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Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030

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sdg2The 2030 Agenda is the new global framework to help eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030. It includes an ambitious set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which is set to be adopted. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out the global framework to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030. The new objectives, a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), were formally adopted by the international community at a dedicated UN Summit that took take place from the 25 to 27 September.

The 2030 Agenda was informally agreed by consensus at the UN in August this year. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda agreed in July also forms an integral part of the 2030 Agenda by setting out tools, policies and resources that need to be put in place to ensure that it can be implemented.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will respond comprehensively to global challenges. It incorporates and follows on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, and the Financing for Development Conferences. The 2030 Agenda addresses poverty eradication and the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development together.

The new 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets integrate and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development, covering areas such as poverty, inequality, food security, health, sustainable consumption and production, growth, employment, infrastructure, sustainable management of natural resources, oceans, climate change, but also gender equality, peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice and accountable institutions.

The 2030 Agenda is a universal agreement; its implementation will require action by all countries, developed and developing. It will be underpinned by a Global Partnership, mobilising governments and stakeholders (citizens, civil society, private sector, academia, etc.), at all levels.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are:

  • 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

The European Union's contribution to the 2030 Agenda

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The EU is determined to fully implement the 2030 Agenda, across the range of its internal and external policies aligning its own policies and actions to the objectives of the Agenda. In doing so, the EU remains committed to global solidarity and will support the implementation efforts in countries most in need.

Examples of how the EU’s development co-operation can contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda:

The EU with its member states, already the world’s largest donor of development aid, pledged to increase their collective Official Development Assistance (ODA) and achieve 0.7% of EU Gross National Income (GNI) within the timeframe of the 2030 Agenda.

As part of the Agenda for Change, with the view of increasing the impact of EU Development Policy, the EU refocused its aid to ensure that it goes to those countries which need it most. In this prospect, the EU has unilaterally recommitted to a specific ODA target of 0.20 % ODA/GNI for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), between 2015 and 2030.

Gender equality is fully integrated in development cooperation programmes or allocating funds to ensure environmental sustainability as a core pillar of development policy as a prerequisite for lasting socio-economic development and poverty eradication. The EU will implement its new Gender framework to promote gender equality, as well as girls' and women's empowerment.

The EU will help developing countries to mobilise more domestic resources, for example with EU budget support programmes that will continue to improve their management of public finances.

Through co-operation and partnerships with the private sector the EU will leverage more development funding. Working together with partner countries, it will invest in key sectors such as infrastructure, energy and support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). EU action will focus on promoting an enabling business environment and responsible business practice.

The EU remains the world's most open market. The EU Generalized System of Preference (GSP) and GSP+ schemes for developing countries are among the most comprehensive, accessible and valuable schemes in the world. The EU provides duty free and quota free market access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), with total LDC exports to the EU currently worth over €35 billion annually. In addition, the EU is the biggest provider of Aid for Trade.

Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (€77bn) is open to researchers from developing countries. The EU will allocate at least 20% of its ODA to human development in the period until 2020, to areas such as education and health.

The EU will support the 'New Deal for Fragile States' decided by the international community in Busan in 2011, including through funding its implementation. Moreover, over half of the EU's bilateral development funding will continue to go to fragile and conflict affected states.

With regard to environment and climate, the EU leads the efforts for a sustainable world.

20% of the EU's assistance, about €14bn up to 2020, will address climate change objectives.

In addition, at least 25% of European Investment Bank (EIB) financing operations shall support climate change mitigation and adaptation in order to further the promotion of the Union's climate goals on a global scale. The EU will invest €1.3bn specifically for environment and climate-related global public goods and challenges by 2020, including, for example, €154 million on forests and €81m on water.

The EU will provide up to €1bn for biodiversity and ecosystems, including wildlife conservation. The EU shares experiences, runs strategic dialogues and implements projects with a number of partner countries on biodiversity, ecosystems and natural capital accounting, providing support of €170m.

The EU has foreseen €50m of multilateral support specifically for the sound management of chemicals and waste as this mismanagement primarily affects the poorest.

More information

Press release: European Commission welcomes new 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development

Factsheet on what the EU has achieved with the MDGs

Brochure on Financing Global Sustainable Development after 2015: Illustrations of key EU contributions

Infograph on Financing Global Sustainable Development after 2015: Illustrations of key EU contributions

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

 

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