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When the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed upon by the UN General Assembly in 2015, and subsequently endorsed by most UN Member States, there was a sense of optimism in respect of their timely implementation by 2030. This optimism has now become a concern. This is due to the fact that a combination of unfavourable circumstances and crises have so severely undermined the pursuit of the SDGs, that there are serious concerns about the probability of their achievement by 2030. This paper reports on an expert-driven literature review of the implementation of the SDGs and a bibliometric analysis, aimed at identifying some of the issues which have been slowing SDGs' progress. Based on the information gathered, it suggests some specific measures which may be deployed, in order to accelerate their implementation by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development goals (SDG) represent one of the pillars of the UN's 2030 agenda aiming to secure a more sustainable future for all nations. The 17 goals comprising the SDG framework form a transformative action plan that is designed to help nations achieve a more sustainable future focusing on their environmental, social, and economic systems. Achieving the goals within the designated timeframe, however, entails overcoming multiple challenges related to policy design, resources management, and harnessing the synergies and trade-offs among the goals themselves. Recognizing the vital role modeling and simulation can play in facilitating the achievement of the SDG, this paper provides a review of the academic literature published between 2015 and 2021 relating to the models developed to tackle SDG related issues. The main purpose of this review is to explore the modeling practices related to SDG and to determine how aligned those modeling practices are with the priorities of sustainability science. We developed a multi-dimension classification scheme to categorize the models retrieved from the literature based on their main characteristics focusing on characteristics such as the modeling approach used, model uncertainty treatment, model temporal and spatial scales, and which science priority the model focuses on. The results of this research show that most of the models focused on studying policy changes needed to achieve the SDG and monitoring the progress of the SDG. The results also highlight missing important characteristics in SDG models such as cross-scale treatment and advanced uncertainty treatment. While this research can be valuable in informing modelers about the gaps need to be filled in SDG modeling and facilitates the communication between modelers and policy makers, it can be further extended by including an evaluation for the modeling approaches used in SDG contexts as well as adding more characteristics to the model categorization scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has introduced a new sustainability paradigm that challenges private firms. According to this, in pursuing sustainable development, companies must face a complex system of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are divided into 17 primary goals, 169 targets, and 244 indicators. This paper outlines an assessment framework to investigate how companies are dealing with this Agenda and reporting their commitment in achieving SDGs, as well as monitoring their progress. Content analysis has been applied to reduce the number of SDG indicators including only the companies' internally actionable ones and to associate them to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators. A positioning matrix allows companies to compare their strategies with those of other companies regarding their efforts in achieving SDGs. The relative position of firms in the matrix provides valuable feedback for managers giving insight into how other companies adapt their sustainability practices to the requirements of the SDGs. As a means of exemplification, the framework has been applied to a group of GRI-reporting major electricity companies. The proposed framework presents opportunities for both practice and research allowing to investigate the companies' level of engagement in reporting and monitoring their contributions to SDGs. • The method aids companies in dealing with SDG reporting at an indicator level. • Companies can use the proposed method to compare the quality of their SDG reporting. • A positioning matrix allows companies to compare their strategies regarding SDGs. • The relative position of firms in the matrix provides valuable feedback for managers. • The positioning matrix is helpful in monitoring progress toward SDG contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]