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Sustainable development is a part of every recent global agenda; the world has been trying to establish a more sustainable path and various goals and targets have been set to achieve this. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), introduced by the United Nations in 2015, aim to tackle economic, social and environmental issues that plague the world and to promote the concept of sustainability. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review regarding each SDG, the problem that each one addresses and why it is important to tackle it. Recent data regarding various targets are provided and compared to previous years, while a trend analysis is carried out to evaluate global progress and in different world regions. Based on UN estimations, an evaluation is extracted of each SDG's progress and those areas where attention is needed are identified. These assessments reveal that economy-related targets, such as targets included in the 8th SDG (decent work and economic growth), the 9th (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and 12th SDG (responsible consumption and production) are close to being achieved, while acceleration is needed in order to achieve targets and goals regarding education (4th SDG), cities and communities' sustainability (11th SDG) and in particular climate change (13th SDG). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biorefineries are linked to SDGs and Bioeconomy. • Challenges towards implementing the bioeconomy are discussed. • The role of biorefineries in the bioeconomy is elucidated. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are guidelines to improve the socio-economic and environmental worldwide situation caused by excessive fossil fuel use. These goals must be accomplished before 2030 by implementing a national sustainable development framework in all UN country members. Instead, biorefineries are the seed towards a more sustainable world since biomass upgrading into a series of value-added products and energy vectors can reduce current issues related to waste generation and climate change. Besides, biorefineries are the first step on the way to implement a bioeconomy. This review paper aims to elucidate the existing relation between biorefineries, bioeconomy, and the SDGs through a comprehensive analysis of the technical requirements, challenges, and perspectives of biomass upgrading processes. In this way, this review paper includes a discussion about the biorefinery, bioeconomy, sustainable development, and sustainability concepts. Moreover, this paper elucidates how the implementation of biorefineries is linked to the SDGs accomplishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The work described in this paper won an Engineering Award from the UNESCO and the United Nations. It qualified among the top 30 finalists from a pool of about 3200 engineering entries from the world''s most prestigious universities in 89 countries, including Cambridge, Oxford, MIT, Stanford and Yale. This paper describes the methods employed in a sustainability project titled ‘Global Basic Needs in an Integrated Sustainable Approach’ submitted by the author to the UNESCO in agreement with the United Nations Millennium Goals and within their framework of the Mondialogo Engineering Award. A six-nation international jury of renowned leading scientists and engineers selected this project for a nomination award. While we all anxiously wait for science to provide the solutions to global warming and catastrophic climate change, a holistic engineering approach was used to halt pollution, and to provide sustainable shelter, clean water, energy, food and education to the global population. This approach can be used anywhere in the world and conceptualizes a revolutionary sustainability paradigm for present and future societies. This work is a contribution to the advancement of the science of sustainability everywhere on the planet. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]