What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

Weve been talking a lot about the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) or the global goals, in
2015, and weve taken information from sources like
the United Nations and The Guardian to help you
summarize the SDGs briefly.
The sustainable development goals (SDGs)
are a new, universal set of goals, targets
and indicators that UN member states will
be expected to use to frame their agendas
and political policies over the next 15
years. The
SDGs
follow,
and
expand
on,
the millennium development goals (MDGs), which
were agreed by governments in 2000, and are due to
expire at the end of this year.
What are the proposed 17 goals?
1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture
3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at
all ages
4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and
girls
6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all

7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and

modern energy for all
8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive employment, and
decent work for all
9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and
sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation
10) Reduce inequality within and among countries
11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable
12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production
patterns
13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts
14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources for sustainable development
15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification and halt and reverse land
degradation, and halt biodiversity loss
16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for
sustainable development, provide access to justice for
all and build effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels
17) Strengthen the means of implementation and
revitalise the global partnership for sustainable
development

Within the goals are a proposed 169 targets, to put a bit

of meat on the bones. Proposed targets under goal one,
for example, include reducing by at least half the
number of people living in poverty by 2030, and
eradicating extreme poverty (people living on less than
$1.25 a day). Under goal five, theres a proposed target
on eliminating violence against women. Under goal 16
sits a target to promote the rule of law and equal access
to justice.
How
were
the
goals
chosen?
Unlike the MDGs, which were drawn up by a group of
men in the basement of UN headquarters (or so the
legend goes), the UN has conducted the largest
consultation programme in its history to gauge opinion
on what the SDGs should include.
Establishing post-2015 goals was an outcome of the
Rio+20 summit in 2012, which mandated the creation of
an open working group to come up with a draft set.
The open working group, with representatives from 70
countries, had its first meeting in March 2013 and
published its final draft, with its 17 suggestions, in July
2014. The draft was presented to the UN general
assembly in September.
Alongside the open working group, the UN conducted a
series of global conversations, which included 11
thematic and 83 national consultations, and door-to-door
surveys. It also launched an online My World survey
asking people to prioritise the areas theyd like to see
addressed in the goals. The results of the consultations
should have fed into the the working groups
discussions.

Is the number of goals expected to change?

Those who have been involved in the process say no,
although they do expect fewer targets. Many of the
proposed targets are more political statement than
measurable achievement at the moment.
In his synthesis report on the SDGs in December, UN
secretary general Ban Ki-moon gave no hint that he
would like to see the number of goals reduced. In a bid
to help governments to frame the goals, Ban clustered
them into six essential elements: dignity, prosperity,
justice, partnership, planet, people.
Amina Mohammed, the UN secretary generals special
adviser on post-2015 development planning, said it had
been a hard fight to get the number of goals down to 17,
so there would be strong resistance to reduce them
further.
Member states will begin formal discussions on the
content of the SDGs on 19 January, and are expected to
meet each month until September. Any serious faultlines
should be evident over the next three to four months.
How
will
the
goals
be
funded?
Thats the trillion-dollar question. Rough calculations
from the intergovernmental committee of experts on
sustainable development financing have put the cost of
providing a social safety net to eradicate extreme
poverty at about $66bn a year, while annual investments
in improving infrastructure (water, agriculture, transport,
power) could be up to a total of $7t trillion globally.
In its report last year, the committee said public finance
and aid would be central to support the implementation
of the SDGs. But it insisted that money generated from

the private sector, through tax reforms, and through a

crackdown on illicit financial flows and corruption was
also vital.
When will the new goals come into force?
If member states agree the draft set of 17 SDGs at a UN
summit in New York in September, they will become
applicable from January 2016. The expected deadline
for the SDGS is 2030.
What is AIESEC doing about this?
Young people will be the people who implement and
carry these goals over the next 15 years, and this is why
we need to engage them on these issues today. At the
same time, we need to help decision makers understand
what the global youth opinion is, and how we can work
together to address these issues. Young people must
understand the depth of these goals and how they will
impact our lives and our common future.
In response of this youth focus around the post-2015
process, we recognised that more useful youth data was
missing
to
help
decision
makers.
So
we
launched YouthSpeak, a global youth movement and
insight survey to help address some of the biggest
challenges our generation is facing today. Global youth
employment and education is a major topic, it is also two
of the top three issues in the United Nations MyWorld
survey answered by over 7 million youth. We are trying
to answer how we can improve and address the
education to employment journey and will include topics
such as the future of education, transforming the
workplace, entrepreneurship, and generation Y & Z.
These insights will be collected from over 50,000

respondents across 100 countries and territories to help

shape the youth opinions of youth around the age of 1825 on their hopes and challenges in reaching their
potential.
Through 2015, we will be attending high-level United
Nations events, representing young people to employers
and leaders, and inspiring millions of young people on
pressing global issues and giving them a global platform
to tackle them through our programmes like Global
Citizen and Global Talent. We will take all the 50,000
opinions and consolidate it into a global youth opinion
report in July and utilize it to inform decision makers,
leaders and young people on where we are today and
where we need to go. The General Assembly in
September isnt too far, and this is why we you to take
action now, we cannot wait for another generation to
create this change.

What are the sustainable development goals?

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a new, universal set of goals,
targets and indicators that UN member states will be expected to use to
frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years.

The SDGs follow and expand on the millennium development

goals (MDGs), which were agreed by governments in 2001 and are due to
expire at the end of this year.
Why do we need another set of goals?
There is broad agreement that, while the MDGs provided a focal point for
governments a framework around which they could develop policies and
overseas aid programmes designed to end poverty and improve the lives of
poor people as well as a rallying point for NGOs to hold them to account,
they were too narrow.

The eight MDGs reduce poverty and hunger; achieve universal education;
promote gender equality; reduce child and maternal deaths; combat HIV,
malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; develop
global partnerships failed to consider the root causes of poverty and
overlooked gender inequality as well as the holistic nature of development.
The goals made no mention of human rights and did not specifically
address economic development. While the MDGs, in theory, applied to all
countries, in reality they were considered targets for poor countries to
achieve, with finance from wealthy states. Conversely, every country will be
expected to work towards achieving the SDGs.
As the MDG deadline approaches, about 1 billion people still live on less
than $1.25 a day the World Bank measure on poverty and more than
800 million people do not have enough food to eat. Women are still fighting
hard for their rights, and millions of women still die in childbirth.
What are the proposed 17 goals?
1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote
sustainable agriculture
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3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all
5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation
for all
7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for
all
8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and
productive employment, and decent work for all
9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable
industrialisation, and foster innovation
10) Reduce inequality within and among countries
11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable
12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (taking
note of agreements made by the UNFCCC forum)
14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for
sustainable development
15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse
land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss
16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development,
provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and
inclusive institutions at all levels
17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global
partnership for sustainable development

Within the goals are 169 targets, to put a bit of meat on the bones. Targets
under goal one, for example, include reducing by at least half the number of
people living in poverty by 2030, and eradicating extreme poverty (people
living on less than $1.25 a day). Under goal five, theres a target on
eliminating violence against women, while goal 16 has a target to promote
the rule of law and equal access to justice.
How were the goals chosen?

