The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published the Europe Sustainable Development Report 2020, the second independent quantitative report on the progress of the European Union, its member states, and other European countries towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed by all UN member states in 2015.
The Europe Sustainable Development Report 2020 is part of the broader Sustainable Development Report (SDR) series which track the performance of countries and municipalities around the world on the SDGs since 2015. It builds on a peer-reviewed and statistically audited methodology, and includes country profiles for the EU, its member states, and partner countries.
The report comes at a critical time when a new US administration has committed to re-joining the Paris Agreement. China, Japan, South Korea, and other countries have joined the EU in pledging zero greenhouse gas emissions by around the middle of the century. This is the time for the EU to promote shared goals for sustainable development ahead of the landmark 2021 climate and biodiversity summits in the United Kingdom and in China.
“The SDGs and the Paris Agreement reflect Europe’s values and are aligned with the European Green Deal, so the EU must provide global leadership on the goals. The EU has the tools in place to achieve the SDGs internally, but they must be organized more clearly around the six transformations. It is in the EU’s interest to promote SDG and Green Deal diplomacy ahead of the climate and biodiversity COPs in 2021,” said Guido Schmidt-Traub, Executive Director of the SDSN.
At the same time, Europe’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic must advance long-term development objectives. In this process, strengthening SDG data and statistics and monitoring processes will be key.
Read the report: Europe Sustainable Development Report 2020.
Original source: SDGIndex
