UN: Only 17% of SDGS are on track

According to the UN report, only 17% of the SDGS are on track, nearly half have made "little or moderate progress" and more than a third have "stalled or gone backwards".

The UN's 2024 Sustainable Development Goals Report, released on Friday (June 28), says the SDG investment gap in developing countries currently stands at US $4 trillion (about S $5.4 trillion) per year.

The report highlights the need for significant investment and effective partnerships to drive critical transformations in food, energy, social protection, digital connectivity and more.

Looking at the areas of positive progress, the international community has made impressive progress in deploying renewable energy. The world's capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources is "increasing at an unprecedented rate," with an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent over the past five years. The proportion of the world's population with access to mobile broadband has increased from 78% in 2015 to 95%, and Internet penetration has increased by about 70% over the past eight years.

The report highlights that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still being felt, with escalating conflicts, geopolitical tensions and increasing weather anomalies hindering the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Without massive investment and increased action, achieving the SDGS "will remain a long way off."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a press conference on the release of the report that stronger and more effective international cooperation is urgently needed to make positive progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals as its core, committed to eradicating poverty, promoting equality and addressing climate change by 2030.