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. ISO 53001 provides a management framework for contributing to them.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
The standard does not ask for a contribution to all 17 goals at once. The auditor checks that the organisation has screened every goal against its activities and justified the ones it treats as priorities. According to BSI, publisher of the British edition, SDGs 5, 8 and 13 are addressed in every case.
For each goal retained, the auditor looks for the link to specific targets, the organisation's own objectives and indicators. Naming an SDG without being able to say how the business helps or harms it is a warning sign. Each goal has its own page, for instance SDG 13 and climate action. See also the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard.
Goals that interact
The 17 goals are interlinked, and progress on one can weigh on another: a switch to biofuels may help SDG 13 while putting pressure on land use. The auditor expects such trade-offs to be acknowledged where they are material.
See also
- 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.
- 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.
- Priority SDG: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A priority SDG (French: *ODD prioritaire*) is a Sustainable Development Goal that the organisation treats as central to its management system, because its activities contribute strongly to it or risk harming it.
- Contribution to the SDGs: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Contribution to the SDGs (French: *contribution aux ODD*) is the effect, positive or negative, that an organisation's activities, products and decisions have on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.