The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 concluded “one of the most […] complex [exercises] in the UN's history” (Kamau, 2015). The 2030 Agenda has brought together the human development and the sustainable development workstreams that evolved separately within the UN system. The goal framework further builds on the Millennium Development Goals drawn from the Millennium Declaration (2000). The dissertation analytically traces the evolution of global goal setting from a “genuine diplomatic innovation” (Annan 2012: 222) at the time of the Millennium Declaration to a recognized form of international cooperation under UN auspices as illustrated by the 2030 Agenda. It explores goal setting as a specific form of international negotiation, representing a multi-method and a multi-stakeholder approach, through empirical process-tracing. Demonstrating that innovation in international negotiation is possible, the dissertation contributes to the understanding of the transformation of contemporary multilateralism and its implications for the UN.