Definition of Terms
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, all countries committed themselves to ending poverty and hunger, ensuring the long-term protection of the planet through the sustainable management of its natural resources, taking urgent action against climate change, and building peaceful, just, and inclusive societies.
At the heart of the 2030 Agenda are 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are specified through 169 associated targets. All 17 SDGs apply equally to industrialized, developing, and emerging countries. They provide a common reference framework for all nations—both in the Global North and South—and serve as guiding principles for action in Austria at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
The 2030 Agenda builds on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were in effect until the end of 2015, and on the political priorities of the final declaration of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in 2012.
As a global partnership for sustainable development, it expands the scope of the MDGs and their focus on developing countries into a universal set of goals applicable to all nations. The SDGs, for the first time, fully integrate social and economic development goals with environmental requirements to initiate a global transformation toward greater sustainability. The interlinkages between the goals and their mutual influence are critical to achieving them.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is therefore regarded as the new guiding framework for global development and environmental policy—one that will shape development efforts for the national and global common good of present and future generations for years to come.
Further information on the 2030 Agenda, its implementation in Austria, related reporting, and key milestones in the international sustainable development debate can be found at Implementation of the 2030 Agenda by the Federal Chancellery (in German only) and also at SDG Action Plan 2019+.
Related terms: