Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region:

Facing a Headwind in 2024

Foreword

The Sustainable Development Goals Summit of 2023 marked an essential high-level commitment to accelerate progress towards Agenda 2030. Agreeing to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Rescue Plan for People and Planet, world leaders injected new confidence in the ability to deliver a better future. However, with the resounding impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the continuous war against Ukraine, the shocks arising from climate change, the high interest rates and still-elevated inflation, efforts to advance towards the SDGs are facing strong headwinds, both globally and in the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

view more

Introduction

Every year, all five United Nations regional commissions organize regional forums for sustainable development for international exchanges among governments and other stakeholders. In the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which comprises 56 countries of Europe, North America and Central Asia, the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development will be held for the eighth time on 13 and 14 March 2024 in Geneva.

view more

Progress in the UNECE region

How many targets are on track?

view more

Stories

The agencies and United Nations country teams participating in the Regional Coordination Group on Data and Statistics for Europe and Central Asia and all UNECE programmes provided stories. These 17 stories provide rich insights into the ways in which various regional and country level actions relate to sustainable development outcomes.

view more
EXPLORE Adaptation of cities to climate-related extreme events
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction