Sustainable development goals in the European Union and its regions: Are we moving forward in economic, social, and environmental dimensions?

We build a framework using Markov transition matrices to develop comparative analyses of the dynamics of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals across 20 EU Member States and three sustainability dimensions-economic, social, and environmental-over the period of 2011-2019. The results indicate that the European Union has significantly progressed in achieving sustainable development, and that this progress has been achieved in all dimensions of sustainability and all EU regions. Nevertheless, we have detected different dynamics of sustainability across some countries and dimensions. This can help policymakers identify where greater emphasis should be placed on putting global goals back on track.

Automated summary

We developed a framework using Markov transition matrices to analyze the dynamics of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in 20 EU Member States and across three sustainability dimensions over the period of 2011-2019. The results show significant progress in achieving sustainable development within the European Union, encompassing all dimensions of sustainability and all EU regions. However, variations in sustainability dynamics were detected across certain countries and dimensions. This can assist policymakers in identifying areas where greater emphasis should be placed to get global goals back on track.