A New Tool to Bring the Sustainable Development Goals Closer to Home

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at the core of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which member states adopted in 2015. Covering an exhaustive range of issues from hunger to gender equality and beyond, they represent an urgent call to action for world leaders to build a better world. The SDGs and its distinctive wheel have become well-known, but for many of us here in New York City and across the United States they still exist on a purely conceptual level: we don’t often think about how they apply to our own lives.

At UNA-NYC, we believe that in order to achieve the Goals it’s important that this changes. To that end, we are excited to present the Explore the SDGs in New York City project. This new resource page aims to make the SDGs relatable for ordinary New Yorkers, and to serve as a resource for anyone seeking a starting point to learn more about the Goals. For each SDG, visitors to our website can now explore an interesting selection of relevant statistics and NYC government initiatives, with easy access to further learning on the UN’s own pages.

Explore the SDGs in New York City was created by a team led by our former Communications Associate, Carlo Ladd, and inspired by the Global Goals at Home program created by UNA-NCA, our fellow UNA-USA chapter in Washington DC (UNA-NCA). Global Goals at Home localizes and catalogs progress towards sustainable development across MD, VA, and DC through the SDG framework. 

We are all—every one of us—partners in achieving the SDGs, and for us to contribute it’s important to get informed. We’re pleased to give New Yorkers a new tool to do so.