Dhaka, July 13 -- The SDGs are universal, time-bound, and legally non-binding policy objectives agreed upon by governments. They come close to prescriptive international standards but are generally more specific, and they can be highly ambitious. The overarching UN programme "2030 Agenda" presented the SDGs in 2015 as a "supremely ambitious and transformative vision" that should be accompanied by "bold and transformative steps" with "scale and ambition". The SDGs apply to all countries of the world, not just developing countries like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did (from the year 2000 to 2015).

They target all three dimensions of sustainability and sustainable development namely the environmental, economic and social dimensio...