U.S. Rejects UN Sustainable Development Goals

The U.S. under the Trump administration stated that it “rejects and denounces” the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), the key global goals adopted by nations unanimously in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at tackling global environmental and social challenges.

The UN SDGs refer to the 17 categories of goals for Sustainable Development, with the aim to protect the planet and improve the quality of life globally.  SDG targets include ending poverty and hunger, improving education, and protecting the environment.

The announcement was made by Counselor for Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC) at the U.S. Mission to the UN Edward Heartney at the General Assembly, prior to a vote on “creating an International Day of Peaceful Coexistence,” which included a reaffirmation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In his remarks to the UN General Assembly, Heartney said that “Agenda 2030 and the SDGs advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans,” adding that the new U.S. administration has “set a clear and overdue course correction on “gender” and climate ideology,” which he said “pervade the SDGs.”

The announcement forms part of a broader retreat by the Trump administration from international climate and sustainability initiatives, including removing the U.S. from key climate financing endeavours, and exiting the Paris Agreement in one of President Trump’s first executive orders after his inauguration in January.

Heartney said:

“Put simply, globalist endeavors like Agenda 2030 and the SDGs lost at the ballot box. Therefore, the United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and it will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course.”

The move by the U.S. comes as the UN has estimated a $4 trillion financing gap to achieve the SGDs.