UN’s SDG 2025 index: India features in the top 100 performers for first time

New Delhi, June 24 (IANS) India has made significant progress in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has for the first time featured among the top 100 performers in the SDG rankings this year, according to a UN report.

With a score of 67, India has made it to the 99th spot on the 2025 SDG Index, revealed the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) 10th and latest Sustainable Development Report (SDR).

From being at the 116th spot in 2017, India has made significant progress to reach 109th in 2024.

The report showed that although the European countries continue to lead the SDG Index, East and South Asian countries have this year outperformed other regions in SDG progress.

Countries like Nepal, Cambodia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Mongolia have demonstrated the fastest progress since 2015 (in points).

In this year’s SDG Index, China also made an entry in the top 50 performers.

“Amid rising geopolitical tensions, widening global inequalities, and the escalating climate crisis, this year’s SDR underscores that the world overwhelmingly recognises the Sustainable Development Goals as the vital pathway to peace, equity, and well-being,” said Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the SDSN.

“Many countries are making significant progress, but much more can be accomplished through stepped-up investments in education, green technologies, and digital solutions. Above all, we need peace and global cooperation to achieve the SDGs,” added Sachs, who was also the lead author of the report.

The SDGs were adopted in 2015 with the idea that to save the planet, no one should be left behind in the overall development matrix by 2030.

The report showed that at the global level, SDG progress has stalled and none of the 17 global goals are on track.

“Conflicts, structural vulnerabilities, and limited fiscal space continue to hinder progress, especially in emerging and developing economies,” the report said, adding that only 17 per cent of the SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030.

–IANS

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