2030 Agenda: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (French: Agenda 2030) is the framework adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It brings together the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 targets, which governments, businesses and civil society are invited to pursue by 2030. ISO 53001 builds on it.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
The Agenda is a political text addressed primarily to states; it creates no direct obligation for a company, a local authority or an association. An ISO 53001 auditor therefore does not assess conformity with the Agenda as such. What is examined is the consistency between the way the organisation refers to it and what its management system actually contains.
Time horizons attract particular attention. An organisation that aligns its commitments with 2030 is expected to show realistic, monitored milestones in between. The auditor also checks that targets quoted from the Agenda are reproduced faithfully rather than reworded to suit. The origins of ISO and UNDP's joint work trace the link with the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard.
From a global agenda to audited objectives
The Agenda speaks to the world, not to one organisation, so nobody expects its full breadth to be reproduced. The auditor looks at the translation step instead: goals screened against the business, relevant targets retained, then objectives sized to the organisation's own means.
See also
- Sustainable Development Goals: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), *Objectifs de développement durable (ODD)* in French, are the 17 goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity by 2030.
- SDG target: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An SDG target (French: *cible ODD*) is one of the 169 sub-goals that give detail to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
- UNDP: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)UNDP, the United Nations Development Programme (French: *PNUD*), is the UN agency dedicated to development.
- ISO 53001 and UNDP: the origins of a jointly developed standard (ISO/UNDP 53001)ISO 53001 brings together ISO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).