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Unlike the MDGs, which were drawn up by a group of men in the basement
of UN headquarters (or so the legend goes), the UN has conducted the
largest consultation programme in its history to gauge opinion on what the
SDGs should include.
Establishing post-2015 goals was an outcome of the Rio+20 summit in
2012, which mandated the creation of an open working group to come up
with a draft agenda.
The open working group, with representatives from 70 countries, had its
first meeting in March 2013 and published its final draft, with its 17
suggestions, in July 2014. The draft was presented to the UN general
assembly in September last year. Member state negotiations followed, and
the final wording of the goals and targets, and the preamble and declaration
that comes with them, were agreed in August 2015.
Alongside the open working group discussions, the UN conducted a series
of global conversations. These included 11 thematic and 83 national
consultations, and door-to-door surveys. The UN also launched an
online My World survey asking people to prioritise the areas theyd like to
see addressed in the goals. The results of the consultations were fed into the
the working groups discussions.
Are governments happy about the proposed 17 goals?
The majority seem to be, but a handful of member states, including the UK
and Japan, arent so keen. Some countries feel that an agenda consisting of
17 goals is too unwieldy to implement or sell to the public, and would prefer
a narrower brief. Or so they say. Some believe the underlying reason is to
get rid of some of the more uncomfortable goals, such as those relating to
the environment. Britains prime minister, David Cameron, has publicly

said he wants 12 goals at the most, preferably 10. Its not clear, though,
which goals the UK government would like taken out if they had the choice.
Amina Mohammed, the UN secretary generals special adviser on post-2015
development planning, said it had been a hard fight to get the number of
goals down to 17, so there would be strong resistance to reducing them
further.
Some NGOs also believe there are too many goals, but there is a general
consensus that it is better to have 17 goals that include targets on womens
empowerment, good governance, and peace and security, for example, than
fewer goals that dont address these issues.
How will the goals be measured?
The indicators are still being thrashed out by an expert group. Each
indicator is being assessed for its feasibility, suitability and relevance, and
roughly two for each target are expected. The indicators are due to be
finalised in March 2016.
How will the goals be funded?

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Thats the trillion-dollar question. Rough calculations from
theintergovernmental committee of experts on sustainable development
financing have put the cost of providing a social safety net to eradicate
extreme poverty at about $66bn (43bn) a year, while annual investments
in improving infrastructure (water, agriculture, transport, power) could be
up to a total of $7tn globally.
In its report last year, the committee said public finance and aid would be
central to support the implementation of the SDGs. But it insisted that
money generated from the private sector, through tax reforms, and through
a crackdown on illicit financial flows and corruption, was also vital.
A major conference on financing for the SDGs, held in the Ethiopian capital
Addis Ababa in July, failed to ease concerns that there will not be enough
cash to meet the aspirational nature of the goals. The UN said the Addis
Ababa action agenda(AAAA for short) contained bold measures to
overhaul global finance practices and generate investment for tackling the
challenges of sustainable development. It included a recommitment to the
UN target on aid spending 0.7% of GNI set more than 40 years ago and

pledges to collect more taxes and fight tax evasion. But civil society groups
were less impressed, saying the summit had failed to produce new money to
fund the goals, or offer ways to transform the international finance system.
Calls for a new international tax body fell on deaf ears.
When will the new goals come into force?
The SDGs will be officially adopted at a UN summit in New York in
September, and will become applicable from January 2016. The deadline
for the SDGS is 2030.

This article was updated on 3 September 2015

Four challenges that

India faces in
achieving sustainable
development goals
It is upto central and state governments to ensure that 'S' in
SDGs also stands for 'successful'
Avani Kapur October 26, 2015 Last Updated at 12:30 IST

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Last month, 193 countries gathered together at the UN

Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to
adopt an ambitious new global development agenda. Along
with other world leaders, Prime Minister Modi
too expressed Indias commitment to work towards
achieving these goals by 2030. Comprising 17 goals and 169
targets the SDGs expand on the millennium development
goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000 which are due to expire this
year. But how different are the SDGs to the MDGs and what
will be the key challenges in achieving them? This blog looks
into some of them.
SDGS: An improvement over MDGs?

