Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, all United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its corresponding 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new agenda builds on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) from 2000 and contains 17 global goals to enhance peace and prosperity, eradicate poverty and protect the planet. It’s the responsibility of Governments, private sector, civil society and people around the world to realize the goals.

The key words of the SDG agenda are sustainability; economic, social and environmental, and universality. Universality means that all countries regardless of their current economic capacity will work towards fulfilling the goals. Low- and high-income countries are requested and expected to tackle economic, social and environmental inequalities.

International standards are jointly agreed best practice solutions to recurrent problems, many of which can be used as tools for practically working towards achieving the SDGs. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has identified more than 950 standards that correspond to each of the SDGs. These international standards cover the three pillars of sustainable development and include standards that promote:

  • economic sustainability by facilitating international trade, improving quality infrastructure and supporting sustainable business practice
  • social sustainability aspects of welfare, from healthcare systems and related products to social inclusion and accessibility
  • environmental sustainability by helping businesses and countries manage their environmental impact. They cover environmental management systems, greenhouse gas emission, energy consumption, responsible consumption etc.

ISO provides a complete overview of the standards linked to the various SDGs here.

Read more:
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
ISO and Sustainable Development Goals