In September 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations agreed on a plan, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, for achieving a better future for all, laying out the path over the next 15 years to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet.

Now, UK businesses, civil society organisations, educational centres, and local authorities will raise a flag on 25 September to show support for the United Nation’s blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet and marking the eighth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At the heart of Agenda 2030 are the 17 SDGs, also known as the Global Goals. The Goals set out 169 targets to realise the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality, eradicate poverty, combat catastrophic climate change, and protect our natural environment.

However, climate change, and the lingering effects of COVID-19 have derailed progress. Globally, half of targets across the 17 Goals are not being met.

Steve Kenzie, executive director of the UN Global Compact Network UK, said: “The SDGs are a to-do list to save humanity. The SDGs have tremendous potential to mobilise action across the whole of society but both government and business are missing an opportunity to use the framing of the SDGs to address systemic challenges. With only one in ten people in the UK familiar with the SDGs, raising the SDG flag today is key to building awareness and rallying stakeholders to work together to secure the rights and well-being of everyone on a thriving planet.”

This is the second year that the UN Global Compact Network UK has run its SDG Flag Campaign, and hundreds of organisations across the UK will raise the flag and work.

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