The main conclusions of the 2021 Sustainable Development Report

The Sustainable Development Report 2021 has been a reminder, since its creation in 2018, of countries’ commitment to the 2030 Agenda. In its third edition the UK sits in 17th position with a score of 80.00 points out of 100. In this blog entry, we will analyze the main conclusions which we can take away from the 2021 Sustainable Development Report for the drive towards sustainability in a year marked by the impact of Covid-19, which has significantly affected the pace of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What is the Sustainable Development Report?

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network, SDSN, and the Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation have been producing the Sustainable Development Report since 2018 to report on the progress and policies of each state. Their reportings are based on the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs.

Who are the most committed countries?

The report analyses 165 countries: those which have made public their commitment and progress with the SDGs, out of the 193 which signed them on the 25th September 2015 at the UN. In 2018, Sweden, Denmark and Finland were the three countries who had made the most progress towards meeting the 2030 Agenda. The Nordic countries have continued to make the most progress in meeting the targets of the 2030 Agenda, albeit in a slightly different order: Finland (85.90), Switzerland (85.61) and Denmark (84.86) in 2021.

Only 16 countries scored higher than 80 points out of 100, and all of these are European. The remaining countries in the Top 10 are: Germany (82.48), Belgium (82.19), Austria (82.09), Norway (81.98), France (81.67), Slovenia (81.60) and Estonia (81.58).

The Impact of the pandemic on the SDGs

At the start of 2020, the United Nations launched the ‘Decade of Action’ movement to accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. However, shortly afterwards, the world was struck by the pandemic, negatively impacting the world at human, social and economic levels. According to the Spanish Network World Pact publication (la Red Española de Pacto Mundial), ‘Sustainable Finance and the 2030 Agenda: investing in the transformation of the world,’ the annual global contribution to SDGs amounts to $3 trillion per year. To reach the target, an additional $2-4trillion is needed every year until 2030, that is to say an annual total of $7 trillion, an amount which still seems a long way off.

The negative impact of Covid-19 is also evident in the Sustainable Development Report of 2021. For the first time since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, progress on the SDGs has been stalled by the global crisis resulting from the pandemic. In 2015 we had a global score of 64 points out of 100 in meeting the SDGs, and this has slipped from 66.7 in 2019 to 66.5 in 2020.

Developing countries need greater fiscal facilities to carry out recovery actions. According to the SDSN, there are four ways to achieve this goal: improving monetary mechanisms, improving tax collection, boosting financial intermediation, and alleviating debt. 

The good news is that the pandemic has reinforced the 2030 Agenda as the internationally-accepted guide to an inclusive and sustainable global recovery, which will in turn drive the SDGs forward. Meanwhile, companies must continue to focus on sustainability and innovation as the driving forces behind this transformation.

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