Achieving the SDGs will require a very different approach than for the MDGs – one that recognises the changing world we now inhabit, the interrelatedness of the goals, 
the growing importance of data and new sources of development finance

The MDGs made substantial progress on reducing global poverty and inequality, but left much still to achieve. What lessons can the international community take forward to ensure that the new SDGs and their myriad targets become a reality?

The most powerful tools to fight poverty and inequality often come from the poor and marginalised themselves

The Alma MAKRO non-profit project aims to support the work of small, local Spanish producers, 
enabling them to stay in business producing authentic products in a traditional way

The SDGs will not be achieved without establishing global equality for women. While governments are making progress, much remains to be done

In Africa, achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of healthy lives and wellbeing for all will require a sustained commitment by governments to ensure adequate funding for health services

Its inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals placed mental health firmly on the global agenda. But where will investment be found for this seriously underfunded area?

SDG 8 recognises the crucial role that economic growth has played in reducing poverty in recent decades. However, economic growth will only be sustainable in the long term if it is based on equity and inclusivity – the prerequisite for the SDGs’ overarching aim of eradicating extreme poverty

STOXX®, in partnership with CDP, developed a comprehensive Low Carbon index family to help investors decarbonise their portfolios

Strong institutions are considered to be the essential foundation for the SDGs. Why have past attempts at institution-building proven so difficult?

If societies are to achieve sustainable development, we need to usher in a new era of collaboration, involving strong and meaningful partnerships between 
agencies, investors, communities and donors

The digital age offers huge potential to generate data that can inform government policies to achieve the SDGs. But is data generation and collection helping those communities most in need and, if not, what can be done to ensure it does?

From one branch and three employees to seven branches and a staff complement of 324 in March 2015, Grégoire Danel-Fedou has grown Advans Côte d’Ivoire (CI) from a start-up to one of the most coveted microfinance institutions (MFIs) in West Africa in just three years

Achieving the SDGs will require both individual citizens and wider communities to make meaningful, long-term changes 
to their behaviour

Trade can help countries to meet the new Sustainable Development Goals. But if trade is to enable the kind of sustainable development that leaves no one behind, the right conditions 
must first be put in place

Achieving both the SDGs and Paris climate framework will require a profound transformation of national economies. It will also need a new mindset that does not consider the attainment of one to be at the expense of the other

The use of public-private partnerships in investment funds provides an efficient 
mechanism for scaling-up development capital and, at the same, offers private 
investors a route to make impact investments without high-risk exposure

Does development cooperation between countries of the Global South offer a paradigm shift from the traditional North-South model, or just more of the same?

While national governments, working at the international level, have defined the scope and detail of the SDGs, it is local administrations that will shoulder much of the work to achieve their success. How can we ensure successful local implementation?

Step-by-step guidance, outlining how states can integrate the SDGs into their development planning: the key stages in implementation, the questions to address to create context-specific strategies and approaches most conducive to realising the aspirational 2030 Agenda

Nations have pledged to eradicate poverty and protect the planet from degradation. How can citizens ensure that governments stick to their promises?

Key to making the SDGs a reality will be identifying – and then generating – the level and type of financing required across the international community. How can this best be achieved?

While headline figures on poverty reduction have made for impressive reading, the burden on those left behind has fallen heaviest on minorities and indigenous populations. Have the SDGs got what it takes to lift these groups of people out of poverty for good?

The SDGs can only be achieved if the international community can improve its ability to assess fragile development situations – a classification that includes the majority of the world’s most deprived and transcends national boundaries

Conflict seems an ever-present fact of human existence, and nearly always at the expense of societal development. How can the international community ensure conflict does 
not derail the SDGs?

As the world focuses on the epicentre of the conflict consuming Syria and Iraq, neighbouring areas, such as the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, are being stressed to breaking point

The growth of urbanisation has created stark inequalities around the world. Through more intelligent design and use of urban spaces, can we move towards a situation where cities 
provide safe, prosperous and enjoyable places to live for all their inhabitants?

Lifting vulnerable communities out of poverty will require a shift in thinking away from managing climate-related and other disasters and towards addressing the underlying risks of development

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa showed the devastating effect of deadly epidemics – not just for the victims, but for the broader health and prosperity of host countries. How can the international community build resilience against future outbreaks?

It is tempting to assume that public support for the SDGs is a given. But is it? How can the international community ensure that citizens around the world rally behind the goals?

How can civil society gain more influence in the policy-making process for achieving a sustainable future?