The Trump administration stated that it “rejects and denounces” the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), the 17 global goals adopted by UN members unanimously in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In 2015, President Barack Obama had committed the US to achieving the SDGs by 2030. These goals include ending poverty, achieving gender equality and tackling climate change, and ethical business practices, amongst others.
The move by the US comes as the UN has estimated a US $4 trillion financing gap to achieve the SGDs.
The announcement was made by the Counselor for Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC) at the US Mission to the UN, Edward Heartney, at the General Assembly. Heartney said, “Agenda 2030 and the SDGs advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with US sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.” He said the Trump administration has “set a clear and overdue course correction on “gender” and climate ideology.
“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,” Heartney said.
The announcement comes on the back of the US pulling out the Paris Agreement and removing the US from key climate financing endeavours and reversing key climate and DEI initiatives domestically.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, responding to the US announcement, said all 193 UN members voted in 2015 for the SDGs and agreed to work together to deliver the 2030 Agenda, which is “the path to bridging divides, restoring trust, and building solidarity.” It continues to be the UN’s guiding principles “to advance a world of peace, prosperity, and dignity for all” and “a better, healthier, safer and more prosperous and sustainable future,” he added.
After Trump’s first election in November 2016 on an “America First” platform, the US had opposed multilateral solutions, but it didn’t disavow the SDGs. Following Joe Biden’s election in 2020, the US renewed support for the SDGs, reporting to Congress on how the US was contributing to achieving the 17 goals.