One of the most common critiques of the MDGs has been

their limited and vague scope and the fact that they set such
low bar targets leading to defining development down.
Lant Pritchett and Charles Kenny have argued that having
poverty targets set at just halving the proportion of people
with income less than $1.25 per day, or ensuring universal
enrolment etc. meant that even if targets were met, billions
could still be living on less than $2 a day, with only the most
basic literacy and numeracy, lacking access to basic medical
care, living in houses without indoor sanitation, working in

subsistence agriculture or hawking on the street to make

money. If MDGs were minimum standards, the SDGsintegrating environment, social and economic dimensions
are one the most comprehensive list of global goals the
world has ever committed to. While the number of
indicators will be finalized by March 2016, it is expected that
there will be 100s if not 1000s of indicators accompanying
the goals.

Another significant critique of the MDGs was the process of

developing them. As the story goes, MDGs were drawn up
by a group of men in the basement of the UN headquarters
so much so- that they almost forgot to include the 7th goal
on environment sustainability. The SDGs, on the other hand,
are the consequence of 3-year long consultation
programmes. From establishing an Open Working Group, to
consultative conversations across both themes and
countries, the UN even launched an online My World Survey
portal asking people to vote to ascertain issues/goals that
matter most. Further, while the MDGs were seen much
more as applying to the developing world and measured
progress via averages, the SDGs make the promise of
universality and leaving no one behind.

Looking at these comparisons, at least in both process and

target setting, the SDGs definitely appear to be a significant
step up from the MDGs.
But do global commitments such as SDGs even matter
to India?

The short answer is Yes. The sheer size and scale of the
country means that, the success of the global goals, to a
large extent, depends on progress made by India.

Further, the SDGs can play an important role in generating

greater public debate and forcing Ministries and
departments (at least in theory) to think about development
not just in silos but as a collective exercise. A recent study by
Brookings Institution evaluating media and journal
references to MDGs (seen in some ways as a proxy for
debate and conversation) found that Indian newspapers had
amongst the highest number of articles on average per year,
next only to Nigeria. Similarly between 2002-2014, journals
such as the Lancet had as many as 1223 articles on the
MDGs. This is relevant in so far as indicating instances of
public discourse.

But, global and national commitments aside, the big

question that remains is how the SDGs will be taken
forward. Given Indias mixed results with even the low bar
commitments of MDGs and often overestimated definitions
of progress, this is going to be the greatest challenge. See
image below:

Source: UNDP

Challenges for India in attaining SDGs

For me, there are broadly 4 main areas of concern.

Defining Indicators: Past record indicates that we have been

not very successful in setting relevant indicators to measure
outcomes. Quality education has not successfully been
defined. Indias myopic definition of safe drinking water
(with hand pumps and tube wells considered as safe as
piped water supply) means that official data suggests 86% of
Indians have access to safe drinking water and, as a result,
we are on track for the MDG goal on drinking water.
However, the number of waterborne diseases and deaths
due to diarrhoea clearly indicate, this is not the case.

Financing SDGs: A new study estimates that implementing

SDGs in India by 2030 will cost around US$14.4 billion. Given
the recent cut in social sector schemes by the Union
government, unless states devote a significant portion of
their resources on the social sector, there is likely to be a
significant funding gap. High growth and redistribution itself
are also not enough. According to the United
Nations MDG 2014 report, despite high economic growth, in
2010, one-third of the worlds 1.2 billion extreme poor lived
in India alone. Given these constraints, it is likely that
domestic revenues aside, private finance could be a crucial
source for financing the SDGs.

Monitoring and Ownership: Relatedly, a third significant

challenge is going to be with respect to
ownership. Reports suggest that NITI Aayog will play a
significant role in tracking progress. However, members at
the Aayog have expressed reservations on being able to
take on this mammoth task. Moreover, if states are
expected to play a pivotal role (giving the devolution post
14th Finance Commission), it will require ownership not just
nationally, but also at the state and local level.

Measuring Progress: Lastly but most importantly is the

question of measuring progress or achievement. By the
governments own admission, non-availability of data
(particularly in respect to sub-national levels), periodicity
issues and incomplete coverage of administrative data,
made accurate measuring progress of even MDGs virtually
impossible.

