What are UN SDGs?
In 2015, the United Nations Member States unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a framework for achieving the vision of a just world where all people, and the planet we inhabit, are sufficiently provided for and protected (United Nations, n.d., 2015).
This vision is laid out in the form of 17 interrelated, inextricable goals—the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)—which call for urgent, universal, cooperative action on the key issues of today (United Nations, 2015)
The 17 SDGs are further broken down into 169 associated targets, which operationalize each goal (United Nations, n.d., 2015). The global indicator framework (https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/Global-Indicator-Framework-after-2024-refinement-English.pdf) lists all 169 targets and indicators associated with each.
UN Member States report their progress on the SDGs through Voluntary National Reviews, presented at the yearly UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d.). The UN produces an SDG Progress Report and Sustainable Development Report annually and a Global Sustainable Development Report every 4 years (Sustainable Development Report, n.d.; United Nations, n.d.).
Image from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals web site (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment).