What is an SDG?
SDG stands for Sustainable Development Goals, the UN’s 17 global goals for sustainable development. The goals were adopted by the UN’s 193 member states in September 2015 and form a shared plan for addressing areas including climate, the environment, health, human rights, the economy and technological development in the lead-up to 2030.
A shared framework for sustainable development
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals set a global direction for how countries, businesses and organisations can work towards sustainable development. The aim is to achieve progress across social, economic and environmental areas.
The SDGs are therefore not just about climate. They also cover topics such as poverty, hunger, education, health, gender equality, clean water, responsible consumption, strong institutions and global partnerships. What the goals have in common is that they are intended to contribute to more sustainable development worldwide.
From 8 MDGs to 17 SDGs
The SDGs build on the UN’s earlier Millennium Development Goals, also known as the MDGs. The MDGs consisted of eight global goals that the UN’s member states worked towards from 2000 to 2015.
The eight goals focused on areas including reducing extreme poverty, ensuring basic education, improving women’s access to education, reducing child mortality, improving health, combating diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and strengthening global partnerships.
The evaluation of the MDGs found that they had been successful in large parts of the world, but the work also highlighted the need for a broader and more nuanced framework. The 17 SDGs were therefore adopted in 2015 to continue and expand on the previous efforts.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals in practice
The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals cover a wide range of global action areas. Businesses can use the goals as a framework for understanding where they can take a more responsible approach to operations, supply chains, products, documentation and development.
The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are:
- No poverty
- Zero hunger
- Good health and well-being
- Quality education
- Gender equality
- Clean water and sanitation
- Affordable and clean energy
- Decent work and economic growth
- Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Reduced inequalities
- Sustainable cities and communities
- Responsible consumption and production
- Climate action
- Life below water
- Life on land
- Peace, justice and strong institutions
- Partnerships for the goals
How businesses can use the SDGs
Businesses can work with the Sustainable Development Goals at several levels. Some initiatives are voluntary, while others are linked to legislation, documentation requirements or expectations from customers, business partners and society.
For industrial businesses, the SDGs can be relevant to areas such as the green transition, responsible resource use, occupational health and safety, documentation, energy efficiency and solutions that support more sustainable production. The goals can also serve as a common language when a business needs to explain how specific technical solutions contribute to broader sustainability goals.
The SDGs do not stand alone. They are often linked to other concepts and tools such as ESG, EPD and LCA, which businesses use to work more specifically with data, documentation and the assessment of climate and environmental impacts.
SDGs and environmental requirements
Want to get to grips with concepts such as SDG, ESG, EPD and LCA?
Hans Buch brings together knowledge about climate, the environment and documentation to make technical choices easier to understand in practice.