On the second anniversary of the 2030 universal sustainable development goals (SDGs), a number of voices were raised on Monday 25 September criticising the progress made by the EU for putting these goals into practice, due to a lack of strategy for implementing them (see EUROPE 11833).
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) speaks out against the EU for still not having a strategy for the SDGs, and for “731 days of empty promises on sustainability” despite the calls made by political decision-makers, civil society, industry and other actors in favour of action.
“In the last 731 days, the EU has made patchy progress on sustainability. The European Commission has turned deaf ears to the calls from both European Parliament and the member states for a plan for reaching the UN sustainable development goals. The goals did not get so much as a mention in President Juncker's recent State of the European Union speech!", Sally Nicholson, Head of Development Policy and Finance at the WWF European Policy Office, states.
In Nicholson's view, initiatives like the Energy Union cannot replace an overarching sustainability plan. "The 17 goals are indivisible and should transform every area of our societies, making them cleaner, healthier, greener and fairer. If we are to succeed, the European Commission has to pick up the pace. It must produce an SDG implementation plan which includes all policy areas before the end of its mandate. The clock is ticking”, she says.
German MEP Jo Leinen (S&D) pointed out that implementation shortcomings were already visible and warned against making empty promises.
“The 2030 sustainable development goals should not remain a lip service. All EU policies and proposals need to pass a compatibility check against the 2030 goals. More initiatives will be needed to foster the implementation of the SDGs", he says in a press release.
Regretting the timidity of the Commission proposals, Leinen points out that “industry regions like Europe in particular have to change their consumption patterns and use less resources. European wealth should not grow on the expense of other countries.”
He also calls for “monitoring mechanisms both in the Commission as well as in the Parliament that sound the alarm if EU policies hamper the SDGs”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)