UN report shows insufficient progress on SDGs

UNITED NATIONS - With only five years to go, merely 35 percent of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track, while nearly half are stalling and 18 percent have regressed, according to a UN report released on Monday.

In the past decade since the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted, notable global achievements have been made in health, education, energy and digital connectivity, said "The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025".

New HIV infections have declined by nearly 40 percent since 2010. Malaria prevention has averted 2.2 billion cases and saved 12.7 million lives since 2000. Social protection now reaches over half the world's population, up significantly from a decade ago. Since 2015, 110 million more children and youth have entered school. Child marriage is in decline, with more girls staying in school and women gaining ground in parliaments around the world, the report said.

In 2023, 92 percent of the world's population had access to electricity. Internet use has surged from 40 percent in 2015 to 68 percent in 2024. Conservation efforts have doubled protection of key ecosystems, contributing to global biodiversity resilience, the report said.

However, the pace of change remains insufficient to meet the SDGs by 2030.

More than 800 million people still live in extreme poverty. Billions still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services. Climate change pushed 2024 to be the hottest year on record. Conflicts caused nearly 50,000 deaths in 2024. By the end of that year, over 120 million people were forcibly displaced. Low- and middle-income countries faced record-high debt servicing costs of 1.4 trillion US dollars in 2023, according to the report.

The document called for action across six priority areas -- food systems, energy access, digital transformation, education, jobs and social protection, and climate and biodiversity action.

"We are in a global development emergency -- an emergency measured in the over 800 million people still living in extreme poverty, in intensifying climate impacts, and in relentless debt service, draining the resources that countries need to invest in their people," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the launch of the report.

"Today's report shows that the Sustainable Development Goals are still within reach. But only if we act -- with urgency, unity, and unwavering resolve," he said.

When introducing the report, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua called for "urgent multilateralism" to address the lack of progress in the SDGs.

"The challenges we face are inherently global and interconnected. No country, regardless of its wealth or capacity, can address climate change, pandemic preparedness or inequality alone. The 2030 Agenda represents our collective recognition that our destinies are intertwined and that sustainable development is not a zero-sum game, but a shared endeavor that benefits all," said Li.

"This moment demands what I call 'urgent multilateralism' -- a renewed commitment to international cooperation based on evidence, equity and mutual accountability. It means treating the SDGs not as aspirational goals but as non-negotiable commitments to current and future generations," he said.