The 2030 Agenda

The 2030 Agenda

Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Agenda, also known as 2030 Agenda, is a strategic document signed on 25 September 2015 by 193 United Nations member states. It expresses the signatories’ commitment to safeguarding People, Planet and Prosperity – building a better future for all.

It defines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) divided into 169 Targets to be achieved by 2030. They make up a compass for countries and all other stakeholders (companies, non-profits) pointing a path to environmental and social sustainability. The process of improving the existing development models is monitored through Goals, Targets and over 240 other indicators: with respect to these parameters, each country is periodically assessed by the UN and by national and international organizations, including NGOs and media. 

Signing the 2030 Agenda marks the clear paradigm shift in national and international policies, pointing out that the current model of economic growth is not sustainable – not only on an environmental level, but also on the economic and social ones. Thus, it affirmed a holistic vision of different dimensions of sustainability and development.

The 5Ps of the Sustainable Development Goals

  1.      People. End poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, and ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.
  2.      Prosperity. Ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.
  3.      Peace. Foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.
  4.      Partnership. Mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda through a revitalised Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.
  5.      Planet. Protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.

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