Presenting the 2019 Europe sustainable development report

UNSDSN and IEEP  organised a conference to launch the 2019 Europe Sustainable Development report.

Together with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN), IEEP developed the first EU Index and Dashboard on SDGs, following on the footsteps of the Global SDG Index produced by UNSDSN annually since 2015. This work is supported by the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils Network (EEAC) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, and developed in cooperation with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Finnish Presidency of the Council.

It is worth noting that the report complements the work by Eurostat, including assessing EU spillover effects in the global context. It identifies policy priorities for the European Union to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and implement the Paris Climate Agreement. It compares the performance of the EU and its 28 member states on all 17 SDGs and provides detailed country profiles using a mix of data sources. The findings cane at a critical time for Europe. At the beginning of the new mandate for both the European Parliament and the European Commission.

The conference presented the report’s findings and provided the opportunity to explore strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Europe. MEPs from across the political spectrum and SDGs experts debated on this challenging topic, with reactions from civil society and public institutions. Click here for more information.

Out now: European way to a common digital future

Germany should build upon the Green Deal announced by EU Commission President-designate Ms. von der Leyen and work towards a close integration of digital change and sustainability. To this end the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) presents cornerstones of a European way to a common digital future.

In its Policy Paper, WBGU argues that particularly during its presidency of the Council of the EU in 2020, Germany’s Federal Government should work towards a close integration of digital change and the Transformation towards Sustainability. The new EU Parliament and the new European Commission should also pursue this goal, according to WBGU. Read More

Out now: Mainline Summary of the 27th EEAC Annual Conference

The ambition to live well within the boundaries of our planet is an increasingly deep-rooted desire among a growing number of Europeans.  Support of citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs and organized civil society will be essential for embarking on an unprecedented journey of systemic transformation. And this is a journey that the European Union must undertake in order to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

This societal support should be leveraged to create new partnerships and alliances. This is why, at the 27th EEAC Annual Conference partnerships for sustainable development (SDG 17) were the main lens through which we engaged with challenges such as the energy transition, fresh water, and the preservation and sustainable use of our seas and oceans.

During the 27th EEAC Annual Conference, national and sub-national advisory councils on the environment and sustainable development met with experts from academia, society and the public sector. This annual gathering of councils and their partners fostered our common European debate on the implementation of the SDGs in Europe.

On the basis of the rich diversity of contributions, a Mainline Summary of the conference is drafted. Click here to read the summary.

RNE’s Sustainability Code receives UN award

The German Sustainability Code (DNK) – as initiated by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) –  has been awarded the ISAR Honours 2019 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The award ceremony took place on 30th October 2019 in Geneva at the annual session of ISAR (Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting).

This international award recognises initiatives that deliver an outstanding contribution to transparency regarding sustainability in businesses, particularly through enhancing the comparability and quality of companies’ reporting on sustainability issues. A Review Committee of distinguished international experts selects the award winners based on their effective encouragement and assistance for companies’ reporting on sustainability performance. The experts were impressed by the Sustainability Code’s user friendliness for both the reporting companies and the reports’ target audience. Readers can access and compare the reports by means of the Code’s free online database and external users can also conduct meta-analyses. A technical interface allows immediate usage of the published information in other evaluation systems. As an open source solution for ecological, social and governance (ESG) data, the Code therefore also contributes to Sustainable Finance.

For Yvonne Zwick, Deputy Secretary General of RNE and Head of the Sustainability Code Office, the Code’s users are a pillar of its success. “We are very grateful to accept the ISAR Honours 2019 Award on behalf of all the companies that comply with the Sustainability Code and thus promote standardised and focused sustainability reporting”, she commented. “We would like to thank the Review Committee for its positive evaluation of the Code. This award supports our ambition to establish the Code internationally – as a standard that is open to all and easy to use”, she added.