The European Parliament has issued a new report on the current problems and prospects of achieving the SDGs by 2030.
One of the report's authors, Professor Walter Leal, Head of the European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Chair of Climate Change Management at HAW Hamburg and Chair of Environmental Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University in England, warns that without accelerated action, the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda are unlikely to be achieved.
According to Professor Leal, both the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine have caused sustainability to receive less attention as an issue, and many important activities have been interrupted. He argues that European countries should invest more in education about sustainability. In addition, more funds should be made available for research into methods that lead to the targeted implementation of specific goals, such as the adaptation of agriculture to climate change – so that more grain can be harvested – or the implementation of projects that reduce water scarcity. Only in this way, he says, do we have a chance of making up for the time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.
The report is now being analysed by the European Commission and European governments. Professor Leal will provide advice to the countries interested in implementing the recommendations from the report, which can be accessed at:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EXPO_IDA(2022)702576.
