The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 25 September 2015, is a broad and ambitious plan of action. At its core are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets with the overarching objective of leaving no one behind.

Check the World Accreditation Day 2021 brochure here: https://ilac.org/?ddownload=123742 The 2030 Agenda, articulated across 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which bring together economic, social and environmental dimensions, includes the three key pillars: people, prosperity and planet.

Accreditation, in collaboration with other quality infrastructure institutions including metrology, standardization, conformity assessment and market surveillance, provides the technical foundations that are critical to the functioning of developed and developing societies. It is an enabler for industrial development, trade competitiveness in global markets, efficient use of natural and human resources, food safety, health and environmental protection.

The positive impact of accreditation is therefore clearly aligned with the pillars of People, Prosperity and Planet, and provides policymakers, businesses and other stakeholders with the solutions to implement, measure and monitor many of the objectives and targets contained in the SDGs, and the support to achieve them.

Protecting the planet (SDGs 6,12,13,14 and 15) – This pillar of the SDGs addresses the protection of the natural world. Trade and consumerism have an impact on the environment, through the use of limited natural resources, pollution, and waste. This is impacting the climate, the sustainability of scarce natural resources, and pollution of air, land and oceans. Accreditation underpins environmental performance by reducing contamination & greenhouse gases and controlling waste & pollution.