Launch of the SDG Hub to track Ireland’s progress towards the SDGs

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What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

The Global Goals for Sustainable Development were adopted at the UN General Assembly on 25th September 2015 and came into effect on 1st January 2016. These goals make up the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda which is defined as a ‘plan of action for people, planet and prosperity’.  This Agenda builds on the Millennium Development Goals and commits to completing what they did not achieve. It recognises the urgency behind the need to shift the world onto a more sustainable path.

World leaders have committed to seventeen Global Goals (also known as SDGs) containing 169 targets to achieve three distinct aims: to end poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next fifteen years (see Chart 1).

Chart 1:  The Sustainable Development Goals

The emphasis is on national ownership of the goals, with each Government setting its own national targets to be supported by national development strategies and financing frameworks (UN, 2015). This will require ambitious national targets matched by adequate resources.

The link between sustainable development and economic, social and environmental policies is highlighted by the UN, as is the need to support the most vulnerable countries that face particular challenges in achieving sustainable development[1]. These countries also face the greatest risk of the consequences of climate change. The SDGs commit countries to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner. To ensure these three dimensions are valued equally, new measures of progress will be required to ensure that economic progress does not come at the price of social or environmental progress.

The SDG Hub is the next step for Ireland in meeting our SDG commitments.  It seeks to highlight local and national activity which contributes to our progress towards the SDGs.  Data will be subject to verification by the CSO to protect the integrity of the site, which will be open source to the public, industry, civil society and policy makers.

[1] United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goals. New York: United Nations.