COVID-19 has torn a hole through society and shown us how closely health and a sustainable future are linked. UNDP calls to rise to the challenges and opportunities of the pandemic.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a blueprint for fighting poverty and hunger, confronting the climate crisis, achieving gender equality and much more. At a time of great uncertainty, the SDGs show the way forward to a strong recovery from COVID-19 and a better future for all on a safe and healthy planet. Convened by the UN Secretary-General, the first SDG Moment of the Decade of Action is the curtain raiser to UNGA 75. It is a moment to consider the challenges we face in meeting the SDGs and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and set out what is needed to progress at scale.

The COVID-19 crisis is taking a grim toll on human lives across the globe. Although the complete impact is yet to be fully comprehended, the risk the pandemic is exposing for gains made towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is becoming evident. What this global emergency is also revealing, is that these 17 goals are, in fact, our best option to recover better and to overcome similar crises in the future.

Learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals!

There are 10 years left to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an ambitious plan to create a better future for people and the planet. Cutting child mortality by a third in Brazil, reaching carbon neutrality in Finland and redirecting trillions of dollars of investment to funds that promote sustainability: these are some examples of initiatives from governments, civil society and the private sector, designed to speed up the UN’s goal of achieving a fairer society for all.

With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is being kicked off to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Decade will be a global movement spearheaded by change-makers everywhere to galvanize our commitment for a better world. On 22 January, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will address the General Assembly on his priorities for 2020 and launch the Decade. Watch live on UN Web TV.

The world economy has barely had the time to recover from a string of shocks that began with the 2007 financial crisis, and we can already see another global slowdown looming large.

With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise—by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own.

World leaders called for a decade of action to deliver the SDGs by 2030 and announced more than 100 ‘accelerated actions’—voluntary undertakings to speed up progress. Who’s doing what?

With only ten years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, world leaders at the SDG Summit in September 2019 called for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, and pledged to mobilize financing, enhance national implementation and strengthen institutions to achieve the Goals by the target date of 2030, leaving no one behind. The UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action on three levels: global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the SDGs; local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks; and people action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, and academia.

I am life. I am home to millions and I sustain millions more. My abundance brings prosperity, while my scarcity can be deadly. I cover much of the earth and my influence extends far beyond. I have been around for longer than you can imagine, but my world is threatened.

We only have 10 years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With food and agriculture being major players in these 17 objectives, FAO has recognized that a holistic approach is key. With a 10-year deadline in mind, FAO is quickening the pace of progress by finding and implementing innovative solutions, encouraging global best practices and working together with partners to achieve sustainable food systems for all. At COP25 FAO is renewing its commitment to create a world free from hunger and poverty and calls on partners of all kinds, around the world, to join it.

The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters brought their basketball skills to the United Nations, where they scored big for its goals of peace (

Violence against women is one of the biggest violations of human rights and a major impediment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Violence against women and girls is preventable if we address the risk factors and underlying harmful social norms that perpetuate and excuse violence, and if hold perpetrators accountable.

"With the introduction of the SDGs, we have started to recognize the strong interdependency among all beings living on this planet, and how one person’s or country’s actions can affect others living thousands of kilometres away," argues Anantha Duraiappah. "Climate change is one example of this interdependency. One country’s actions can trigger extreme events such as droughts and floods, thus hindering the entire world’s progress towards achieving the SDGs." The author is Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (UNESCO).