PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY inspired Americans to great undertakings by setting bold goals: to go the moon, to overcome racial discrimination, to make peace with the Soviet Union. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” JFK told a joint session of Congress 55 years ago, and his words still stir us today. Similarly, he called on Americans to sign a Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union, declaring that “our attitude [toward peace] is as essential as theirs.”

Our generation’s needs are different, but the spirit of setting great goals and devoting the resources to achieve them can move America and the world once again.

Our generation’s greatest challenge is sustainable development, meaning a nation that is prosperous, fair, and environmentally sustainable. Our nation’s goals should be the Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030. The US government signed those goals with the other 192 United Nations member states on Sept. 25, 2015, but our government, as well as the presidential candidates, has so far neglected them. The United States should enthusiastically embrace the SDGs as if our future depends on them. It does.

Image: DANIEL HERTZBERG FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE.