New SDSN Report Reveals the State of Sustainable Development in Europe and Priorities for the Newly Established EU Leadership
Paris, France — The Europe Sustainable Development Report 2025 (ESDR), a new report released today by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), reveals waning SDG advancement and persistent social ,environmental, and biodiversity challenges across the European Union (EU) underscoring the need for the new EU leadership to reaffirm its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The sixth edition of the ESDR, which includes the SDG Index and Dashboards, assesses SDG progress in 41 states, including all 27 EU member states, nine EU candidate countries, of our European Free Trade Agreement countries, and the United Kingdom. Notably, the report demonstrates an overall lag in SDG progress across the EU, with the pace of SDG progress over the 2020-2023 period more than two times slower (+0.8 points ) than the 2016-2019 period (+1.9 points).
The Report also highlights Europe’s continuing environmental and biodiversity challenges, particularly related to SDG2 and sustainable food and land systems. This year’s ESDR is accompanied by a new study produced in collaboration with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), offering insights into the transformation of the EU’s agri-food system. The study’s results show that demand-side measures, especially dietary shifts, must be prioritized for sustainable agri-food systems and improved health outcomes in the EU.
— With regards to SDSN Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom ranked 19th and 12th amongst their European peer countries, respectively. In the 2023/24 ESDR, Ireland ranked 14th and a key factor in the decline appears to be the outsourcing of negative impacts abroad also known as the spillover effect. Ireland performance in the Spillover Effect Index was the second lowest amongst countries in the ESDR. Conversely, the UK rose 4 places from its rank of 16th in the 2023/24 ESDR.
Click here to access the 2025 ESDR
Click here to access the Study on Sustainable Food Systems and SDG-2 with the EESC