These 4 challenges aside, it is important to remember, that

while SDGs provide broad goals and targets, it will be up to
the national, and state governments to identify priorities,
decide appropriate locally relevant policies, harness
innovation and ensure that an implementation and
monitoring plan is in place. Only then we will have any

chance in ensuring that the S in SDGs, also stand for

successful.

Avani Kapur works as Senior Researcher: Lead Public

Finance, Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy
Research, New Delhi. Her work is focused on public finance
& accountability in the social sector.
She writes about developments in the social & educational
policy landscape on her blog,Social Specs, a part of Business
Standard's platform, Punditry.
Avani tweets as @avani_kapur

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve the 17
SDGs over the next 15 years.
With the start of the new year, the UN on Friday ushered in the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
that aim to end poverty, hunger and assure gender equally while building a life of dignity for all over the next 15
years.
The 15-year cycle of the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) came to an end with 2015 paving
the way for the SDGs, an even more ambitious set of goals to banish a host of social ills by 2030.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between
the worlds leaders and the people, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had said of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development adopted unanimously by 193 Heads of State and other top leaders at a summit here in
September.
They are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success, he had said of the 17 goals and 169
targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years.
Read the Agenda for 2030 SDGs
The official ushering in of the new 15-year cycle takes place over a 24-hour period, coming into effect in each
region of the planet at the stroke of midnight Thursday.
India is seen as critical for the success of the SDGs, given that improving the lives of 1.4 billion Indians would
make a major dent in the goal of improving the lives of all humanity. Even before the SDGs came into effect, India
told the UN that it is already implementing the new goals in the form of several initiatives launched by the Indian
government.
We believe that the SDGs are in themselves a strong endorsement of the developmental vision articulated by the
Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India had said on the adoption of
the outcome document of the Agenda 2030 at the final session of intergovernmental negotiations on the post2015 development agenda in August.
In fact, most if not all the initiatives launched by Prime Minister Modi can be related to one or more of the SDGs.
In this sense, the SDGs are already being implemented in India, it said.
Ambitious programmes launched by the Indian government like Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities and
the Skills India initiative aim at boosting economic development and manufacturing in the country and help lift
millions out of poverty.
The Paris Conference on climate change in December is seen by many as the first test of political will to
implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Paris Agreement is a triumph for people, the planet, and for multilateralism. For the first time, every
country in the world has pledged to curb their emissions, strengthen resilience and act internationally and
domestically to address climate change. By addressing climate change we are advancing the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, Mr. Ban had said.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve the 17 SDGs over the
next 15 years.
The goals address the needs of people in both developed and developing countries, emphasising that no one
should be left behind. Broad and ambitious in scope, the agenda addresses the three dimensions of sustainable
development social, economic and environmental, as well as important aspects related to peace, justice and
effective institutions.
The mobilisation of means of implementation, including financial resources, technology development and
transfer and capacity-building, as well as the role of partnerships, are also acknowledged as critical.
The 17 SDGs build on the eight MDGs, which specifically sought by 2015 to eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child
mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental
sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.
While the MDGs have accomplished a lot, progress has been uneven across regions and countries, leaving
millions of people behind, especially the poorest and those disadvantaged due to sex, age, disability, ethnicity or
geographic location.
The SDGs are expected to plug the holes left by the MDGs and accomplish more.
They stress everything from zero poverty, zero hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, clean
water and sanitation, and affordable clean energy, to decent work and economic growth, innovation, reducing
inequalities, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate action, unpolluted oceans and land and
partnerships to achieve the goals.

