The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) announced an expansion of its initiative for identifying standards to help advance the SDGs. The ‘Portal on Standards for SDGs’ was originally launched in 2018 with 1,600 standards linked to five SDGs, and now includes 20,000 standards addressing all 17 SDGs. According to UNECE, this makes it the largest repository of standards mapped to the SDGs.

The portal aims to encourage organizations that develop standards to consider them accelerators of sustainability. In addition to the standards, the portal includes 40 case studies and 10 commentary pieces from experts in standards, aiming to demonstrate how standards can help achieve the SDGs. 

UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova explained that standards drive progress towards the 2030 Agenda and accelerate economic growth by establishing technical specifications and procedures and disseminating best practice techniques. This facilitates product compliance and ensures safety of the products, as well as services and processes. 

In 2016, UNECE launched the Gender Responsive Standards Initiative to strengthen the use of standards and technical regulations as tools to achieve SDG 5 (gender equality), integrate a gender lens in the development of standards and technical regulations, and elaborate gender indicators and criteria for use in standards development. The Initiative’s activities culminated in the Declaration for Gender Responsive Standards and Standards Development, which was signed in 2019. Signing countries and international, regional and national standards bodies and organizations pledged to create and implement a gender action plan for their body or organization, and to share data and information on their plan’s implementation. [UNECE press release] [Portal on Standards for SDGs]