The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a set of policy ambitions agreed upon by all the member states of the UN. They deserve to be taken seriously as a unanimously agreed framework for global politics. However, they raise a number of questions. One concerns the democratic legitimacy and the weak involvement of the public in these decisions. Another set of questions relate to the design and implementation of the SDGs, which are partly contradictory and open to rival interpretations. This relates to all the main themes, i.e. environment vs growth and social development, as well as to the role of good governance. The latter seems to be of great importance for raising taxes and making rational decisions on fossil fuels etc. At the same time, the SDGs could provide a general framework for the reform of global governance. International organizations often have unclear, limited and yet overlapping mandates. Such reform could be pursued through the EU as a global actor.