Implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in view of the 2025 High-Level Political Forum

The European Parliament adopted by 422 votes to 219, with 31 abstentions, a resolution on implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in view of the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF).

The 2030 Agenda and the 17 integrated SDGs, including their 169 targets and 247 indicators, represent the only globally shared and politically accepted framework for evidence-based policies to address common challenges and achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental. UN Member States have committed to achieving the SDGs by 2030. Yet, only 17% of the SDG targets are on track to be met. For nearly half of them, progress has been minimal or moderate, and for more than a third, progress has stalled. Urgent action is needed to reverse this alarming trend.

Progress report

Recalling its unwavering commitment to ensuring the full and timely implementation of all SDGs, Members believe that achieving the 2030 Agenda and beyond will require broad and accelerated action across all SDGs. The delay in achieving the SDGs is compounded by the significant gap in progress across different groups of countries, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable countries and regions. Relevant policies for achieving the SDGs in low- and middle-income countries are, to a large extent, hampered by high debt levels and high debt-servicing burdens.

Parliament stressed the need for global cooperation to reform the global financial architecture, particularly in the run-up to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Seville from 30 June to 3 July 2025. It reaffirmed that international cooperation is a fundamental condition for the world to make progress towards the SDGs by 2030 and that such cooperation should prioritise strengthening the resilience, stability and self-reliance of partner countries, particularly in Africa, by promoting opportunities for economic and human development and refocusing on key priorities such as nutrition, healthcare and education.

The resolution stressed the need for closer collaboration between the EU and global institutions, the IPCC and the United Nations, to ensure that EU and global policies remain based on the latest climate science.

Some SDGs need to be examined in depth at the 2025 HLPF:

SDG 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Less than 10% of SDG 3 targets are on track and less than a third are expected to be achieved by 2030. Members are alarmed by the slowdown in progress towards universal health coverage, which leaves nearly half of the world's population without access to essential health services.

Parliament called for strengthened, coordinated and comprehensive action, multi-year and tailored planning and substantial investments to achieve universal health coverage. It stressed the need to strengthen health systems and the health workforce, ensure equitable access to quality health services and safe, effective and affordable medicines and vaccines, promote disease prevention and treatment, develop innovative solutions and build inclusive and resilient health systems. It also called for action to address aggravating environmental factors, reduce illness and death from hazardous chemicals and pollution, reduce risks from emerging and re-emerging zoonotic epidemics and pandemics, and combat antimicrobial resistance.

SDG 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Parliament warned of the slow progress on gender equality, the need to end gender-based violence, the setbacks in sexual and reproductive rights, and the impact of climate change on women. It called for climate action plans to include support for women and their participation in climate-related decision-making.

Members called for continued funding for programmes focused on promoting women's rights, empowerment, and autonomy and combating all forms of gender-based violence. They called on the Commission to ensure that 85% of all new external actions include gender equality as a significant or principal objective, and that 20% of ODA in each country is allocated to programmes with gender equality as one of their primary objectives.

SDG 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Parliament is concerned about the setbacks experienced over the past decade in labour rights, freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. Deploring the fact that one-fifth of the world's population lives in countries with high inequality, it affirmed the need to strengthen social measures to combat inequality in line with the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’.

Members called for more robust policies to foster inclusive and sustainable economic development. They called for the use of instruments such as the Global Gateway Strategy to mobilise multiple sources of financing to this end. Members reaffirmed the importance of policies that support youth employment, education, and vocational training. They regretted that more than half of the global workforce (9 out of 10 workers in sub-Saharan Africa) is employed informally.

SDG 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Parliament noted that SDG 14 remains the least financed SDG, with the current funding gap estimated at around $150 billion per year. It underlined the need to protect the ocean as a unified entity and use it sustainably. It called for a holistic approach that integrates environmental protection and restoration, prosperity, social equity, sustainability, and competitiveness. There is an urgent need for binding global action and an ecosystem-based approach to ensure the long-term health of the ocean.

SDG 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Parliament called on the EU to continue to work towards multilateralism and to provide global leadership in advancing the implementation of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda and to strengthen international treaties and agreements such as the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and regional conservation initiatives. Concerned about the $4 trillion investment gap to achieve the SDGs, it stressed that the EU's commitment to the SDGs should be supported by ambitious financial commitments in the next Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2028-2034.

The EU is called upon to increase its efforts and lead the way in progress in the five years leading up to the 2030 deadline, with a view to accelerating actions to reverse negative trends.