EU making mixed progress on development goals

The EU has made progress towards most of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in the past five years, but has slipped back on reducing inequalities, according to a report.

Strongest progress has been made on the goals for health and wellbeing, education and clean energy, the EU’s official statistics agency Eurostat reported on 18 September. Moderate progress has been made on areas including sustainable cities, responsible consumption and production, gender equality and poverty.

There has been mixed progress and regression on the the goal for industry, innovation and infrastructure, Eurostat found. For example, employment in high-tech industries has increased, but spending on R&D has fallen. The EU has regressed on its goal for reducing inequality, the agency found, due to a rise in income inequalities across member states.