UN SDG alignment | NSW State of the Environment

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, outlined how the world could eradicate poverty and help nations develop without continuing environmental harm.

This page identifies alignment between the 17 sustainable development goals and the indicators in the SoE report to show how our reporting aligns with and supports sustainable development in NSW. In 2024, the SoE report offers tracking on seven SDGs, including 13 targets and indicators as represented in Table SDG.1.

In mapping this alignment, we are using a common, global language and allowing comparison of our report with existing data and target outcomes. See the page for more information.

Table SDG.1: SDG alignment with NSW State of Environment current topics

SDG target	SDG indicator	NSW SoE indicator
2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality	2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture	Proportion of water extraction covered by water sharing plans
		Environmental share of available water
6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally	6.3.2: Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality	Nitrogen and phosphorous levels
		Salinity
		Percentage of ocean and estuarine beaches with beach suitability grades for swimming of good or better
6.6: By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes	6.6.1: Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time	Wetland extent
		Wetland condition
7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix	7.2.1: Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption	Total NSW non-renewable energy consumption
7.3: By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency	7.3.1: Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and GDP	Per capita residential energy consumption
		Annual NSW per capita greenhouse gas emissions
		Emissions intensity of the economy
9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities Indicators	9.4.1: CO₂ emission per unit of value added	Decoupling of CO₂ emissions from NSW Gross State Product
	9.4.1: CO₂ emission per unit of value added	Emissions intensity of the economy
11.2: By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons	11.2.1: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities	Access to 30-minute city
		Access to regional day return
11.4: Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage	11.4.1: Total per capita expenditure on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by source of funding (public, private), type of heritage (cultural, natural) and level of government (national, regional, and local/municipal)	Total area of NSW terrestrial protected areas
		Growth in public protected areas
		Growth in private protected areas
11.6: By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management	11.6.1: Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities	Per person waste generated
		Total solid waste recycled
		Litter items per 1,000m²
		Total waste generated
	11.6.2: Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) in cities (population weighted)	Concentrations of particles (PM₁₀)
		Concentrations of particles (PM_2.5)
		Concentrations of carbon monoxide
		Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide
		Concentrations of sulfur dioxide
		Concentrations of lead
12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse	12.5.1: National recycling rate, tons of material recycled	Total waste generation
		Total solid waste recycled
13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning	13.2.2: Total greenhouse gas emissions per year	Global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases
		Annual net NSW greenhouse gas emissions
		Annual NSW per capita greenhouse gas emissions
14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution	14.1.1: (a) Index of coastal eutrophication; and (b) plastic debris density	Estuarine water quality (chlorophyll-a and turbidity)
14.4: By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics	14.4.1: Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels	Coastal fish stocks
14.5: By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information	14.5.1: Coverage of protected areas in relation to marine areas	Proportion of marine waters protected in marine parks and reserves
15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements	15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area	Total area of NSW terrestrial protected areas
		Growth in public protected areas
		Growth in private protected areas
		River Condition Index (RCI) for NSW rivers
		Health of fish assemblages
		Number of threatened species listed
		Invasive plant species numbers, coverage and impact
15.4: By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development	15.4.1: Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity	Reserve representativeness (infographic)
15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species	15.5.1: Red List Index	Number of threatened species listed
	15.5.1: Red List Index	Number of threatened species listed
15.8: By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species	15.8.1: Proportion of countries adopting relevant national legislation and adequately resourcing the prevention or control of invasive alien species	Invasive plant species numbers, coverage and impact

Notes:

Explore all 17 goals on the United Nations website