What are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 and where can the official texts be read?
Executive summary
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the centerpiece of the UN’s 2030 Agenda — a universal plan adopted by all UN member states in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all [1][2]. The official texts, including the full 2030 Agenda and the UN pages that list each goal with targets and supporting materials, are published and maintained by UN bodies and partner agencies online [2][3].
1. What the 17 Goals are — the short names and intent
The SDGs are: 1) No Poverty; 2) Zero Hunger; 3) Good Health and Well‑being; 4) Quality Education; 5) Gender Equality; 6) Clean Water and Sanitation; 7) Affordable and Clean Energy; 8) Decent Work and Economic Growth; 9) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 10) Reduced Inequalities; 11) Sustainable Cities and Communities; 12) Responsible Consumption and Production; 13) Climate Action; 14) Life Below Water; 15) Life on Land; 16) Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; and 17) Partnerships for the Goals — each designed to integrate social, economic and environmental objectives [1][4][5].
2. Where the official texts can be read — primary sources
The foundational document “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” which sets out the 17 SDGs and their targets, is published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and available on the UN SDG portal at sdgs.un.org/2030agenda [2][3]. The UN’s Sustainable Development landing page and the dedicated “The 17 Goals” page provide official goal statements, explanatory material and links to UN agency contributions and reports [1][6]. National governments, UN agencies such as UNDP and OHCHR, and specialized agencies republish and interpret the Agenda and goal texts, but the authoritative text remains the UN 2030 Agenda documents hosted by UN DESA and the UN SDG website [2][5][7].
3. Structure beneath the short names — targets, indicators and legal framing
The Agenda frames each goal with a set of targets — in total 169 targets — and global indicators used for monitoring; reporting on the exact number of unique indicators varies slightly across UN publications (sources report 231 or 232 unique indicators), but the 169 targets figure is consistent [8][7]. The 2030 Agenda is a political but non‑binding UN resolution adopted unanimously in 2015 that commits states to implement the Goals through national policies and partnerships rather than creating new international law [2][8].
4. How the goals were adopted and why that matters for reading the text
The SDGs were negotiated through the UN’s Open Working Group and adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015 as part of Resolution 70/1, giving the 2030 Agenda broad political legitimacy among the 193 UN member states [1][8]. That origin explains the Agenda’s mix of aspirational language, specific targets and cross‑cutting commitments — readers will find policy ambition alongside caveats that implementation and monitoring rely on national ownership and international partnerships [2][4].
5. Implementation, oversight and points of contention
Official UN materials emphasize that countries take primary responsibility for follow‑up and review and that implementation requires revitalized global partnerships and adequate means of implementation (finance, technology, data) — Goal 17 is explicitly devoted to that role [2][4]. Critics and scholars note the Agenda’s non‑binding nature and uneven progress, and reporting agencies acknowledge serious setbacks from conflict, climate disruption and the COVID‑19 pandemic that put the promise of the Goals at risk [4][8]. Human‑rights bodies such as OHCHR also highlight that while the SDGs are not framed as legal rights, many targets reflect international human‑rights standards and call for disaggregated data and inclusive approaches [7].