The South China Sea fisheries refugia initiative and the sustainable development goals

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially known as ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ are a set of seventeen aspirational ‘Global Goals’ with 169 targets between them. Spearheaded by the United Nations through a deliberative process involving its 194 Member States as well as global civil society, the Goals are contained in Paragraph 54 of the United Nations Resolution A/RES/70/1 of 25 September 2015. The SGDs and associated targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. Targets are defined as aspirational and global, with each Government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. It is anticipated that each Government will also decide on how these aspirational and global targets should be incorporated into national planning processes, policies and strategies.