The Diplomat in Spain

Cover of the report.

The Diplomat. 10/07/2018

Spain holds the 25^th position in the Global Index of achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which was presented yesterday, only nine days before the Government undergoes, in New York, the UN Voluntary National Review of progress towards Agenda 2030.

The third edition of the Index (drawn up by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, SDSN, and by the Bertelsmann Foundation) reveals that “only a few countries” have taken decisive actions to achieve the SDG and that “no country is on the right path” to achieve them by 2030. The ranking is led by Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Germany and France are the only countries of the G7 among the first ten positions and the United States falls to the 35^th position.

Spain, which holds the 25^th position (the same as in the same previous edition and five positions higher than the one it held in the ranking of 2016), has an especially low rating in the ninth (innovation), twelfth (consumption and production), thirteenth (climate change) and fourteenth (submarine life) objectives and it shows a positive trend in those related to health, gender equality, water management, energy and climate action.

Furthermore, the stagnation of the Official Development Assistance and the investment in research, the high unemployment rate and the lack of an active strategy for the protection of the ocean affect Spain’s results in the international framework and, especially, in the EU.

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Moratinos hopes the High Commissioner for the SDG contributes to improve our country’s position

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“In 2018, Spain has worked satisfactorily in several fields: university, companies, the civil society and the different levels of the administration”, but “there is still much way to be covered”, the former Foreign Minister and president of REDS (representative in Spain of the SDSN), Miguel Ángel Moratinos, declared.

“Nevertheless, the recent appointment of a High Commissioner for the Agenda 2030 for the Government and the creation of a Ministry of Ecologic Transition are good signs for Spain to be able to improve its position next year”, he pointed out.

The Government has appointed Cristina Gallach to lead the High Commissioner for the Agenda 2030, a recently created agency presided by Pedro Sánchez, and it has approved the Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Agenda 2030, which will serve as a support for the UN Voluntary National Review that Spain will undergo on July 18 through the Foreign Ministry, Josep Borrell.