In 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio, countries adopted Agenda 21 a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection.
Twenty years after this in 2012 June 20-22 The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil resulted in a focused political outcome document which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development. This outcome of the Rio+20 Conference initiated an inclusive intergovernmental process to prepare a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The Post-2015 Development Agenda will build on the progress achieved through the MDGs: eight goals established after the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000. At the same time, it will address persistent issues and new challenges facing people and the planet. Instead of addressing the dimensions of sustainable development separately the SDGs are expected to adopt an approach that fully integrates the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
The UN Sustainable Development Summit held on 25 September 2015 , at UN Headquarters in New York adopted the post-2015 development agenda, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. The new Global Goals, and the broader sustainability agenda, go much further than the MDGs, addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people.
Approximately 160 Heads of State or Government and 30 ministers attended the above Summit, along with over 9,000 delegates and around 3,000 accredited journalists. The summit was convened as a High-level Plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly, and co-chaired by the presidencies of the 69th and 70th sessions, Uganda and Denmark, respectively.
