# Analyzing the Scientific Evolution of the Sustainable Development Goals
## 1 Introduction  
In 1987, in the Brundtland Report, the United Nations (UN) defined sustainable development as \"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs\" [1]. Furthermore, it emphasizes that the three interrelated concepts of sustainable development are social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability; this means that each action or decision must consider natural, human, and economic capital to achieve responsible and sustainable development [2, 3]. As a result, over the past decades, the concept of sustainability has attracted global attention and has been widely discussed by policy- and decision-makers, academics, and experts. In fact, sustainable development is now part of almost all political agendas in which a variety of goals and targets have been set to make the world a more sustainable and resilient place for all. Thus, the Millennium Summit that took place on 18 September 2000, in New York City, led to the adoption of the UN Millennium Declaration, which aimed to create an international association to reduce global levels of extreme poverty. This meeting was the result of work carried out over the course of 10 years. In the declaration, the 191 UN member states and world leaders defined values as well as guiding principles and committed to seven common goals: peace, security, and disarmament; development and poverty eradication; protection of our common environment; human rights, democracy,and good governance; protection of vulnerable people; meet the special needs of Africa; and strengthening the UN [4]. This resolution evolved into a set of eight goals, known as the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that address various social, economic, and environmental issues. The MDGs were an initiative developed to measure social performance based on 21 targets and 60 official indicators. They established eight targets in different dimensions of development that were intrinsically interrelated, fed back and monitored through quantifiable indicators to measure progress made. These goals constituted an international initiative for the promotion of development and the eradication of poverty that, in its conception, considered the multidimensional nature of these two concepts [5; 6]. The MDGs have successfully focused global attention on a broad-based development framework that has been superseded by the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, on 25 September 2015, The UN General Assembly approved Resolution A/RES/70/1 on \"Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development\" [7]. The agenda was agreed upon by the 193 members of the UN and outlined 17 SDGs, whose goals were to solve the economic, social, and environmental problems that hinder global progress towards sustainability [8]. The 17 SDGs with their 169 targets and 213 measurable indicators form a global action plan, with a broad scope incorporating \"Five P's\", namely planet, people, prosperity, peace, and partnership [9]. The SDGs are as follows: no poverty (SDG1); zero hunger (SDG 2); good health and well-being (SDG 3); quality education (SDG 4); gender equality (SDG 5); drinking water and sanitation (SDG 6); clean and affordable energy (SDG 7); decent work and economic growth (SDG 8); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); reduction of inequality (SDG 10); sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); responsible consumption and production (SDG 12); climate action (SDG 13); underwater life (SDG 14); life on earth (SDG 15); strong institutions for peace and justice (SDG 16); and partnerships to achieve the goals (SDG 17). The SDGs call for global action among governments, businesses, and civil society organizations to achieve shared and sustainable prosperity [10]; they also allow the overcoming of previous partial approaches to sustainable development [11; 12].