started worldwide in 2016. this process can also be called localizing the sdgs. in 2019 antónio guterres (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. state actors include national governments and sub-national authorities, whereas non-state actors are corporations and civil society.: 80 civil society participation and empowerment is important but there are also diverse interests in this group.: 80 building new partnerships is useful. however, the sdgs are not legally binding and purposefully designed to provide much leeway for actors. therefore, they can interpret the goals differently and often according to their interests. in 2021 the united nations secretary general released a new roadmap for the implementation of the sdgs called the united nations common agenda (our common agenda). content of the 17 goals structure of goals, targets and indicators the lists of targets and indicators for each of the 17 sdgs was published in a un resolution in july 2017. each goal typically has 8–12 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. 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. the united nations statistics division (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. as of 17 july 2020, there were 231 unique indicators. data or information must address all vulnerable groups such as children, elderly folks, persons with disabilities, refugees, indigenous peoples, migrants, and internally-displaced persons. reviews of indicators the indicator framework was comprehensively reviewed at the 51st session of the united nations statistical commission in 2020. it will be reviewed again in 2025. at the 51st session of the statistical commission (held in new york city from 3–6 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. listing of 17 goals with their targets and indicators further information: list of sustainable development goal targets and indicators goal 1: no poverty sdg 1 is to: "end poverty in all its forms everywhere". achieving sdg 1 would end extreme poverty globally by 2030. one of its indicators is the proportion of population living below the poverty line. the data gets analyzed by sex, age, employment status, and geographical location (urban/rural). this section is an excerpt from sustainable development goal 1. the goal has seven targets and 13 indicators to measure progress. the five outcome targets are: eradication of extreme poverty; reduction of all poverty by half; implementation of social protection systems; ensuring equal rights to ownership, basic services, technology and economic resources; and the building of resilience to environmental, economic and social disasters. the two targets related to means of implementation sdg 1 are mobilization of resources to end poverty; and the establishment of poverty eradication policy frameworks at all levels. goal 2: zero hunger (no hunger) sufficient and healthy foods should be made available to everyone sdg 2 is to: "end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture". indicators for this goal are for example the prevalence of undernourishment, prevalence of severe food insecurity, and prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age. this section is an excerpt from sustainable development goal 2. sdg 2 has eight targets and 14 indicators to measure progress. the five outcome targets are: ending hunger and improving access to food; ending all forms of malnutrition; agricultural productivity; sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices; and genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals; investments, research and technology. the three means of implementation targets include: addressing trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets and food commodity markets and their derivatives. goal 3: good health and well-being mothers with healthy children in rural india sdg 3 is to: "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages". important indicators here are life expectancy as well as child and maternal mortality. further indicators are for example deaths from road traffic injuries, prevalence of current tobacco use, suicide mortality rate. this section is an excerpt from sustainable development goal 3. sdg 3 has 13 targets and 28 indicators to measure progress toward targets. the first nine targets are outcome targets. those are: reduction of maternal mortality; ending all preventable deaths under five years of age; fight communicable diseases; ensure reduction of mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health; prevent and treat substance abuse; reduce road injuries and deaths; grant universal access to sexual and reproductive care, family planning and education; achieve universal health coverage; and reduce illnesses and deaths from hazardous chemicals and pollution. the four means of implementation targets are: implement the who framework convention on tobacco control; support research, development and universal access to affordable vaccines and medicines; increase health financing and support health workforce in developing countries; and improve early warning systems for global health risks. goal 4: quality education school children in kakuma refugee camp, kenya 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.). this section is an excerpt from sustainable development goal 4. sdg 4 has ten targets which are measured by 11 indicators. the seven outcome targets are: free primary and secondary education; equal access to quality pre-primary education; affordable technical, vocational and higher education; increased number of people with relevant skills for financial success; elimination of all discrimination in education; universal literacy and numeracy; and education for sustainable development and global citizenship. the three means of implementation targets are: build and upgrade inclusive and safe schools; expand higher education scholarships for developing countries; and increase the supply of qualified teachers in developing countries. goal 5: gender equality sdg 5 is to: "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls". indicators include for example having suitable legal frameworks and the representation by women in national parliament or in local deliberative bodies. numbers on forced marriage and female genital