The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It is a bold agenda for global social, environmental and economic development, with human health as a central theme. Even though substantial improvements in health have been achieved during the last decades, every year over 5 million children die, mostly from preventable causes, and 300 000 women die in conjunction with childbirth. Premature deaths from non-communicable diseases are increasing, and our ability to treat infections is under threat through widespread anti-microbial resistance. Climate change is recognized as the biggest threat to health in our time. When the world now starts to plan for how society and our health systems should be reorganized after the COVID-19 pandemic the 2030 Agenda could and should play a central role. In this context, Agenda 2030 provides an ambitious roadmap for development, with its emphasis on collaboration across borders and disciplines. The agenda is achievable but reaching its goals will require strong commitment at all levels and societal change on a large scale.