The historic United Nations summit of September 2015 in New York saw the adoption of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This became formally operational on 1 January 2016. By ratifying them, nations committed to step up their efforts to battle inequality, poverty, and climate change over the next 15 years.

The SDGs, also referred to as Global Goals, transcend merely eradicating poverty. They comprise a comprehensive framework for a balanced approach towards economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. This concept is encapsulated in the “Irreconcilable Trinity”, which highlights the intricate interplay and balance between equity, efficiency, and sustainability.[1] The SDGs acknowledge the interconnected nature of global challenges and stress the importance of integrated solutions that address economic, social, and environmental aspects simultaneously. This multifaceted perspective is central to the SDGs, which aim to navigate the complex interdependencies and trade-offs among different goals to achieve inclusive and sustainable progress.

Governments are expected to take charge and provide national frameworks to accomplish these 17 goals (Fig. 1), even though the SDGs are not legally obligatory. Following up and evaluating the progress made in implementing them is mostly the responsibility of the individual countries which have ratified them, and this will call for timely, high-quality data collection. The regional evaluation and follow-up will draw from analyses at the national level and support global evaluation and follow-up. There are 17 goals, 169 targets, and 231 unique indicators in the SDG framework, 92 of which are connected to the environment.