The JCFJ is a member of Coalition 2030, an alliance of over 70 civil society and trade union organisations in Ireland who collaborate for the domestic and global achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs, which are all equally important and should be treated equally, were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 with the aim of building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for people and planet. They cover the three interlinked pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Each of the goals are accompanied by targets, which in turn map on to a global indicator framework to measure progress.
Every year since 2017 our colleagues in Social Justice Ireland have produced a report examining Ireland’s progress on the SDGs, and yesterday, to mark World Day of Social Justice, the authors of the 2025 report held a very informative webinar to present the highlights of its findings. The speakers were two of the report authors, Professor Charles Clark of the Department of Economics at St John’s University, New York, and Dr Catherine Kavanagh of the Department of Economics at University College Cork, followed by James Kiernan of Chambers Ireland. The session concluded with an outline of Social Justice Ireland’s policy recommendations to support implementation of the SDGs.
The report, entitled Measuring Progress: The Sustainable Progress Index 2025 examines both Ireland’s progress over time, and compares our progress across all 17 SDGs to comparable countries, in this case the EU14 (members of the European Union prior to 2004). The document outlines various ways of conceptualising and measuring progress (particularly the limitations of GDP as a measure, and specifically how Ireland’s status as a tax haven influences how its GDP is calculated) and presents in detail the processes, indicators, and datasets used to investigate how Ireland and the EU are implementing the SDGs. It also discusses the climate crisis and inequality as two of the major progress traps currently facing the world. A progress trap is where one of the factors that promoted progress starts to undermine society.
So how are we doing?
On the composite Sustainable Progress Index (SPI), which includes all 17 SDGs, Ireland ranks 9th in the EU14 with a score of 0.4943 compared to top-ranked Sweden (0.6708) and lowest-ranked Greece (0.3568). This is a drop from 8th place in 2024 after a move up from 9th place in 2023.
More insight can be gained by examining how Ireland ranks when the SDGs are clustered into three indexes: societal, economic, and environmental.
The Society Index measures progress on SDG1 (No poverty); SDG2 (Zero hunger); SDG3 (Good health and well-being); SDG4 (Quality education); SDG5 (Gender equality); SDG10 (Reduced inequalities); SDG16 (Peace, justice, and strong institutions); and SDG17 (Partnerships for the goals). On this index, Ireland is in 6th place, driven by strong performance particularly on SDG4 (where Ireland ranks 1st); SDG16; and SDG3. The top ranking country on this index is Sweden, and the lowest is Greece.
The Economy Index includes SDG8 (Decent work and economic growth) and SDG9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure). With a rank of 4th for SDG8 and 10th for SDG9, Ireland is ranked joint 7th relative to its EU peers on this overall index. The top ranked country in this table is Sweden and the lowest is Greece.
As Environmental Policy Intern with the JCFJ, I was particularly interested to hear what the report could tell us about Ireland’s progress on the SDGs that relate to environmental sustainability. The fundamental importance of a healthy environment for all other activities on Earth is effectively illustrated by this ‘wedding cake’ representation of the SDGs.
Image credit: Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University CC BY-ND 3.0
This visualisation places the SDGs relating to the biosphere at the foundation, on which depend the goals relating to social interactions, equality and justice. Economy-related SDGs are then supported by the biosphere and society. This model was initially created in the context of food systems but has gained broad application.
It is in Ireland’s ranking in the Environment Index, however, where most scope for improvement can be seen. This index includes SDG6 (Clean water and sanitation); SDG7 (Affordable and clean energy); SDG11 (Sustainable cities and communities) SDG12 (Responsible consumption and production); SDG13 (Climate action); SDG14 (Life below water), and SDG15 (Life on land).
Ireland’s rank on these goals is as follows:
Clean water and sanitation: 10th
Affordable and clean energy: 10th
Sustainable cities and communities: 2nd
Responsible consumption and production: 11th
Climate action: 10th
Life below water: 8th
Life on land: 13th
This gives Ireland an overall rating of 11th of the EU14 in the Environment Index, with Sweden ranked 1st and Italy 14th. Ireland also ranked 11th on this index in 2024, having been slightly higher at 9th place in 2023. As the report’s authors point out, this low ranking implies that ‘the country faces significant challenges in meeting our commitment to the environment goals set out in Agenda 2030.’ (p. 64)
When compared to progress on some of the other goals, Ireland’s low ranking on most of the environmental indicators is a worrying trend, especially considering we have just had five years of a coalition government that included the Green Party. In its Programme for Government, our new government has said that it is committed to accelerating Ireland’s progress toward the 17 SDGs by 2030 (p. 51). The findings of the latest Sustainable Progress Index can give useful insights into where most work is needed.
The report contains far more detail than this brief blog post can cover, and I would recommend reading it in full, and comparing it to previous years’ reports, to get a more comprehensive picture of how Ireland and the EU are progressing towards Agenda 2030. I commend the authors for providing a very useful resource and for updating it so regularly. Even if you are of the opinion that the SDGs do not go far enough or are not urgent enough, having a regular snapshot of Ireland and the EU’s progress across the various indicators is a valuable tool for analysing where policy is effective and where it falls short.
