The 2018 SDG Index and Dashboards report, co-produced by by the Bertelsmann Stiftungand the Sustainable Development Solutions Network(SDSN), has found that no country is on full track to achieve all the SDGs.
The report is the third edition of the annual overview of countries’ performance on the 17 SDGs. For the first time, this edition covers all 193 UN member states and presents data on changes over time in SDG indicators.The report brings together the results from data collection and analyses produced by a wide range of international organizations, civil society organizations, and research centers. The Report is built on the previous year investigation of the international spillover effects in meeting the SDGs, which noted that “development patterns of the rich countries may generate adverse “spillovers” that may hinder the ability of poorer countries’ to achieve the SDGs”. The 2017 SDG Index and Dashboards Report showed that there are many
such adverse global spillovers, driven strongly by high-income countries. They deserve much greater attention by national and international efforts to achieve the SDGs.Many of the adverse spillovers tend to be neglected or poorly measured.
The expanded data of this year reaffirms the findings of the 2017 Report– “high-income countries generate high environmental, economic and security spillovers, which undermine other countries’ efforts to achieve the SDGs. Yet, there is high variation in our spillover score across countries at similar income levels, which suggests ways to reduce spillover effects for a given level of income.”
The 2018 Report shows that both developing and developed economies face the challenges in achieving the SDGs. Inequalities are high and rising in many parts of the world as underscored in this report, including by the more extensive data available for OECD countries.
According to the Report,G20 countries must undertake major transformations of education, health, energy systems, land-use, urban development, and many other dimensions. Each transformation requires longterm changes involving large numbers of stakeholders from government, business, and civil society. Since such complex transformations cannot be implemented by markets alone, governments must take the lead in mobilizing stakeholders, planning for the transformations, designing supporting policy processes, and mobilizing the public funding. Some countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and those affected by conflict, struggle to end extreme poverty in all its forms by 2030.
The report summarizes countries’ current performance and trends on the 17 SDGs. This year’s Index is topped by Sweden, Denmark and Finland whereas the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and the Central African Republic rank last among the 156 countries included.
