The 2015 Global Sustainable Development Report was launched in June 2015 and contributed to the 2015 session of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.

Following the approach piloted for the preparation of the Prototype and the mandate given at Rio+20, the general approach to the 2015 edition of the GSDR report is that of an assessment of assessments, documenting and describing the landscape of information on specific issues. The report is global in coverage while taking into account the perspectives of the five UN regions. Extensive inputs was sought from the UN system, government officials and stakeholders at all levels, including representatives of academies of sciences, of key international assessments, and relevant UN expert groups.