The GSTC Standards and the UN SDGs

What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

In 2015, the UN set an ambitious 15-year plan to achieve by 2030, which addresses some of the most pressing issues the world is facing.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action by all countries, regardless of their economic status, to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.

What is the relationship between the GSTC Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals?

There is a strong relationship between the GSTC Standards (known previously as GSTC Criteria) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By up taking the GSTC Standards, you are helping to meet the UN SDGs. Economic, environmental, and societal dimensions are all addressed by the GSTC Standards. Destinations and organizations looking to contribute to the SDGs will find that the GSTC Standards and other GSTC-Recognized Standards provide effective tools to help them rise to the challenge.

Corresponding SDG to each criterion of the GSTC Standards

All the GSTC Standards include performance indicators designed to provide guidance in measuring compliance with the Standards. Application of the Standards will help destinations, businesses and organizations contribute towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Against each of the criteria, one or more of the 17 SDGs is identified, to which it most closely relates.