07-02-2019 09:00
07-02-2019- EU action towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for SDGs”

Brussels
Sustainable Development Goals represented by 17 graphics forming a globe from the UN official site
Joint DEVE-ENVI hearing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - 7 February 2019 © UN

On Thursday morning, 7 February, the Committees on Development and on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety held a joint hearing with high-level guests to discuss strategic action and better monitoring to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The opening keynote speech was made by Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, who presented the Commission's Reflection Paper on sustainable development, adopted on 30 January. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, a leading sustainable development expert at Columbia University, set out his views on what the EU should do to implement the SDGs in Europe and globally. Members discussed with the authors of a study on SDG implementation mechanisms in Member States and with academics who drafted the Global Sustainable Development Report for the UN.

The hearing took place in preparation of the September 2019 UN summit to review the SDGs, and Parliament's strategic own-initiative report on SDG implementation that both committees jointly prepared, a draft of which was presented right after the hearing.

The video recording of the hearing is available below.