1 The Sustainable Development Goals – a concerted global effort to eradicate poverty
The international community has agreed on a new global agenda for development. The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have set the stage for a concerted global effort to eradicate poverty, in which no one is to be left behind.
Meeting the SDGs will require a coherent approach to global, regional and national development.
Shifts in the global balance of power and in the relative economic weight of countries and regions are affecting the 2030 Agenda. Dividing the world into developing and developed countries has become less meaningful. Several of the countries previously defined as low-income countries are now middle-income countries and have become significant international actors, investors and donors in poorer countries.
The SDGs are universal and all UN member states are committed to implementing them by 2030. The new agenda represents a final break with the view of development as a process that is primarily dependent on aid.
Textbox 1.1 – The Sustainable Development Goals
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
The SDGs reflect the fact that we are all interdependent, even though we have differing starting points for achieving the goals. Global challenges and the need to safeguard global public goods call for common solutions.