Portugal worsens in six sustainability goals

Portugal has worsened in six of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the UN's 2030 Agenda, such as education and justice, but has evolved favorably in areas such as equality and sanitation, concludes an assessment by INE.

The achievement of the 17 objectives of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda, with 183 specific targets, between 2015 and 2024 was assessed by the National Statistics Institute (INE). According to the institute, 96 of the 183 indicators showed positive progress, but 43 showed unfavourable progress, six showed no changes and 38 were not subject to assessment due to lack of information. In the objectives of quality education (SDG 4), gender equality (5), responsible consumption and production (12), life below water (14), life on land (15) and peace, justice and strong institutions (16), the INE concluded that less than 50% of indicators showed positive progress and that the majority (4, 5, 12, 15 and 16) recorded more global indicators without assessment due to lack of information.

Most indicators were also unfavourable with regard to the “Quality Education” target , with indicators showing a predominance of progress contrary to the objective (44.4% compared to 33.3% with favourable progress), while the provision of schools with internet access and computers for educational purposes also showed a moderate progress in a direction contrary to the SDG, according to the INE. The indicator on public development aid also worsened , with the support granted by Portugal to developing countries falling from 15 million euros in 2015 to 13.8 million euros in 2024. The “Gender equality” indicator also showed an unfavourable progress , with indicators showing a predominance of unfavourable progress (37.5%) and only 12.5% ​​showing favourable progress.

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The INE assessment concludes that targets were met in four indicators : the proportion of children under five years of age with a birth registration authority, the adoption and implementation by Portugal of constitutional and policy guarantees for public access to information, and the recognition that Portugal has national human rights institutions. The perception of corruption, the number of completed intentional homicide crimes and the number of weapons seized, found or handed in have evolved significantly favourably, but the perception of safety in solitary walks after dark has deteriorated, as has the number of human trafficking crimes .

The “Sustainable consumption and production” target performed poorly , with 42.9% of the indicators progressing towards the SDG, 28.6% showing negative progress and 28.6% not being assessed due to lack of information. In terms of achieving the “Protect marine life” target, national performance showed poor progress towards the desired goal, with 60% of the global indicators showing negative progress between 2015 and 2023.