Ireland Ranks 8th out of 14 EU countries on UN Sustainable Development Goals
Ireland ranks 8th out of 14 comparable EU countries in this year’s Sustainable Progress Index. The index comprises three dimensions: economy, society and environment. Ireland is ranked 9th out of the 14 countries on the economy. On the social index, Ireland is in the middle of the ranking, in 7th place. Ireland is towards the bottom of the ranking on the environment index highlighting the major challenges we face in meeting our environmental goals set out in Agenda 2030. At the midpoint of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, a reality check reveals significant challenges are still evident in meeting some of the environment goals.
The report entitled ‘Measuring Progress: Sustainable Progress Index 2024’ ranks 14 comparable EU countries based on their delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IThe SDGs call on all nations to combine economic prosperity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. The analysis shows that while Ireland has made some progress, enormous challenges remain.
Main Findings:
The report finds that Ireland is ranked 9th out of the 14 countries on the economy index. Although the record on GDP per capita and GDP growth is good - the low score on the economy index is influenced by several factors including low pay, the proportion of youths not in employment, education or training (the NEET rate), the need for further policy action with regard to transport, logistics (we score second lowest on logistics capacity among EU-14) and broadband capacities and the % of GDP devoted to R&D. These lower the score on this dimension.
On the social index, Ireland is in the middle of the ranking, in 7th place. We score highly on goals relating to education, peace and justice; good health and wellbeing; less well on goals reflecting poverty, inequality and gender equality.
Ireland is at the bottom of the ranking on the environment index. Significant challenges exist if Ireland is to meet our commitment to the environment goals set out in Agenda 2030. Ireland’s score has improved on some environmental SDGs, notably on SDG 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’, but poor performance on goals relating to water quality, affordable and clean energy, responsible production and consumption, and climate change are among the key factors driving the result for this dimension.
The overall Sustainable Progress Index, which includes all 17 goals set out by the UN, concludes that Ireland is in 8th place out of the 14 countries. Countries at the bottom are Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland top the rankings.
Report: main findings Ireland
Strengths
- Ireland is in the top 5 for just 3 SDGs; ‘Quality education’ (SDG 4), ‘Peace and Justice’ (SDG16) and ‘Sustainable cities and communities’ (SDG11).
- Ireland’s relatively good performance on ‘Peace and Justice’ where Ireland ranks 5 points to Ireland having relatively safe quality of life in our cities and communities with a reasonably good transparent, effective and accountable institutions.
- We continue to perform very well on the SDG for ‘Quality Education’ (SDG 4) where Ireland ranks 1, much as expected. From basic education to tertiary education, Ireland’s reputation for ‘quality education’ is evident, although some consideration should be given to the low rate of adult participation in learning.
- The good score on SDG 11 ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ where Ireland ranks 2nd indicates that Ireland offers a good quality of life in cities and communities, performing very well on air quality in particular.
Weaknesses
- Ireland is in the bottom 5 for 7 SDGs; ‘Zero Hunger (SDG 2), ‘Gender Equality (SDG 5)’, ‘Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6)’, ‘Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), ‘Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)’, and ‘Partnership for the Goals (SDG 17).
- Challenges lie ahead for progress on achievement of some goals. For example, several of the SDGs reflecting the environment present a less favourable picture of Ireland.
- Clearly, there are pressing sustainability issues that must be addressed, as reflected by Ireland’s ranking of 10 for three SDGs relating to the environment; SDG 6 ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, SDG 7 ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’, and SDG12, ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’.
- The low score of 13 on SDG2 ‘Zero hunger’ emphasizes the need to embrace fully the idea of sustainable agriculture and the impact of obesity on health.
- Ireland’s rank of 10 on SDG9, ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, points to the need for further policy action with regard to logistics and broadband capacities.
Somewhere in the middle
- Ireland is in the middle of the rankings for several of the SDGs; ‘Good Jobs and Economic Growth (SDG 8)’, ‘Reduced Inequality (SDG 10), ‘Climate Action (SDG 13)’, ‘Life Below Water (SDG 14)’, ‘Life on Land (SDG 15)’ and ‘Peace and justice (SDG 16)’.
- These rankings imply there is much scope for improvement. While certain areas have witnessed progress, it is important that we do not become complacent; there remains a proportion of indicators that are stagnating or progressing too slowly.
- While certain areas have witnessed progress, it is important that we do not become complacent; there remains a proportion of indicators that are stagnating or progressing too slowly. Continuous monitoring of all the indicators that make up the goals is required in order to fully meet the aims of Agenda 2030.
The goal of the SDGs is to change the perspective of public policy and we have shown the scale of the challenge facing Ireland under the headings of economy, society and environment. We have argued previously there is merit to presenting one statistic to capture progress – it can quickly draw our attention to potential problems or issues that need to be addressed. The benefit of this Sustainable Progress Index is that it provides a simple report card to track Ireland’s overall performance on the SDGs compared to its EU peers, countries that have experienced similar levels of development. Good data and analysis remain critical to ensuring the SDGs become useful tools to support policy-making.