As discussions on Sustainable Development Goals end this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, I call for more 'big data' to help secure a sustainable future (see also D. Griggs et al. Nature 495, 305–307; 2013). We should be collecting big data that can be used to model and test an array of different scenarios for sustainably transforming the production and consumption of energy, improving food and water security, and eradicating poverty.

Managing these issues will also help to rebalance important biogeochemical cycles (especially the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles), mitigate climate change, reverse ocean acidification and reduce the loss of biodiversity. Big data will help to illuminate the origins, nature and scale of these challenges, and how they relate to one another.

National databases and research centres can be linked to create huge databases. Initiatives similar to those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Global Ocean Observing System could fill the gaps in scientific, technical and socio-economic data. New initiatives such as Global Pulse (www.unglobalpulse.org) could help in mining and mobilizing big data, which are available in real time as a result of the explosive growth in new media.

The collection and use of big data sets needs to be coordinated globally, between regions and countries, as well as between relevant agencies and institutions. The United Nations and the International Council for Science could help to forge these collaborative initiatives and networks.