Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs) were adopted in 2015 by all United Nations (UN) members for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The aim of the 17 global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet", tackling climate change, and working to preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs also include 169 measurable targets.
The SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability (meeting the needs to the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs) is at the center of the SDGs, as the term sustainable implies, but achieving the goals has been challenging.
In 2024, the United Nations released a report stating that only 17% of the SDG targets were on track. In the United Nations' 2025 Sustainability Development Goals Report it was stated that only 35% of the SDG targets "were on track or making moderate progress", with nearly half moving "too slowly" and 18% of the targets were actually "in reverse", warning that the current pace of change is insufficient to fully achieve all of the Goals by the 2030 deadline. The Secretary-General of the United Nations urged international cooperation and stated "we need to shift into overdrive" to keep the goals within reach. Rising inequalities, climate change, and biodiversity loss are topics of concern threatening progress. The COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2023 made the challenges worse, and some regions, such as Asia, have experienced significant setbacks during that time.
There are cross-cutting issues and synergies between the different goals; for example, for SDG 13 (climate action), the IPCC sees robust synergies with SDGs 3 (health), 7 (clean energy), 11 (cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 14 (oceans).IPCC, 2018: Global Warming of 1.5°C.An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press On the other hand, critics and observers have also identified trade-offs between the goals,such as between ending hunger and promoting environmental sustainability. Furthermore, concerns have arisen over the high number of goals (compared to the eight Millennium Development Goals), leading to compounded trade-offs, a weak emphasis on environmental sustainability, and difficulties tracking qualitative indicators.
The political impact of the SDGs has been rather limited, and the SDGs have struggled to achieve transformative changes in policy and institutional structures. Also, funding remains a critical issue for achieving the SDGs. Significant financial resources would be required worldwide. The role of private investment and a shift towards sustainable financing are also essential for realizing the SDGs. Examples of progress from some countries demonstrate that achieving sustainable development through concerted global action is possible. The global effort for the SDGs calls for prioritizing environmental sustainability, understanding the indivisible nature of the goals, and seeking synergies across sectors.
The short titles of the 17 SDGs are: No poverty Zero hunger Good health and well-being Quality education Gender equality Clean water and sanitation Affordable and clean energy Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure Reduced inequalities Sustainable cities and communities Responsible consumption and production Climate action Life below water Life on land Peace, justice, and strong institutions Partnerships for the goals
Principles The SDGs are universal, time-bound, and legally non-binding policy objectives agreed upon by governments. They come close to prescriptive international norms but are generally more specific, and they can be highly ambitious. The overarching UN program "2030 Agenda" presented the SDGs in 2015 as a "supremely ambitious and transformative vision" that should be accompanied by "bold and transformative steps" with "scale and ambition". Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
The SDGs apply to all countries of the world, not just developing countries like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did (from the year 2000 to 2015). They target all three dimensions of sustainability and sustainable development, namely the environmental, economic and social dimension. Another aspect that makes the SDGs different to the MDGs is that the development and negotiations of the SDGs were not "top down" by civil servants but were relatively open and transparent, aiming to include "bottom up" participation.
The SDGs are emphasizing inclusiveness in the national context and also in global governance. For the national context this means a focus on marginalised groups that are affected by exclusion and inequalities. For the global context, inclusiveness means a special emphasis on the least developed countries.
At the heart of the SDGs lies the pledge of the United Nations Member States to Leave No One Behind (abbreviated as LNOB). In other words: to reach the people and countries who are furthest behind first. The LNOB concept is a politically and technically challenging approach that is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License A study from 2024 investigated 77 voluntary national reviews and found that people with disabilities are most often identified as furthest behind (>70%), followed by women and girls (>60%), youth (ca. 50%), elderly (45%), children (>40%), and refugees and migrants (ca. 30%).
Abbreviations A full list of UN abbreviations is available. A few of the most relevant to SDGs are: UN DESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs STI Science, Technology and Innovation HLPF High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development SIDS Small Island Developing States
Structure Goals and targets The lists of 169 targets and indicators for the 17 SDGs was published in a UN resolution in July 2017.United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/71/313 ) Each goal typically has eight to 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. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License 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.
However, the connection between means of implementation with outcomes is not well proven. The means of implementation targets (those denoted with a letter, for example, Target 6.a) are not well conceptualized and not formulated in a consistent manner. Also, measuring and tracking their indicators is difficult.
Indicators and data
Indicators serve as the key tools for decision-makers to track progress towards the SDG targets. Therefore, they have a decisive impact on SDG implementation, as well as the ultimate determination of whether the world is closer to realizing the SDGs by 2030. National and local governments use the indicators to measure own progress towards sustainable development, which they report in their voluntary national and local reviews. The indicators are now widely deployed at all levels of sustainability governance. As of 2025, there are 234 official indicators in use.
Each target is typically measured with only 1.5 indicators, which monitor quantifiable changes in proportion, rate, amount, and the like. 62% of the targets are supported by sole indicators, effectively equating progress measured on the 105 indicators with progress on the 105 targets.
The implementation of the SDGs is underpinned by statistical data that should be accurate, timely, and reliable. This data, in turn, must be broken down by, for example, income, gender, age, disability, and geographic location. For example, the earlier Millennium Development Goal Number 1 aimed to “halve the proportion of people” suffering from hunger or extreme poverty. In contrast, the SDG Number 1 aims to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License This is also called the central principle of leaving no one behind.
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.
The indicators were developed and annually reviewed by the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs). The choice of indicators was delegated to statisticians who met behind closed doors after the goals and targets were established. However, scholars have pointed out that the selection of indicators was never free from politics. Statisticians received instructions from their governments, and the interests of powerful governments had a significant influence over the indicator selection process.
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 to 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.
Custodian agencies For each indicator, the Inter-Agency and Expert Group tried to designate at least one custodian agency and focal point that would be responsible for developing the methodology, data collection, data aggregation, and later reporting. The division of indicators was primarily based on existing mandates and organizational capacity. For example, the World Bank established itself as a data gatekeeper in this process through its broad mandate, staff, budget, and expertise in large-scale data collection. The bank became formally involved in about 20 percent of all 231 SDG indicators; it served as the custodian agency for 20 of them and was involved in the development and monitoring of another 22.
Details of 17 goals and targets