Europe Sustainable Development Report 2021

A top priority of the European Union is to help countries make their societies greener and more digital in a way that is fair to everyone. This can be seen in the European Commission’s 2022 Strategic Foresight Report and in the EU Green Deal, which puts Europe on track to reach net-zero global warming emissions by 2050. Other European organisations are also exploring how EU countries are developing and using digital technologies, including open data, to achieve climate neutrality, reduce pollution, and increase energy efficiency.

One example is the European Sustainable Development Report 2021 – an independent report that describes Europe’s progress towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report assesses the progress of 38 countries, including EU Member States, European Free Trade Association countries, candidate countries, and the UK by analysing data that links to the SDGs. Examples of these are:

• SDG 4: Quality Education, with subcategories such as ‘Tertiary educational attainment’ and ‘Adult participation in learning’
• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, with subcategories such as ‘Share of renewable energy in gross final consumptions’ and ‘CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per electricity output’
• SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions, with subcategories such as ‘Death rate due to homicide’ and ‘Access to justice’

In addition to analysing the data, the information and results regarding the SDGs and subcategories are illustrated in interactive maps and visualised in a graph to exemplify the performance of countries along the SDGs. Thus, by using available datasets, the report allows readers to visualise the different countries’ current performance and future trends.

The report was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Institute of the European Environmental Policy. This edition is titled ‘Transforming the European Union to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’ and focuses on countries’ National Recovery and Resilience Plans and the transformation of the EU food system. The report is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) international licence and can be used by interested parties.

For more information, read the full report.

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