European Commission welcomes new 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda, a universal framework for all countries to help eradicate poverty and
achieve sustainable development by 2030, includes an ambitious set of 17 Sustainable
Development Goals and will be adopted today at a special UN Summit.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to be adopted today by the United Nations sets out a
global framework to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030, building on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000. As the first ever global agreement setting a
universal, comprehensive agenda for action, the 2030 Agenda includes an ambitious set of 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets, mobilising all countries and
stakeholders towards their achievement and affecting domestic policies. The 2030 Agenda also includes
the United Nations Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted in July which sets out the different means
necessary to implement the 2030 Agenda, including domestic resources, private finance and Official
Development Assistance (ODA).
The EU has been a leader in contributing to this process from the start. It is now committed to take
this agenda forward, both inside the EU (such as through forthcoming EU initiatives like, inter alia, the
Circular Economy Strategy which is designed to address more sustainable patterns of production and
consumption) and through the EU's external policies by supporting implementation efforts in other
countries, in particular those most in need.
First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development and leading the
Commission delegation on behalf of President Juncker, said: "This Agreement is a historic event, and a
significant step forward for global action on sustainable development. I am proud to say that from the
start, the EU has been strongly committed to reaching an ambitious outcome, with a universal agenda
for all countries, rich and poor alike, fully integrating the economic, social and environmental
dimensions of sustainability. The result is a landmark achievement uniting the whole world around
common goals for a more sustainable future. We are determined to implement the 2030 Agenda which
will shape our internal and external policies, ensuring the EU plays its full part".The UN Summit to
adopt the new 2030 Agenda is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 25-27
September and will be attended by more than 150 Heads of State and Government from all over the
world. The European Commission is represented by First Vice President Frans Timmermans, High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission Federica
Mogherini and Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica.
Background
On the Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have shown that setting goals can help drive
unprecedented progress across the globe and achieved remarkable results. They have guided EU
development policy for 15 years and the EU has made a major contribution to reaching the goals. The
EU and its Member States are collectively the world’" s largest development donor by far, providing
€58 billion in 2014.
On the new 2030 Agenda
The 2030 Agenda ('Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) was
informally agreed by consensus at the UN in August this year, and referred to this Summit for formal
adoption by the General Assembly. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda agreed in July also forms an
integral part of the 2030 Agenda by setting out tools, policies and resources that need to be put in
place to ensure that it can be implemented.
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda will mark the culmination of an inclusive three-year process
(previously known as "the post-2015 development agenda") and which was characterised by the
unprecedented participation of civil society and other stakeholders. It follows on from the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, and the
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