C 157/6
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
3.5.2023
OPINIONS
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 153RD COR PLENARY SESSION, 8.2.2023–9.2.2023
Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on progress in the implementation of SDGs (2023/C 157/02)
Rapporteur:
Ricardo RIO (PT/EPP), Mayor of Braga
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR),
1. underlines the commitment of regions and cities to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal concept to achieve a fairer and more just, inclusive, sustainable and resilient world, and their importance for a sustainable European recovery and long-term sustainable growth; 2. highlights the active role it plays at European level in the SDGs.
The adoption of the CoR Opinion on Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 last year was an important step, aligned with the Council Conclusions adopted in June 2021, and must be followed with further actions; 3. stresses that the 2030 Agenda is approaching the halfway point of its implementation phase, and underlines its belief in the usefulness of the SDGs, specifically for promoting policy coherence and inclusiveness at all levels of governance; 4. finds it regrettable that the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, the energy crisis in Europe and other recent trends have contributed to a setback in progress towards achieving the SDGs, stresses its concern about the slowing pace of climate action and the increasing risk of poverty, especially among vulnerable groups, people with a migrant background and refugees; reiterates, however, its support for maintaining focus on the SDGs at EU, national, regional and local level, in line with their respective levels of competence; 5. considers, indeed, that all efforts and initiatives to resolve crises should also be seen as an opportunity to help implement the SDGs and give the process fresh impetus; 6. affirms that the SDGs are potentially the only holistic blueprint for the future, which could balance out the multiplication of frameworks at all levels — Paris Agreement, National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Convention of Biological Diversity, the EU Green Deal, the new Urban Agenda, etc.; stresses, furthermore, the holistic nature and universality of the SDGs, encompassing science, the economy, politics, civil society and all citizens at every level of governance; 7. calls for stronger EU engagement and for an overall strategy for implementation of the SDGs; draws attention to the role and resources of local and regional authorities (LRAs) and to the unfortunate absence of references to the SDGs and to the territorial dimension in the NRRPs; 8. highlights that an increasing number of cities and regions in Europe are using SDGs to support their overall strategy for growth/recovery, and that this territorial dimension must be included in the EU's contribution to the UN SDG Summit in September 2023; believes that new strategies to implement the SDGs should be based on a bottom-up approach, as local and regional levels can adopt a more inclusive stance, not least with regard to the involvement of the various stakeholders on the ground;