The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of post-2015 global development goals that were endorsed by 193 member states of the United Nations on September 25, 2015. They cover a timeframe of 15 years to be achieved and serve as a direction for development that all countries must work together on from 2016 to 2030. The document that all member states have signed as a commitment is called “ Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ” or “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. Therefore, on occasion, the SDGs may be referred to by other names, such as Agenda 2030 or the Global Goals.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have 17 goals. Each goal is broken down into 169 sub-goals and 232 indicators (244 in total but 12 are repeated) are developed toMonitor progress towards these sub-goals.
The 17 goals include:
- Goal 1 : End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
- Goal 2 : End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
- Goal 3 : Ensure good health and promote well-being for all at all ages.
- Goal 4 : Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning opportunities.
- Goal 5 : Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
- Goal 6 : Ensure availability and sustainable water and sanitation for all.
- Goal 7 : Ensure access to affordable, reliable and sustainable modern energy for all.
- Goal 8 : Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
- Goal 9 : Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
- Goal 10: Reduce inequalities within and among countries.
- Goal 11 : Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
- Goal 12 : Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
- Goal 13 : Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
- Goal 14 : Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
- Goal 15 : Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
- Goal 16 : Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, ensure access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
- Goal 17 : Strengthen the implementation mechanisms and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
6 important things to know
First – the 17 SDGs reflect the ‘Three Pillars of Sustainability’ : social, economic and environmental dimensions, plus two more dimensions: peace and institutions and partnership, which link all dimensions of sustainability together, totaling five dimensions. The United Nations divides the 17 goals into five groups (called the 5 Ps):
- People (Social Dimension): Covers Goals 1 to 5.
- Prosperity (Economic Dimension): Covers Goals 7 to 11.
- Planet (Environmental Dimension): Covers Goals 6, 12 and 15.
- Peace (Peace and Institutional Dimension): Covers Goal 16.
- Partnership (Development Partnership Dimension): Covers Goal 17.
Second – the content of the SDGs is not at the goals level but at the targets level. These goals describe the social, economic and environmental characteristics of the world in which the SDGs are achieved. They imply a dream scenario, a vision of development presented in the 2030 Agenda. Therefore, to know what the SDGs cover, we need to look at the goals level.
Thirdly , the 232 indicators are designed to track progress at the global level, which may not be applicable at the country level. The selection of each indicator reflects the essence of the goals, but may not cover all dimensions stated in the goals. Therefore, each country must come back to develop national and local indicators to make the SDGs truly applicable at the local level. Otherwise, Thailand may only achieve all indicators but not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, indicators are subject to change, while goals and targets are no longer revised at the global level.
Fourth – The SDGs are not binding contracts and sanctions, but are voluntary agreements of countries and reviewed annually through the presentation of a Voluntary National Review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) held annually in July at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, where all countries are optional to present a review.
Fifth – Understand the principles behind the SDGs to properly implement them. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are goals that emphasize inclusive, transformative, and integrated development that all countries have to implement, not just poor countries (Universal). At the same time, they emphasize implementation and problem-solving at the local level (Locally-focused). This means that even though all goals are divided into 17 goals, consideration and implementation must be integrated, see interlinkages (Interlinkage), focus on results (Outcome-based), and give importance to vulnerable people (Vulnerable people), the poor, and various groups that are often left behind. And although the SDGs are global goals, adapting the SDGs to suit the context of the area (Localization of the SDGs) is important. Therefore, local ownership and joint promotion are required. There must be a definition of the targets (Targets) and indicators (Indicators) that are appropriate for the local context. In principle, the implementation of SDGs should be a process that starts from the grassroots to the policy level (Bottom-Up), with local administrative organizations as the main players in implementing the SDGs.
Sixth – In practice, the SDGs serve other functions than being indicators of sustainability status, such as:
- SDGs as a shared development vocabulary: The SDGs have become a shared development vocabulary at all levels, from global to local, enabling all parts of the world to learn from each other. Communities in Thailand that are successful in certain development issues will not only be an example to communities in Thailand, but also to the world.
- SDGs as an Action Framework: The SDGs can be used as a conceptual framework to review local futures, current work, challenges, and to define integrated and sustainable local future directions.
- SDGs as a bargaining tool : Given that all governments are committed to the 2030 Agenda, the private sector, particularly large ones, is also subject to rules and indicators that include the SDGs as a key component. Civil society and other groups can use the SDGs as a bargaining tool to build development partnerships and/or raise concerns about deviating from the SDGs.
Learn more about the SDGs :
? Targets and indicators: https://www.sdgmove.com/sdg-101/
? SDG 101 Series – Easy-to-digest SDG knowledge and trivia: https://www.sdgmove.com/category/sdg-101/
? SDG Vocab Series – Common terms when discussing the SDGs: https://www.sdgmove.com/category/sdg-vocab/