MANDATE OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), formally adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, constitute a universal, integrated, and transformative plan of action. The overarching objective is to achieve global eradication of poverty, secure environmental protection, and ensure the realization of peace and prosperity for all persons by the terminal date of 2030. The 17 Goals are delineated by specific Targets, which are detailed below in a comprehensive and prescriptive legal style.
Goal 1: No Poverty
Mandate: To terminate poverty in all its manifestations worldwide, affirming the entitlement of all individuals to economic resources and fundamental social services.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
1.1 Extreme PovertyEradicate extreme poverty, defined as persons subsisting on less than the equivalent of $2.15 per day, by 2030.
1.3 Social ProtectionEstablish and implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for substantial coverage of the poor and vulnerable.
1.4 Equal Rights & ServicesGuarantee all individuals, particularly the poor and vulnerable, equal rights to economic resources, including access to ownership and control over land, property, and financial services.
Goal 2: Zero Hunger
Mandate: To terminate hunger, achieve optimal food security and nutritional status, and foster resilient and sustainable agricultural practices.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
2.1 End Hunger Terminate hunger and ensure secured, year-round access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all populations.
2.2 End Malnutrition Eliminate all forms of malnutrition, including achieving internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five.
2.4 Sustainable Agriculture Ensure the implementation of sustainable food production systems and climate-resilient agricultural practices that enhance productivity and maintain ecosystem integrity.
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Mandate: To ensure the promotion of healthy lives and universal well-being across all ages, prioritizing reductions in morbidity and mortality rates.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
3.2 Child Mortality Terminate preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age.
3.3 Communicable DiseasesEradicate the epidemics of major communicable diseases, including AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and address neglected tropical diseases.
3.8 Universal Health Coverage Achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), encompassing financial risk protection, access to essential quality health-care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
Goal 4: Quality Education
Mandate: To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and effectuate perpetual learning opportunities for all persons.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
4.1 Primary & Secondary Ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
4.3 Technical & Vocational Ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational, and tertiary education, including university.
4.7 Global Citizenship Ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable lifestyles, human rights, and global citizenship.
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Mandate: To achieve formal and substantive gender equality and empower all women and girls by eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against them.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
5.1 Discrimination Terminate all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
5.2 Violence Eliminate all manifestations of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual exploitation.
5.5 Participation Guarantee women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Mandate: To ensure the availability, sustainable management, and universal access to water and sanitation resources.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
6.1 Drinking Water Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water.
6.2 Sanitation & Hygiene Achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and formally terminate open defecation.
6.4 Water Use Efficiency Substantially enhance water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure the sustainable abstraction and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity.
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Mandate: To ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and contemporary energy services.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
7.1 Access Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services.
7.2 Renewables Substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
7.3 Energy Efficiency Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Mandate: To promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, achieving full and productive employment, and ensuring decent work conditions for all.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
8.3 Job Creation Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, and facilitate the growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
8.7 Child Labor & Slavery Adopt immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including child soldiers.
8.8 Labor Rights & Safety Protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers and those in precarious employment.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Mandate: To construct resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster technological innovation.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
9.1 Infrastructure Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure.
9.2 Industrialization Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and significantly raise the share of industry in employment and gross domestic product.
9.4 CleanTech Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to increase resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
Mandate: To reduce inequality within and among nations by empowering and promoting the social, economic, and political inclusion of all demographic groups.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
10.2 Social InclusionPromote universal social, economic, and political inclusion, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic status.
10.3 Non-discrimination Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices.
10.7 Migration: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Mandate: To render cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and environmentally sustainable.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
11.1 Housing Ensure universal access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services, and upgrade slums.
11.2 Transport Provide access to safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all, including expanding public transport.
11.4 Cultural Heritage Intensify efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Mandate: To ensure the establishment of sustainable consumption and production modalities, encompassing the efficient management of natural resources and minimization of waste.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
12.2 Natural Resources Achieve sustainable management and efficient utilization of natural resources.
12.3 Food Waste Halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains.
12.5 Waste Reduction Substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse strategies.
Goal 13: Climate Action
Mandate: To undertake urgent action to combat the deleterious effects of climate change and its associated impacts by integrating strategic measures into national policies.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
13.1 Resilience & Adaptation Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
13.2 National Policies Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning processes.
13.3 Education & Awareness Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning systems.
Goal 14: Life Below Water
Mandate: To conserve and sustainably utilize the oceans, seas, and marine resources for the attainment of sustainable development.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
14.1 PollutionPrevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all types, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution.
14.4 Overfishing Effectively regulate harvesting and terminate overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and destructive fishing practices.
14.5 Conservation Conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on best available scientific information.
Goal 15: Life on Land
Mandate: To protect, restore, and promote the sustainable utilization of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, effectively combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
15.1 Ecosystems & Biodiversity Ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their essential services, particularly forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands.
15.3 Desertification Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought, and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.
15.7 Poaching & Trafficking Adopt urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products.
Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
Mandate: To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, ensure universal access to justice, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
16.1 Violence Significantly reduce all manifestations of violence and their associated death rates everywhere.
16.3 Rule of Law Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.
16.5 Corruption Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms.
16.6 Institutions Develop effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels.
Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Mandate: To revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development and strengthen the means of its implementation.
Sub-Section (Target)Legal Detail
17.1 Finance/Resource Mobilization Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries.
17.6 Technology/Cooperation Enhance North-South, South-South, and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology, and innovation.
17.13 Policy Coherence Enhance global macroeconomic stability and reinforce policy coherence for sustainable development.
17.18 Data & Statistics Increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely, and reliable disaggregated data by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location, and other characteristics relevant in national contexts.