The SDGs are clustered into five areas, which are also known as the ‘5Ps’ of the 2030 Agenda: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. The planet cluster covers SDGs with an environmental focus and aims, inter alia, to protect the planet from degradation by promoting sustainable consumption and production, the sustainable management of natural resources, and taking urgent action on climate change.
From a sustainability perspective, it is promising to see that SDG knowledge in support of informed policy making continues to expand, particularly in Europe. Similarly, The European environment – state and outlook 2020 report (SOER 2020) stressed that this comprehensive set of SDGs and its targets are expected to be increasingly integrated throughout future EU policy frameworks. For an integrated knowledge base on SDG progress, it is also important to apply a combination of qualitative and quantitative SDG assessment approaches.
Against the backdrop of recent EU-wide developments on SDGs, this web publication aims to support the knowledge base on SDGs, paying particular attention to the European Commission`s new priorities and the Green New Deal for Europe. In this context, this publication is based on a three-year mapping and analysis of EEA member and cooperating countries’ environmental SDG actions and procedures. It has been informed by publications on Europe’s SDG action, an National Focal Points(NFP)/Eionet consultation which took place from February to April 2020, and the UN Voluntary National Reviews published between 2016-2020.
By complementing the EEA’s contribution to the EU SDG monitoring report and a joint report published by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)/EEA on SDG interactions, this publication aims to equip its readers with a cross-country analysis and individual country profiles which give country-by-country insight into the focus and prioritisation of environmental action across Europe. It shows both the convergences and divergences towards environmental sustainability in Europe. Converging environmental focus points to the overall environmental challenges that persist in Europe, whereas diversification indicates emerging challenges or different geographical needs and political priorities in countries. Innovative approaches and good practices in the country profiles reflected herein may also be inspirational. Secondly, the geographical scope of this product includes 33 EEA member countries and 6 cooperating countries. It is useful for non-EU countries to compare their SDG actions with those of EU Member States as well as for European Commission to gain insights into environmental action across Europe.
This publication covers country briefings and an accompanying cross-country analysis. The briefings sum up the ways in which countries prioritise or identify the focus for their actions on those SDGs with an environmental dimension. SDGs with an environmental dimension are defined in accordance with the approach taken in SOER 2020 (EEA, 2019) (Figure 2). Based on this, the Agency identified 11 SDGs with both direct and indirect environmental dimensions (SDGs 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15). However, it is important to mention that SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 17 (partnerships) are also very important in achieving effective environmental governance and finance.
In addition to their environmental lens, the country briefings give brief accounts of national plans, strategies and initiatives, institutional structures, and processes as well as stakeholder engagement specifically set up for SDG action. The information provided for this purpose was gathered mainly from the UN Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) submitted to the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development between 2016-2020. Acknowledging that VNRs have their own limitations and that not all countries have available or recently published VNRs, the EEA also gathered information from other sources which explore SDG action and their environmental focus in these 39 countries.
