The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) in partnership with SDSN Europe and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published the third edition of the Europe Sustainable Development Report 2021, an independent quantitative report on the progress of the European Union (EU), 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 2021 is part of the broader Sustainable Development Report (SDR) series which tracks 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 European partner countries, including for the first time this year EU candidate countries (Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. This year’s edition includes chapters on “The European Green Deal, EU Recovery and the SDGs” and on “Transforming Food and Land systems to achieve the SDGs”.

The report comes out at a time when cases of COVID-19 are soaring again in Europe and the emergence of new variants make the health situation and economic recovery uncertain. Ending the COVID-19 pandemic everywhere is a prerequisite for restoring and accelerating SDG progress in Europe and globally. As emphasized under SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals), Europe should continue to work with the United Nations, G20, G7 and other key partners to accelerate the roll out of vaccines everywhere, mobilize financial resources and address the lack of fiscal space to finance emergency expenditures and recovery plans in low and middle-income countries.

Download the report here