The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and guide all global, regional and national development endeavours until the year 2030. Adopted in 2015, the SDGs seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what these did not achieve. They are universal, integrated and indivisible, and seek to balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental dimensions. The breadth and scope of the SDGs reflect the complexity and scale of challenges to be addressed in the modern era.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is contributing to the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda through its mandate to support Member States in achieving inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID). The actions outlined below exemplify how UNIDO contributes to specific SDGs. Due to the interlinked nature of the SDGs, many of UNIDO’s activities contribute to more than one SDG.
While UNIDO contributes to all goals of the 2030 Agenda, SDG 9 takes a special position for the Organization, as it recognizes the role of industry, innovation and infrastructure for sustainable development.
There is broad evidence for industrialization as the driver of sustained prosperity. Inclusive and sustainable industrialization is a primary source of income generation, and allows for rapid and sustained increases in living standards. The industrial sector has strong linkages to the other parts of the economy, and serves as an integrator also between agriculture and the service sector. Such linkages ensure that the economic dynamism and growth in one sector spreads to another. The interrelations between industry, innovation and infrastructure are strong, as industry is an important source of innovation, providing the technological solutions for environmentally sound development and the achievement of green objectives, such as increased resource- and energy-efficiency, low-carbon production, circular economies and climate action.
The COVID-19 crisis has shown the importance of ISID, also as a pathway for socio-economic recovery and to build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.
UNIDO is a custodian agency for six industry-related indicators under SDG 9, collecting and compiling data for the global database of SDG indicators. Track the progress of individual countries here. Learn more about the 2030 Agenda, its progress and indicators on the UN official website and the SDGs knowledge platform.
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Goal 1: No Poverty
> UNIDO seeks to ensure that the benefits of industrialization are shared by all, that the living conditions of all are sustainably improved, and that no one is left behind
Goal 2: Zero Hunger
> UNIDO supports value addition to agricultural output, and helps reduce post-harvest losses and increase resource efficiency, while generating job opportunities for rural communities and increasing food security, food safety and nutrition, particularly through agri-business development and upgrading agro-food value chains
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
> UNIDO supports the development and upgrading of the pharmaceutical industry in developing countries for the local production of essential generic drugs and the provision of necessary appliances to the health industry, while also working to reduce pollution from industry and protecting consumer health through the implementation of food safety and sanitary standards
Goal 4: Quality Education
> UNIDO supports the development of entrepreneurial culture and skills, provides technical and vocational training, and helps enhancing young people’s skills and knowledge for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
Goal 5: Gender Equality
> UNIDO supports women in acquiring skills and gaining access to productive and financial resources that allow them to compete effectively in the economic life of their communities
Goal 6: Clean water and Sanitation
> UNIDO assists countries with the transfer of best available technologies and environmental practices to improve industrial and municipal water management and productivity, and helps prevent the discharge of industrial effluents into international waters (rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastal areas)
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean energy
> UNIDO promotes energy efficiency policies, technologies and practices, as well as access to affordable renewable sources of energy for the facilitation of productive activities, providing countries an opportunity to follow a low-carbon and low-emissions growth path
Goal 8: Decent work and Economic Growth
> UNIDO facilitates structural transformation and economic growth by increasing the capacities of local industries for value addition, economic diversification, and export promotion, as well as supports the creation of decent jobs in industry and industry-related services
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
> UNIDO seeks to advance poverty eradication and inclusiveness, build productive capacities in an inclusive manner, and provide more opportunities for all women and men as well as across social groups, also through partnerships with all stakeholders involved in industrialization processes
> UNIDO promotes rapid economic and industrial growth, builds trade capacities in industries, and ensures that all countries can benefit from international trade and technological progress, also through the application of modern industrial policies and compliance with global standards and norms
> UNIDO aims to advance environmentally sustainable growth, builds institutional capacities for greening industries through cleaner production technologies and resource efficiency methodologies, and creates green industries, spurred by technology facilitation, innovation and partnership building
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
> UNIDO promotes greater productivity, stable employment, and increased incomes, and improves economic opportunities between and within populations, countries and regions with the aim to reach vulnerable groups, including young people, women, migrants and minorities, and a focus on pro-poor enterprise initiatives, agro-industries, greater value-addition, women and youth entrepreneurship, as well as human security issues in post-crisis situations
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and Communicaties
> UNIDO promotes smart industries and industrial clusters in urban industrial zones that spur innovation, resource efficiency and industrial competitiveness while linking local business with global markets and supply chains
Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
> UNIDO promotes green industries, resource efficient management, cleaner production, energy efficiency in industry, reduction of waste and pollution, and environmental sustainability policies in industrial production and consumption, such as the circular economy approach
Goal 13: Climate action
> UNIDO promotes the reduction of industrial CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, including through sustainable energy solutions and the uptake of resource-efficient technologies and practices, and cleaner production in industrial processes
Goal 14: Life below water
> UNIDO supports efforts to reduce the detrimental industrial impacts on water bodies through sound water management methodologies and system introduction, and strategic partnerships to protect coastal and maritime habitats and ecosystems, as well as helps to improve fisheries incomes by encouraging regional cooperation, capacity building and technology, etc.
Goal 15: Life on Land
> UNIDO aims at improving rural livelihoods, food security and agricultural production in a sustainable manner and promotes technologies that ensure sustainable management of the soils and the generation of highly productive renewable resources, while supporting the adaptation and adoption of resource efficient and cleaner production methods, technologies and systems
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong Institutions
> UNIDO supports the restoration of economic activities and empowerment of communities affected by crises, and strengthens the capacities of governments and small and medium-sized enterprises to apply human rights principles and business ethics to industrial development, thus enhancing human security
Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
> UNIDO facilitates international cooperation, multi-stakeholder partnerships and the alignment of public and private investments and industrial policies
> UNIDO conducts capacity-building, including on trade-related national capacities
> UNIDO fosters technology exchange mechanisms, technology policy coordination measures and related investment opportunities
> UNIDO provides technical and statistical support to the monitoring and review of the SDGs