EUROSTAT has issued its 2017 edition on Sustainable Development in the European Union. The report provides an updated snapshot of the current situation concerning a selected number of indicators related to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Over the past five years, the EU has made significant progress towards five goals and moderate progress towards eight SDGs. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land) SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The publication is available for download.

In the case of four goals — SDG 6 'clean water and sanitation', SDG 13 'climate action', SDG 14 'life below water' and SDG 16 'peace, justice and strong institutions' — trends could not be calculated due to insufficient data over the past five years.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets were adopted by the United Nations (UN) in September 2015. These goals stirred global efforts to achieve sustainable development, within which the EU commits to play an active role to maximize progress towards the SDGs as stated with the Commission Communication on “Next steps for a sustainable European future” (COM(2016)739).