On 20 November, the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT) published the 2017 edition of “Sustainable Development in the European Union“, its monitoring report on the state of the EU progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Report is the first to come out since the European Commission adopted its Communication (COM(2016) 739) on “Next Steps for a Sustainable European Future“, which maps the alignment of current EU policies with the SDG framework and provides for regular monitoring of progress. EUROSTAT has selected a subset of SDG indicators (100 out of 232) which are closely linked to the Communication, as well as to the accompanying document “Key European action supporting the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals“. For those indicators (16) to which a current EU policy target is associated, the Report explores the EU progress towards that target, whereas all other indicators are monitored according to the direction and speed of change. Progress at the goal level is then measured as an average of progress of individual indicators under the specific SDG.
According to the Statistical Office, in a five-year time span the European Union has made progress towards all SDGs, even though instances where the member States have moved away from a sustainable development trajectory are also evident within individual goals. In particular, significant progress has been achieved for SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).
This does not necessarily indicate that the status of the goal has already reached a satisfactory level for the EU. For example, progress on the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems under SDG15 does not mean that ecosystems and biodiversity across the member States are in good health. In addition, there have been only moderate advancements for eight SDGs, with SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) lagging far behind the others. Finally, for four SDGs (including SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 13, Climate Action, SDG 14, Life Below Water, and SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), EUROSTAT concludes that it has been impossible to evaluate trends due to insufficient data, something which is particularly worrying in the context of fundamental challenges such as climate change, degradation of marine ecosystems, and a rising authoritarian wave in the European continent.
To read all the key trends and statistics from the Report, download it here.
We are honoured to announce a new guest for our 2017/2018 EULawSD Keynote Lecture Series. Prof. Barbara Pozzo, among Europe’s leading experts on private and comparative environmental law, will deliver a lecture on “The Trajectory of Environmental Damage in Europe” on Friday, 23 March 2018 at 10:00 CET.
We are honoured to announce that we have managed to co-organize, in conjunction with the Chair of International Law of the University of Siena’s Department of Law (DGIUR), a further EULawSD keynote lecture on Thursday 16 November at 15:00 CET.
On 1 December (11am – 1 pm), Prof. Nerina Boschiero will be at the Department of Law of the University of Siena to discuss “The Principle of Sustainable Development in International and European Union Law“. Boschiero is Professor of International Law at the University of Milan and Head of Studies of the LLM in Sustainable Development. Previously, she was professor of International Trade Law at the University of Milan (2002-2012), professor of International Law and Private International Law at the University of Verona (1997-2002), professor of International Law, Private International Law, European Law at the University of Catania (1994-1997), and lecturer of Private International Law at the University of Trento (1990-1992). Her current research interests are focused on the intersection and interaction between public and private international law.
On 7 December (10am – 12pm), Prof. Marco Gestri will instead deliver his keynote lecture on “The Precautionary Principle in International and European Union Law”. Gestri is Professor of International Law and Director of the Center for Research on the European Union, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He is the Scientific Director of the Renzo Imbeni Summer School, Modena; a member of the Board of Editors and Book Reviews editor of the Italian Yearbook of International Law; and sits on the Scientific Committee of Diritto dell’economia and of Security: Theory and Practice. Prof. Gestri is also a fellow at the Istituto Affari Internazionali, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, and the Italian Society of International Law.
The Report has three main components. First, it presents an assessment of Italy’s progress in the implementation of the SDGs. Second, it details a list of concrete proposals for the Italian government to consider in the next budget law and in subsequent policy developments. Finally, it proposes an innovative analytical model to forecast possible pathways for sustainable development in Italy based on a series of different policy scenarios to 2030.
