Not yet a strategy but a step towards the strategy called for the by the European Parliament on implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the EU: European Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella has announced the publication, this year, of a reflection paper.
“We are committed to remain, frontrunners in sustainable development, and to lead on the 2030 Agenda. Later this year, the European Commission will publish a Reflection Paper on the EU’s Sustainable Future”, the commissioner said in New York.
Speaking on Tuesday 17 July at the UN High Level Political Forum on implementation of the 17 SDGs, which ended on Wednesday 18 July with a passionate plea from Secretary General António Guterres to all countries to make up lost ground.
A review of the SDGs revealed that most progress had been made in SDGs 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (energy), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 13 (land-based ecosystems). Commissioner Vella, like his counterpart in International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica highlighted that the SDGs form part of the European Consensus on Development which guides the EU’s cooperation and development. He presented the EU strategy on plastics “which covers the whole life cycle of materials and products”, and the link between it and protecting the oceans. He tweeted that he was “very happy” with how this was received at the UN.
He gave assurances that the EU would be working hard “throughout the summer and in run up to G7 Environment” on climate change, the oceans and clean energy, in Halifax, Canada from 19 to 21 September.
Ten EU member states presented their voluntary national reviews (VNRs), a UN mechanism for assessing each UN country’s progress. This takes the number of EU countries to have undergone this exercise to 24 out of 28.
The WWF said that the EU had little progress to be proud of, almost three years after the SDGs were adopted (September 2015). It had made a similar remark one year ago (see EUROPE 11869). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)