The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) published its fifth SDG progress report for Europe, North America, and Central Asia. The report shows that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change-related shocks, the war against Ukraine, high interest rates, and elevated inflation are slowing down sustainable development in the region.

Titled, ‘Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region: Facing a Headwind in 2024,’ the report reveals that UNECE countries that span across Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Türkiye, and Israel are on track to achieve only 20 SDG targets by 2030. “This is down from 21 targets in 2023, and 26 targets in 2022,” according to a press release, and represents 17% of the 117 measurable targets. Progress needs to accelerate for 80 targets, and the current trend must be reversed for 17.

The region is on track to achieve targets relating to extreme poverty (1.1), maternal and child mortality (3.1 and 3.2), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health (3.4), education facilities (4.a), technology for women’s empowerment (5.b), participatory water and sanitation management (6.b), access to energy services (7.1), strategy for youth employment (8.b), sustainable and inclusive industrialization (9.2), sustainable and clean industries (9.4), and access to information and communication technology (ICT) and the Internet (9.c). Likewise, countries need to maintain progress to achieve targets on remittance costs (10.c), housing and basic services (11.1), urban air quality and waste management (11.6), disaster risk management (DRM) policies (11.b), fisheries subsidies and small-scale artisanal fishing (14.6 and 14.b), international cooperation on science and technology (17.6), and capacity building for ICT (17.8).

Reverse trends are observed for targets on investment in agriculture (2.a), water quality (6.3), per capita economic growth and economic productivity and innovation (8.1 and 8.2), infrastructure development (9.1), sustainable tourism monitoring (12.b), and fossil fuel subsidies (12.c). Environmental targets affected by reverse trends relate to climate change policies (13.2), marine resources for small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs) (14.7), research capacity and marine technology (14.a), desertification and land degradation (15.3), and biodiversity loss (15.5). Trends also need to reverse on targets on human trafficking (16.2), effective institutions (16.6), tax and other revenue collection (17.1), global macroeconomic stability (17.13), and respect for countries’ policy space (17.15).

Expressing concern over the state of progress, UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean highlighted the Summit of the Future in September 2024 as “a global opportunity to improve the underlying conditions for SDG acceleration.” “[W]e must recognize that these Goals are guiding our actions towards a sustainable future,” she said.

In comparing estimated indicator values for 2030 with indicator target values, the report uses the same methodology used in previous reports and assessments across the five UN regional commissions. According to the press release, data collected since 2020 enable the inclusion of trends since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic for 143 out of the 160 indicators used in the 2024 assessment. Data for 2022, now available for 44 indicators, make it possible to partially reflect the impact of the first year of the war against Ukraine.

The report was issued on 19 February 2024, ahead of the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD), taking place from 13-14 March. Outcomes from the five RFSDs contribute to the deliberations of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). [Publication: Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region: Facing a Headwind in 2024] [Online Report] [UNECE Press Release] [UNECE Dashboard for SDGs]