World leaders formally adopt Sustainable Development Goals

New York, 25 September - The 193 Member States of the United Nations have formally adopted the bold new agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including a pledge to pursue sustainable energy for all. The historic adoption of the new Sustainable Development Agenda, with 17 global goals at its core, was met with a thunderous standing ovation from delegations that included many of the more than 150 world leaders who will be addressing the three-day UN Summit on Sustainable Development. Ushering in a new era of national action and international cooperation, the new agenda commits every country to take an array of actions that would not only address the root causes of poverty, but would also increase economic growth and prosperity and meet people’s health, education and social needs, while protecting the environment. It includes SDG 7, “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.” “It is an agenda for people, to end poverty in all its forms,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the opening ceremony of the Summit. “It is an agenda for shared prosperity, peace and partnership (that) conveys the urgency of climate action (and) is rooted in gender equality and respect for the rights of all. Above all, it pledges to leave no one behind.” For some highlights of the opening ceremony, see below.  

Videos: Opening Ceremony of the Post-2015 Development Agenda Summit

Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary-General) at the Opening (6:10 Min)

 

Malala Yousafzai (Nobel Prize laureate), Call to Action (5:01 Min)

 

Opening Session (37:23 Min)