Sustainable Development Goals
The concept of sustainable development has been developing since the 1970s and gained wider attention by policymakers around the world by the mid-90s. Several international conferences and summits were held in the following period to address sustainable development and formulate an agenda.
In 2000, the world’s leaders at the United Nations adopted an overarching development framework for the period until 2015 in form of 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As the MDG period came to an end in 2015, the United Nations introduced a new, successive approach to continue with and enhance the internationally coordinated efforts for sustainable development. This resulted in the development of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the formulation of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
All 193 UN Member States adopted the SDGs in 2015 and thereby committed to reaching the 169 targets that are defined in this framework until 2030. All of the goals apply to all countries and call for action by governments, businesses, civic society, as well as every single individual.
The SDGs serve as guidelines with the aim of facilitating concrete action. They integrate the three sustainability dimensions and are formulated to ensure that our future is economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable in the long run.
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