Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals releases latest version of Zero Draft

The Co-Chairs of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals have released a refined version of their Zero Draft, which contains 17 proposed goals. For a comparison between the orignal and latest versions of the document, please consult the table below:

Goal	Zero Draft 2 June 2014	Revised Zero Draft 30 June 2014	Change(s)
1.	End poverty in all its forms everywhere	End poverty everywhere	This goal has not been merged with ‘reduce inequality’ as some members proposed. Language simplified

2.	End hunger, achieve food security and adequate nutrition for all, and promote sustainable agriculture	End hunger, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture	‘achieve food security’ reference eliminated
	_____
3.	Attain healthy life for all at all ages	Attain healthy lives for all	Title simplified, to eliminate mention of ‘all ages’. Added reference to ‘wellbeing’ has not been integrated as was proposed
	_____
4.	Provide equitable and inclusive quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all	Provide quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all	Language simplified
	_____
5.	Attain gender equality, empower women and girls everywhere	Attain gender equality, empower women and girls everywhere
	_____
6.	Secure water and sanitation for all for a sustainable world	Ensure availability and sustainable use of water and sanitation for all	Emphasis added to ‘availability’ of water
	_____
7.	Ensure access to affordable, sustainable, and reliable modern energy services for all	Ensure sustainable energy for all	Language simplified Less emphasis on ‘access to’ energy No qualification of energy as ‘affordable’ ‘reliable’ or ‘modern’
	_____
8.	Promote strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all	Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all	Added reference to ‘full and productive employment’
	_____
9.	Promote sustainable industrialization	Promote sustainable infrastructure and industrialization and foster innovation	Inclusion of ‘infrastructure’ and ‘foster innovation’
	_____
10.	Reduce inequality within and among countries	Reduce inequality within and between countries
	_____
11.	Build inclusive, safe and sustainable cities and human settlements	Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable	Transformation of ‘build’ to ‘make’
	_____
12.	Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns	Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns
	_____
13.	Promote actions at all levels to address climate change	Tackle climate change and its impacts
	_____
14.	Attain conservation and sustainable use of marine resources, oceans and seas	Conserve and promote sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources
	_____
15.	Protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems and halt all biodiversity loss	Protect and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, halt desertification, land degradation and biodiversity loss	Addition of reference to ‘desertification and land degradation’
	_____
16.	Achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law, effective and capable institutions	Achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice for all, and effective and capable institutions	‘rule of law’ changed to ‘access to justice’
	_____
17.	Strengthen and enhance the means of implementation and global partnership for sustainable development	Strengthen the means of implementation and the global partnership for sustainable development

General notes on the latest version of the Zero draft, including proposed targets:

There are the same numbers of goals between the two versions of the zero draft
In most cases the language of the goal headings is simplified and more succinct
The number of targets has been significantly reduced for each goal, e.g. in Goal 2 the number of targets has been reduced from 11 to 5
The wording of the targets has been simplified, with each one now being shorter and more focussed
Deadlines for targets are now mostly stated at the beginning of each one, e.g. ‘By 2030...’
In some cases where guidelines for change were left unspecified, some have now been specified, some have been replaced by qualitative wording (such as ‘substantially reduce’ rather than ‘reduce by x%’) and in certain places the percentages remain unspecified, particularly in goal 4
Certain figures that previously were specified have now been made less stringent (such as goal 3’s aim to reduce the maternal mortality rate from less than 40 to less than 70 live births per 100,000)

To read the latest version of the Zero Draft in its entirety, click here.

To read a blog on the Zero Draft's level of ambition, click here.

Next steps for the OWG on SDGs:

The OWG will meet again for informal-informals from 9-11 July and finally at a 13th session from 14-18 July. The Group is expected to propose a set of SDGs to the UN General Assembly in September 2014.

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