Formally entitled “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” the agenda includes a preamble, a declaration outlining a vision and principles for international cooperation, a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) supported by 169 targets, a section on means of implementation (MoI) and the Global Partnership, as well as a framework for follow-up and review.

Alternatively known as the “post-2015 development agenda,” the outcome brings together nearly five years of negotiations on various tracks, involving nearly 8.5 million people or organisations. The expansive list of SDGs are designed to replace the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are due to expire at the end of this year.

New goals, new look?
Several experts have commented on the marked difference between the crafting and adoption of the MDGs and their successors in terms of the weight of attention, engagement, and publicity efforts involved.

Some 136 heads of state or government, 30 ministers, and 9000 delegates attended the UN Summit for Sustainable Development from 25-27 September in New York, while a UN project is working to share the new “global goals” with seven billion people by Friday, in a push that has seen various high-profile public figures and celebrities engaged in its promotion.

The summit was also attended by a host of dignitaries and business figures, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and was kicked off by an address from Pope Francis, spiritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, in his first visit to the US.

Available at: http://www.ictsd.org/bridges-news/biores/news/un-members-adopt-post-2015-development-agenda-prepare-climate-talks