What are the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals?

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17 Ways

6 min readJan 3, 2021

In 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , a multilateral agreement between all UN Member States that lays out a road map to a more sustainable future. At its heart is a series of goals — the 17 SDGs — ranging from eradicating poverty and hunger to protecting life in the oceans. Each of these goals has associated targets and indicators to help measure progress and ensure integrity.

This call-to-action is based on decades of policy and practice across the world and serves as the next step to global peace and prosperity. Though they are organized by number, there is no hierarchy to their importance. They are indivisible — the success of each of them is dependent upon the success of the others — and as such must be addressed simultaneously. While they are much more in-depth than has been detailed here, the following list should give a basic understanding of each.

Goal #1 — No Poverty

Eradicating poverty in all its forms is the first step toward achieving an equal and just future for all. Since 1990 global poverty has declined each year to as low at 9.7% in 2017. But, due to the global pandemic and myriad other factors, 2020 could be the first year that global poverty again rises. Combating poverty includes increasing access to basic services while at the same time helping poor and vulnerable communities build ownership and financial literacy.

Goal #2 — Zero Hunger

Currently, 690 million people worldwide are hungry. 135 million of these people are suffering from acute hunger. Ensuring the proper access to safe and nutritious food is fundamental to any well-functioning society. To ensure no one goes hungry, a revitalized and regenerative agricultural system is required, based on higher efficiencies, sustainable production practices, and ethical trade policies.

Goal #3 — Good Health and Well-being

The health and well-being of all citizens is integral in achieving sustainable development. This includes substantially reducing preventable deaths due to improper medical care and coverage, polluted and toxic environments, and lack of adequate education and resources, etc. Healthy people will create healthy and productive societies.

Goal #4 — Quality Education

This goal seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable educational opportunities for all through improved access, resources, and facilities. This includes early childhood development, primary and secondary education, tertiary education such as college, vocational and technical training — all of which are necessary and important for sustainable development goals.

Goal #5 — Gender Equality

Empowering women and girls is one of the best ways to assure a healthy and livable future for all. To empower and educate women, we must create a world free from gender-based violence and oppression and filled with fair and decent opportunities, regardless of gender. In order to establish this norm, we must focus on reducing discrimination, eradicating harmful practices, providing good education, and ensuring fair opportunity for leadership, and — most importantly — rectifying all of these through updated policy and enforceable legislation.

Goal #6 — Clean Water and Sanitation

Protecting water sources and providing adequate sanitation are at the heart of healthy systems — social, environmental, and economic. This goal seeks to safeguard access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation, conserve water resources and reduce water scarcity, and integrate new and improved water management systems, and protect water-based ecosystems.

Goal #7 — Affordable and Clean Energy

This goal seeks to provide universal access to clean and renewable forms of energy. To achieve this, there must be cross-national cooperation focused on sharing inventive new technologies and infrastructure to supply this energy reliably.

Goal #8 — Decent Work and Economic Growth

Using technology, diversification, and value-added market, this goal aims to provide productive and sustainable employment and economic growth for all.

Goal #9 — Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

If built correctly, innovative industry and infrastructure can increase healthy competitive forces and generate economic growth. Technology will be important in increasing communication, transportation, supply chains, and other key infrastructures. Developed countries have an added responsibility to aid vulnerable communities through this process.

Goal #10 — Reduced Inequalities

For many years now wealth disparities have continued to increase leaving the most vulnerable populations to grapple with the effects such as extreme poverty, food insecurity, and poor health conditions. Goal 10 seeks to achieve sustainable income growth for the bottom 40% of global population, create equal opportunities, and adopt policies that financial protect everyone.

Goal #11 — Sustainable Cities and Communities

As the global population continues to grow more and more people are moving to cities. Urbanization has potential to be a healthy and efficient option when dealing with stresses that population growth brings, but must be “inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable”. This means providing safe and affordable housing and transportation, incorporating excellence planning and development practices while protecting heritage and culture, and providing ample healthy and inclusive parks systems.

Goal #12 — Responsible Consumption and Production

For far too long our markets have been based upon unsustainable and unaccountable practices resulting in needless waste, pollution, and unfair market conditions. Creating efficiencies and proper management processes will greatly reduce environmental degradation and improve economic integrity.

Goal #13 — Climate Action

It is understood that anthropogenic climate change is causing and will continue to cause excessive damage to our social, economic, and environmental systems if we do not act swiftly. We must design resilient and adaptive solutions to current issues while also addressing forecasted climate crisis effects. To ensure safety and prosperity for all, nations must adopt climate-progressive policy and strategy. In addition to national policy, climate education on both personal and institutional levels is needed to reach safe climate goals.

Goal #14 — Life Below Water

Goal #14 pledges to protect important ecosystems and resources in the oceans by significantly reducing pollution, protecting and managing marine populations, and regulating harvesting and fishing practices. Many of these targets can be achieved by improved technology, research, and international maritime laws.

Goal #15 — Life on Land

Like Goal #14, Goal #15 pledges to protect and manage all terrestrial ecosystems through sustainable practices. “Life of Land” aims to halt biodiversity loss, combat desertification, and reverse land degradation.

Goal #16 — Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

This goal states that we must build peaceful and inclusive societies in which legal systems work for everyone regardless of sex, race, class, gender, or age. We must combat organized crime, ensure all citizens have identities and rights, and refine laws to be inclusive.

Goal #17 — Partnership for the Goals

No one country, community, or person can achieve this alone. In order to implement these goals we must strengthen existing relationships, work together, and support each other. This means that developed countries must mobilize and assist under-developed countries in order to achieve our global goals.

As if these objectives were not lofty enough, the rise of COVID-19 has negatively impacted the progress made in many of these goals while simultaneously reiterating the urgency of reaching them. However, as we have seen this past year, in the face of true adversity, our global community can achieve amazing and seemingly impossible objectives when unified. So — which of the 17 SDGs will you help address in 2021?

At 17 Ways, we are focused on providing opportunities for SDG-focused companies by building a two-sided online marketplace. We’re creating a business community for likeminded professionals to connect. Our search engine makes it easy to find B-corps, MWBEs, and other values-based providers across a variety of fields. By developing this tool, we hope to move the needle forward on Goals 5, 8, 10, & 12.