THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR),

—	having regard to the Spanish Presidency Referral Request on ‘ SDGs in EU regions and cities in the aftermath of the EU Voluntary Review and 2023 UN discussions’ ;

—	having regard to the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development from 10-19 July 2023 and the UN SDGs Summit on 18-19 September 2023 in New York;

—	having regard to the CoR Opinion on ‘Progress in the implementation of SDGs’ adopted on 8-9 February 2023;

SDGs localisation in the EU

1.

Welcomes that SDGs localisation is continuing to progress remarkably despite the COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine, with 39 % of Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) responding to the CoR-OECD-SDSN 2023 survey (1) confirming their use of SDGs as a framework for recovery and a further 25 % planning to use them;

2.

Stresses that SDGs localisation is a success story of SDGs implementation; more than half of the responding LRAs have a dedicated strategy or action plan on SDGs. However, this process must be further encouraged by EU policies in order to increase the likelihood for the EU of achieving the SDGs by 2030;

3.

Appreciates that the European Parliament, in its resolution of 15 June 2023 on the implementation and delivery of the SDGs (2), recognised the important role of local and regional authorities and called for LRAs’ inclusion in a new governance framework for the implementation of the SDGs, as further localisation of the SDGs will advance their implementation;

4.

Calls on the European Commission (EC) to build on regions’ and cities’ practice and to adopt an overarching SDGs strategy with time-bound targets and set-up a multi-stakeholders platform in collaboration with the CoR to advise the EC on accelerating efforts;

5.

Welcomes the commitment, expressed in the political declaration of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) (3) of 19 September, to enhancing global, regional, national and local partnerships for sustainable development, and recognising the important contribution of all relevant stakeholders toward achieving the 2030 Agenda, and the localisation of the SDGs;

6.

Recognises political leadership at local and regional level and peer-to-peer learning as key success factors for SDGs localisation and therefore requests the EU to extend its support schemes facilitating exchange of good practices. Existing examples such as the URBACT Global Goals for Cities, Smart Specialisation Strategies and the Intelligent City Challenge should inspire all EU programmes;

7.

Recognises the unique challenges faced by less developed regions in implementing SDGs and emphasises the need for targeted capacity-building initiatives to empower local and regional authorities in these regions to effectively localise and achieve the SDGs;

8.

Calls for the EU institutions to better coordinate and align funding programmes, making them more consistent with SDGs. This will help channelling financial support towards initiatives that directly contribute to SDGs and better matching regions and cities’ needs as lack of resources is the biggest challenge for most LRAs;

9.

Insists on the key role of the European Semester as the coordination tool to mainstream SDGs and well-being in all their dimensions in policy actions at both European and national level to ultimately support SDGs action at regional and local level;

10.

Requests to better integrate regions and cities within the European Semester coordination process, notably via a Code of Conduct for a structured involvement of LRAs as proposed by the CoR (4);

A new focus on the social dimension of SDGs

11.

Notes that the human-centred dimension of SDGs is one of the biggest post-covid challenges for LRAs;

12.

Warns that many LRAs have already experienced a decrease in standards of living, notably with respect to the poverty rate, increased price levels of energy, and housing. Close to 50 % of the LRAs responding to the survey have set up food banks and food distribution programmes to address food supply chain disruptions and put in place other support measures for vulnerable populations;

13.

Reiterates the need for a greater focus on a well-being economy beyond GDP as a sole indicator for a society’s success, combining the concepts of prosperity and social progress within planetary boundaries as laid down in the EU’s eighth environment action programme; Calls on the Commission to present the summary dashboard and indicator set measuring ‘beyond GDP’ without delay;

14.

Emphasises the importance of community engagement and inclusivity in the local implementation of SDGs, urging local and regional authorities to actively involve marginalised and vulnerable populations in the decision-making process to ensure no one is left behind;

15.

Calls therefore for an increased focus on the social dimension of SDGs and to better support the relevant work in the areas concerned, in particular at the sub-national level; calls on the Commission to consider implementing alternative measures of progress into their monitoring of SDG implementation, such as the Social Progress Index; and also calls for connecting this focus with the implementation of the European Pillar on Social Rights and for including the so-called ‘Social SDGs’ (such as health, well-being, nutrition, education, gender equality, poverty, inequalities) in the European Semester, to be taken into account in the Country Specific Recommendations and Country Reports;

16.

Regrets that, as revealed by CoR latest study (5), most National Reforms Programmes only include superficially or to a limited extent a territorial dimension and SDGs;

17.

Points out that local digital resilience is a key factor in reducing inequalities and addressing demographic challenges affecting in particular rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, and the outermost regions. Digital transformation is key to deploy digital skills, ensure effective e-government services and interoperability, boost local entrepreneurship and thereby achieve digital cohesion;

The EU Voluntary Review and looking forward

18.

Welcomes the presentation of the first ever EU Voluntary Review of the SDGs at the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), reflecting a reinvigorated EU commitment to SDGs;

19.

Acknowledges the collaborative approach of the EC in drafting the review and calls for a follow-up review in 4 years in order to address the identified gaps;

20.

Highlights the mutual benefits to integrate the work of regions and cities in the EU Voluntary Review and in the EU annual monitoring, showing the full extent of the EU’s work on SDGs; Points out that Eurostat sustainable development indicators do not reflect reality on the ground, since they are used to assess the SDGs at national level and are largely dependent on data provided by national institutes; believes, therefore, that local and regional NUTS-2-level data should also be used and be based on measurable, timebound targets;

21.