Aiming for goals

A distant debate on the global agenda for sustainable development may seem far removed from
the day-to-day realities of Pacific island countries, but it is an important discussion and one which
will shape the way the rest of the world engages with the Pacific over the next decade or so. It is
also an opportunity to get the rest of the World to pay attention to the issues that matter most to
Pacific Islanders.
In 2000, most of the worlds countries, including Pacific island nations, signed up to an ambitious
development agendathe Millennium Development Goals (or MDGs for short)which set poverty
reduction targets to be achieved by 2015. There were seven goals that corresponded to various
dimensions of economic and social development and an eighth goal that put in place a global
partnership to accelerate development efforts.
Fifteen years later much progress has been made: many of the goals have been met (if not at the
national level, then at a global level), many lessons have been learnt, but a lot more remains to be
done.
It is against this backdrop that experts have been meeting in New York and around the world to
discuss how the sustainable development agenda should be taken forward during the period 2016
to 2030. The plan is for United Nations General Assembly to formally adopt the Sustainable
Development Goals(SDGs) in New York later this year.
Unlike other global fora, such as the World Bank, IMF or G20, where the Pacific has little or no
voice, the United Nations General Assembly provides the equal voting rights for all countries, so
Vanuatu, for example, has the same number of votes as much bigger countries such as Australia,
the UK and the US.
This is important, because it means that small island states can potentially have a big say on
global issues, and that is what the Pacific Institute of Public Policy has been supporting over the last
year: bridging some of the distance between the Pacific and the debates in New York.
As Open Working Group has help the United Nations to put forward a proposal for 17 Sustainable
Development Goals, which are listed below:
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 healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning

opportunities for all

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and 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 inequality 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, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt
biodiversity loss
Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for
sustainable development
At first sight the proposed goals and targets are a bit cumbersome, but they are ambitious and
broad and build upon the MDGs.
Building on MDGs. Those familiar with the existing MDGs will notice straightway that many of the
goals build on MDG targets: for example halving income poverty has become ending poverty in all
forms, universal access to education has become quality education and lifelong learning for all etc.
(For those interested in seeking how the SDGs compare to the MDGs, the diagram below provides a
useful summary that you can explore further.)

Source: The Guardian

A broader development agenda. The proposed SDGs are much broader than the MDGs, including
more extensive goals and targets on climate change, environmental issues, including for managing
forests, oceans, and marine resources. It also fleshes out in more details what is required to
support economic growth, as a foundation for sustainable development.
Clearer intermediate steps. One of things that some commentators didnt like about the MDGs was
that they focused too much on development outcomes and not enough on the actions required to
achieve them. This is being addressed in proposed SDGs through explicit goals on the steps for

achieving development outcomes (e.g. improvements in governance and investment in

infrastructure, including energy) as well as intermediate outcomes (such as economic growth)
Whilst some might argue that this has made the SDGs more cumbersome, it also makes them more
relevant and practical.
Global partnership. A big step forward, from a developing country prospective is that there is much
more meat on the global partnership. In particular, it is good to see that the 0.7% of GNI target
has been included in the goals themselvesthough whether countries ultimately sign up to this or
deliver it remains to be seen. The UK has enshrined the 0.7% target in law, whilst Australia has
retreated the other way in the last year. From a developing countries perspective, and for NGOs, it
will be important to keep pressure on rich countries to (re)commit to the 0.7% targetas an easily
verifiable indicator of a global partnership. But more importantly will be the improvement to the
quality of aid, and ideally this would involve an overhaul of aid modalities and their archaic
architecturesomething that the IFIs, UN and donors themselves have long struggled to do.
Beyond aid, there is a lot more that can be done to improve the way that capital is allocated and
used globally: action on money laundering, tax evasion, transnational crime, regulation of banks,
as well as corruption in both developed and developing countries. These are not new items on the
global agenda, but ones that sovereign states and global agencies have been either unwilling or
unable to addresscollective action on the provision of such global public goods (and others such
as conflict prevention and climate change mitigation) are a core weakness of the UN/IFIs etc.
The proposed SDGs and the ideas on financing for development are a good starting point. They set
out a bold vision for sustainable development, and without doubt the world has the resources and
the know-how to make it a reality, but the question remains whether global institutions and
sovereign states can rise to the challengethe world will be a much better place if they can.