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THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
W e have reached a defining moment in human history. The people of the world have asked us to shine a light on a future of promise and opportunity.
Member States have responded with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The new agenda is a promise by leaders to all people everywhere. It is a universal, integrated
and transformative vision for a better world. It is an agenda for people, to end poverty in all its forms. An agenda for the planet, our common home. An agenda for shared prosperity, peace and partnership. It conveys the urgency of climate action. It is rooted in gender equality and respect for the rights of all. Above all, it pledges to leave no one behind.”
—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda2
In 2015, member states from 193 of the United Nations unanimously adopted a new global framework to end poverty, protect our planet, and promote peaceful and inclusive societies by 2030.1 The agreement to develop the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core1 aims to create a sustainable and inclusive future for everyone and leave no one behind.
Soon after the adoption of the SDGs, the global community took yet another significant step toward creating a better future, when the Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015.3 The agreement represented a landmark for sustainable development efforts as the first legally binding multilateral agreement to take action toward curbing the climate crisis and significantly limiting the increase in global warming.4
A key element of the Paris Agreement requires each country (called parties) to “prepare, communicate, and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve.”5 NDCs outline a country’s plan to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement is a critical component of the 2030 Agenda, especially for achieving SDG number 13, which requires urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts and careful planning and monitoring from participating countries and strong multilateral cooperation.
Next, this chapter delves into several of the SDGs to show how international organizations are striving to end hunger and poverty, war and political strife, and and include all the peoples of the world in making the planet a sustainable place to live and thrive. This section offers snapshots of SDG 6, ensuring clean water and sanitation; SDG 15, protecting all terrestrial life; SDG 2, ending hunger; and SDG 16, promoting peace, justice, and inclusive societies.
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The table of UN SDGs is an interconnected matrix of ambitious goals designed to deliver a better world to the planet in 2030.
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