Considers itself as best placed to coordinate the input of regions and cities and requests to be involved in the territorial dimension and multi-level governance aspects of the review;

22.

Highlights also the importance of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) and Voluntary Subnational Reviews, as a means of further localising the SDGs and therefore advancing their implementation; Calls for a European platform for VLRs to foster exchange and learning as well as twinning approaches across Europe for accelerated SDG implementation at local level; suggests that this data be integrated in EU cohesion policies;

23.

Welcomes the EC’s commitment to improve cooperation with the CoR in communicating on SDGs. To this end, the EC should step up the collaboration with the CoR by: — engaging in an annual political discussion on the progress made on SDGs at local and regional level; — preparing regular reports about the progress and the challenges LRAs face in implementing the SDGs; — engaging in an early dialogue with the CoR in how implementing the SDGs at local and regional level should be supported in view of the next strategic agenda of the EU and the next MFF;

24.

Advocates for increased collaboration between local and regional authorities globally, urging the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) to foster partnerships with international organisations to exchange knowledge and experiences related to SDGs implementation;

25.

Commits for its part to step up cooperation with organisations such as the Global Parliament of Mayors, CEMR & PLATFORMA, Eurocities and Regions4 to communicate about SDGs with stakeholders;

26.

Raises concern over the potential decline in interest and attention towards SDGs after the conclusion of the HLPF and the SDGs Summit. Notes with regret that, in the last few years, there was a diminishing political momentum, notably with the absence of reference to the SDGs as governance framework in the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the mid-term Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF);

27.

Insists that political leadership at the highest level is key to accelerate the much-needed action on SDGs and calls on the EU Council, the Spanish and the upcoming Presidencies of the Council and the European Parliament, including the ‘MEPs for SDGs’ Alliance, to join forces with the CoR in this crucial time period leading to the European Elections in 2024 to promote SDGs as a strategy for the EU’s sustainable future, which should become part of the political guidelines of the next European Commission;

28.

Recognises the need to raise awareness and promote education about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among citizens and local communities. Encourages local and regional authorities to develop outreach and educational programs to ensure that people are informed about the SDGs and actively engage in their achievement;

29.

Invites all EU institutions to participate in the UN-EU Policy Dialogue on SDGs Localisation and Multi-level Governance that the CoR and UN-Habitat plan to organise in Autumn 2023;

30.

Underlines that the effective participation of LRAs, as the authorities closest to the public, in the global UN governance regime is a key condition to meet global targets and SDGs. Therefore calls on the UN bodies regulatory framework to give formal recognition to the role of LRAs in the UN decision-making process;

31.

Calls on the UN to consider the participation of the CoR in the newly created Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments, highlighting the key role of the CoR as the institutional representative of more than one million local and regional leaders in the EU;

32.

Underlines that the European Green Deal and Local and Regional Green Deal initiatives should be instruments for fully implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and making an ambitious EU contribution to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The CoR stands ready to serve as the main coordinating institution for subnational climate diplomacy in the EU and its neighbouring countries (6).

SDG localisation outside the EU

33.

Reiterates calls for the EU external and development policy to increase direct support to local authorities and regional government from third countries, which are best placed to implement the SDGs on the ground but need support from all levels of government to do so. The CoR therefore insists that a specific, separate programme with an earmarked budget in development cooperation should be established to that end.

34.

Stresses the importance of decentralised cooperation to progress towards the SDGs in partner countries and commits to provide LRA representatives from all over the world the opportunity to exchange directly at the forthcoming Forum on ‘Cities and Regions for International Partnerships’, aiming at providing the EU Global Gateway agenda with a territorial dimension;

35.

Supports LRAs from partner countries in finding solutions and tools to achieve SDGs by including LRAs into the Team Europe Partnerships Portal, a new platform which creates a bridge between members of Team Europe and partner countries, and provides key information on assistance available in the EU’s priority sectors;

36.

Strongly believes that the HLPF and the SDGs Summit have prepared the ground for a renewed, ambitious global 2030 agenda and calls on the EU institutions to capitalise on the focus given by the UN to SDGs localisation and support SDGs localisation across the EU, including through the LOCAL2030 UN initiative (7).

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(1)  CoR-OECD-SDSN survey ‘The role of cities and regions for the SDGs in an uncertain geopolitical context’ from 22 February until 9 June. 243 respondents. All figures used in this resolution are based on these survey results.

(2)  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0250_EN.html

(3)  Political declaration of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) under the auspices of the General Assembly on 19 September 2023.

(4)  Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on ‘Improving the governance of the European Semester: a Code of Conduct for the involvement of local and regional authorities’ (OJ C 306, 15.9.2017, p. 24).

(5)  CoR Study ‘The role of the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU Recovery in 2023’, October 2023.

(6)  Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions — The CoR’s role in boosting subnational climate diplomacy ahead of COP27 and COP28, (OJ C 498, 30.12.2022, p. 24).

(7)  Joint Letter of Jutta Urpilainen and Vasco Alves Cordeiro to the European Committee of the Regions’ members, Enhancing our efforts towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda within and outside the EU, 13 July 2023.