The article is devoted to the creation of an effective institutional system for sustainable development as the most important issue of the modern scientific, political and public agenda. Sustainable development paradigm was adopted by the world community by general consent several decades ago, but nevertheless not a single country in the world, including Russia, has an efficient technology to achieve the corresponding goals today. The article reveals the content of the definition sustainable development, describes the preconditions and a brief history of the operationalization of the sustainable development concept, identifies the main problems of the practical implementation of different countries policy instruments, including Russia, to achieve sustainable development goals. The authors conduct a brief analysis of modern national strategic documents on sustainable development, elaborate recommendations for the innovative approaches application to the sustainable development goals implementation in Russia, as well as for ensuring effective institutional conditions for their practical implementation. At the same time, special note taken of a radical change in the value paradigm of public consciousness, adequate regulatory support and the development of composite indicators and criteria for sustainable development.