Sustainable Development Goals on pillars

Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals comprise a global agenda to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals—or SDGs or Global Goals as they are sometimes called—have 169 targets that countries are attempting to reach by 2030 at the latest. This is why the Goals are also referred to as the 2030 Agenda, which countries resolved to undertake with "bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind."

The goals and targets are universal, meaning they apply to all countries around the world, not just developing countries. Reaching the goals requires action on all fronts—governments, businesses, civil society, and people everywhere have a role to play.

To learn more about efforts to implement the SDGs around the world, visit IISD’s SDG Knowledge Hub.

2023: Five Areas to Target Through Resolve, Determination, and Hope

As the UN and other actors pursue global peace efforts and COVID-19 transitions from pandemic to endemic, environmental negotiations are moving on with renewed determination.

Accelerating the SDGs Through the 2024 Summit of the Future

UN Secretary-General António Guterres conceives of the Pact for the Future – the expected outcome of the Summit of the Future – as “a booster shot for the SDGs.”

Driving Sustainable and Inclusive Growth for Everyone

Rapid development in Asia and the Pacific has propelled the region to become a key engine of growth for the global economy, yet this prosperity has not reached everyone.

Governments and Experts Exchange Proposals for Improving HLPF

Experts are reviewing the format of the annual United Nations forum where countries report on their progress and challenges with the SDGs.

Experts

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Livia Bizikova

Lead II, Monitoring and Governance, Tracking Progress

Eleonora Bonaccorsi

Eleonora Bonaccorsi

Program Officer, Geneva 2030 Ecosystem

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Stefan Jungcurt

Lead II, SDG Indicators and Data, Tracking Progress

Elena Kosolapova

Elena Kosolapova

Senior Policy Advisor, Tracking Progress

Hillary Rosentreter

Hillary Rosentreter

Policy Advisor, Tracking Progress

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Lynn Wagner

Senior Director, Tracking Progress

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Latest

India's Potential in the Midstream of Battery Production

This report summarizes consultations with over 25 companies and actors to determine what factors are crucial in the considerations of companies on where to invest in and expand battery cell manufacturing.

Report

September 25, 2023

Lithium-Sourcing Roadmap for India

This report aims to provide a strategy to guide policy-makers in sourcing lithium responsibly to promote clean energy manufacturing in India, with the broader aim of supporting low-carbon economic growth, creating equitable jobs, and helping to mitigate climate change impacts.

Report

September 25, 2023

How the G20 Declaration Sets the Pace for Enhanced Climate Action at COP28 in December

The G20 summit in New Delhi has set the pace for enhanced climate action at COP28, as it refreshed its resolve to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius as per the Paris Agreement. The high-profile event ended with a soft commitment from the world's largest emitters to triple their renewable energy capacity by 2030.

IISD in the news

News18

September 13, 2023

New Report Finds Carbon Capture And Storage Far Too Expensive

A new report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development found carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to be very expensive in Canada. According to the report, which focuses on carbon capture in the context of Canada's oil and gas industry, the climate solution’s persistently high costs are rooted in the "high design complexity and the need for customization."

IISD in the news

Carbon Herald

September 11, 2023

G20 Summit Agreement Fails To Strengthen Coal Phase-Down Even As Data Show High Per Capita Coal Emissions

As world leaders gather in New Delhi for the Group of 20 (G20) Summit–with 19 member countries and the European Union–data show that a majority of the group still has very high per capita coal power emissions. At the summit, countries agreed to "pursue further efforts" to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius, agreeing to "encourage efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally" but the G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration included no new commitment on phasedown of coal power or on phasing down all fossil fuels.

IISD in the news

IndiaSpend

September 10, 2023

G20 aims to triple renewable energy capacity; no mention of fossil-fuel phase-out

G20 countries on Saturday said they will aim to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and expedite efforts to phase down coal power in line with national circumstances but did not commit to a phase-out of all polluting fossil fuels, including oil and gas.

IISD in the news

Deccan Herald

September 9, 2023

CCS Can't Compete with Renewables, Won't Deliver by 2030, Report Finds

Carbon capture and storage may have an important role to play in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like iron and steel, but won't pay off for oil and gas companies without continuing government subsidies, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) concludes in an analysis released this week.

IISD in the news

The Energy Mix

September 8, 2023

Report finds carbon capture's 'stubbornly high' prices are likely here to stay

Canada's oil and gas industry says costly technology it plans to use to reduce its climate footprint requires more investments from the federal government. If governments lend a hand now, the industry maintains the technology will become more affordable over time as more projects proceed, but a new analysis casts doubt on that claim. "Carbon capture and storage is expensive, and the costs are not likely to come down in the timeframe needed to meet our climate targets," said Laura Cameron, one of the report's three authors and a policy adviser for the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

IISD in the news

Canada's National Observer

September 7, 2023