The Sustainable Development Goals agenda

The Sustainable Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda, House of Commons Library, 2015

Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United Nations, 2015

Government commitments and publications

Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, Cabinet Office and the Department for International Development, updated 2019

Leaving no one behind: Our promise, Department for International Development, 2019

UK’s Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals, Department for International Development, 2019

Critical assessments of Government progress towards achieving the SDGs:

Sustainable Development Goals: How is the UK performing?, House of Commons Library, 2019

Measuring up: How the UK is performing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UKSSD, 2018

Measuring up: 2.0 How the UK is performing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UN Global Compact Network UK, 2022

The UK’s global contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals: Progress, gaps and recommendations, Bond, 2019

The UK’s global contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals 2022: Progress, gaps and recommendations, Bond, 2022

Parliamentary scrutiny

UK progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Voluntary National Review, House of Commons International Development Committee, 2019

The UK’s Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals, letter from the Environmental Audit Committee to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Baroness Sugg, 2019

Local implementation of the SDGs

UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Guide for Councils – this guide sets out proposals for how councils might respond to the SDGs and make use of them in their own communities, drawing on actions, ideas, and case studies in the UK and internationally.

Brookings’ City playbook for advancing the SDGs – a series of how-to briefs and international case studies on advancing sustainable development and social progress locally, including an example from Bristol.

The Sustainable Development Goals: What Local Governments Need To Know – United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) guide which explains how each of the 17 SDGs relates to the daily work of local and regional governments.

Getting Started with the SDGs in Cities - Jointly developed by SDSN and the German government suggests how city leaders, local practitioners and policy makers can use the SDGs to guide on the ground planning and development, and includes a chapter on practical tools.

Bristol and the SDGs: 2022 review of progress, challenges and opportunities, Bristol City Council and the Cabot Institute for the Environment, 2022. This report reflects on some of the constraints local governments and organisations face as they adopt and deliver the SDGs. It contains a number of recommendations as to how local authorities could be better supported to deliver on the SDGs.