Ireland has been ranked 8th out of 14 peer EU member states in this year’s Sustainable Progress Index report, published today (Tuesday 20 February) by Social Justice Ireland.

The report titled “Measuring Progress: Sustainable Progress Index 2024” ranked 14 comparable EU countries based on their progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sweden ranked highest in the Sustainable Progress Index, followed by Denmark. Netherlands; Finland; Austria; Germany; Luxembourg; Ireland; Belgium; France; Portugal; Italy; Spain; and Greece.

The report considers 17 SDGs, including 83 indicators overall, and addresses the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability as reflected in Agenda 2030.

Ireland was ranked 9th out of 14 countries in the economy category. On the social index, Ireland ranks in the middle of the rankings, in her 7th place.

sustainable progress

According to the report, Ireland ranks 11th on the environmental index.

Scores improved for some environmental SDGs, such as SDG 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities.”

However, the report said there was “poor performance” on targets related to water quality, affordable and clean energy, responsible production and consumption, and climate change.

Ireland was ranked 11th for clean water and sanitation. Ranked 14th in affordable clean energy. The second is sustainable cities and communities. 10th place is responsible consumption and production. Ranked 9th in climate change measures. Eight for life below the surface. And the seventh is life on land.

Michelle Murphy, research and policy analyst at Social Justice Ireland, said: “At the halfway point in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, a review of the realities reveals that significant challenges remain to achieving some of the environmental goals.”

“Ireland continues to seriously underperform in areas such as affordable energy, clean water, innovation and infrastructure, gender equality and sustainable agriculture.

“Despite our strong performance in some areas, this drags down our overall ranking. It fails to balance important factors, such as struggle.”