The United Nations (UN) adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 to ensure natural resources, economic prosperity, social progress and cultural development for future generations. With the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the associated 169 sub-goals, a comprehensive programmatic framework was created to pave the way for the promotion of sustainable development and to enable and secure the conditions for a dignified human life worldwide, both now and in the future.

By adopting the 2030 Agenda, the UN member states have committed to prioritising the achievement of these goals and taking responsibility for both current and future generations. The aim is to tackle central global challenges such as poverty, hunger, educational inequality and the destruction of nature by the year 2030. The 2030 Agenda is to be implemented with the involvement of various stakeholder groups at national, regional and global level.

The 17 goals pursue a holistic approach to sustainability that aims to achieve sustainable development in three dimensions - the ecological, social and economic dimensions of sustainability: 

The ecological dimension of sustainability emphasises the need to protect the earth and its natural resources. This dimension plays a decisive role, for example through measures such as an intact circular economy or the expansion of renewable energies. The social dimension of sustainability prioritises the promotion of justice and equal opportunities worldwide, e.g. to provide better access to education and healthcare. Ensuring basic human rights and peace in all parts of the world are fundamental in this regard. Finally, the economic dimension centres on the goal of driving economic growth, making it sustainable and promoting innovation.

The Sustainable Development Goals cover a wide range of topics. For practical implementation and to ensure the measurability of progress, the 17 goals have been broken down into 169 specific sub-goals, each of which has been assigned statistical indicators. Data collection and publication of the measurements is taking place regularly at national and international level.

The 17 objectives specifically comprise:

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-Beeing
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
17. Partnership for the Goals

Many countries have translated the global sustainability goals into national sustainability strategies to gradually implement the objectives of the 2030 Agenda from the global through the national to the local level. In Germany, for instance, a so-called ‘model resolution’ on the 2030 Agenda, which has already been adopted by numerous municipalities and cities, forms an important basis for the development of local sustainability strategies. These strategies make a key contribution to the local implementation of global goals and illustrate the principle of glocalisation - the mutual interdependence of the global and local levels, true to the strategy ‘Think global, act local’. In this context, Goal 11 ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ not only highlights the importance of sustainable urban development, but also refers to the aspect that global sustainability must ultimately (also) be realised at a local level.

A central point of criticism of the SDG concept is the lack of legal binding force. As the goals are not legally binding and the responsibility for their implementation is largely delegated to the individual nation states, questions arise regarding their effectiveness and political enforceability. Critics doubt whether such objectives can have an actual impact or be implemented in practice without institutional anchoring and sanctioning, especially if there is no legal obligation. In addition, the Sustainable Development Goals are often accused of being highly incoherent, as individual goals potentially conflict with one another - for example, the goal of economic growth (SDG 8) conflicts with the goal of environmental sustainability (SDG 13).