Sustainable Development Goal Index released; India ranked 110th

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) of the United Nations and the Bertelsmann Stiftung on 20 July 2016 launched a new Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG Index) to provide a report card for tracking SDG progress and ensuring accountability.

SDG Index is the world’s first comparative study of the Sustainable Development Goals for 149 countries

The SDG Index assess where each country stands in 2016 with regard to achieving the SDGs. The SDG Index ranks countries based on their performance across 17 goals.

The index has been topped by Sweden and India is ranked 110th in the index and is followed by Lesotho on 113th position, Pakistan (115), Myanmar (117), Bangladesh (118) and Afghanistan (139).

Key Highlights of SDG Index

•    The countries which are closest to fulfilling the goals are not the biggest economies but comparably small, developed countries.

•    Sweden, Denmark and Norway are the top three performing countries.

•    Germany and the United Kingdom are the only G7 countries to be found among the top ten performers

•    The United States ranks 25th on the Index, while the Russian Federation and China rank 47th and 76th, respectively.

•    Poor and developing countries understandably score lowest on the SDG Index as they often have comparably little resources at their disposal.

•    The Central African Republic and Liberia are at the bottom of the Index.

•    OECD countries struggle to meet the goals on inequality, sustainable consumption, climate change and ecosystems

•    Many developing countries face major difficulties in providing basic social services and infrastructure access to their populations.

•    East and South Asia outperform many other developing regions but unmet challenges persist in health and education.

•    A year after world leaders adopted the SDGs, the new index shows that all countries face major challenges in achieving these ambitious goals by 2030.

•    No country has achieved the SDGs and even top Sweden scores "red" on several goals.

The report shows how leaders can deliver on their promise and urges countries not to lose the momentum for important reforms.

In order to achieve the ambitious goals, immediate and comprehensive action is needed in the crucial.

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