It is claimed that there are as many as 50 definitions of sustainable development. However, one of the classic definitions of the sustainable development is none other than that provided by Brundtland Commission Report 1987: „Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The commission concluded that the world cannot sustain the growth required to meet the needs and aspirations of the worldÊs growing population unless it adopts radically different approaches to basic issues of economic expansion, equity, resource management, energy efficiency and the like (Kegler & Blanton, 2010).

There are 17 goals of sustainable development under the new sustainable development agenda to be achieved in the next 15 years to end the poverty, to preserve and conserve the planet as well as to ensure the prosperity for everybody living in this world from 2015 to transform our world for a better place to live. The 17 goals are as below:

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere;

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture;

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages;

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning;

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls;

Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all;

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all;

Goal 8 : Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all;

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation;

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries;

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable;

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns;

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts;

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources;

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss;

Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies; and

Goal 17: Revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

Sustainable Development by Oo Cheng Keat is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.