In September 2015, world leaders chose the sustainable development path for thenext fifteen years after agreeing on seventeen Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) with 169 targets. The SDGs were clubbed under the title “TransformingOur World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” They will build uponand replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight internationaldevelopment goals established in 2000 in the Millennium Summit of the UnitedNations. This paper discusses the major differences between SDGs and MDGs andassesses, briefly, each of the seventeen SDGs in relation to the Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and theUnited Arab Emirates) in terms of current status and future prospects.
