The Netherlands is not on course to achieve the SDGs
The Netherlands is not on course to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030. In fact, at this pace, no single country will achieve this. That is one of the conclusions from the sixth national SDG report and the CBS Monitor, which were published on 18 May 2022. On the part of NWO, WOTRO is part of the steering group of SDG-Nederland and contributes on behalf of the knowledge institutions to the SDG report.
Hopeful movement
The SDG Barometer from Universities of the Netherlands reveals that the total number of scientific publications linked to the SDGs rose considerably between 2015 and 2020, from more than 3,000 to well over 5,000 publications. In short, there is growing attention for the major global societal challenges in research. What the societal impact of this research will be is as yet unknown, but universities of applied sciences, universities and NWO are focusing more on the societal outcomes of such research. The major global challenges of the SDGs are also increasingly mentioned by instruments such as the Dutch Research Agenda and the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant.
SDGs in scientific research
For NWO-WOTRO, the SDGs form a golden thread for the programs it plans. Via research, WOTRO aims to contribute to solutions for the SDGs, with its main focus being on the local realization of the SDGs in low and middle-income countries.
About the SDG report
The sixth National SDG Report (in Dutch) was jointly compiled by the Dutch government, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, partly on behalf of the Interprovinciaal Overleg (IPO) and the Union of Water Boards for the decentral governments, the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW), Global Compact Netwerk Nederland and MVO Nederland for industry and the financial institutions, Partos for civil society organizations, NWO-WOTRO for the knowledge institutions, the National Youth Council for the young people's organizations and the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.
