Sustainable Development Goals: MEPs alarmed at $4 trillion investment gap

Global community seriously off-track on efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030

Next multiannual financial framework must align with 2030 Agenda

EU leadership is needed, particularly following suspension of US aid funding

The committees on Development and on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety adopted a report on the implementation and delivery of the SDGs ahead of the 2026 UN High-Level Political Forum.

Adopted in a joint meeting of the two committees by 66 votes in favour, 17 against, and 7 abstentions, the report – once adopted in plenary – will form the basis of the European Parliament’s position ahead of the 2026 UN High-Level Political Forum set to take place in New York from 7-15 July.

In it, MEPs acknowledge that despite efforts made since the introduction of the SDGs in 2015, the global community is severely off track in its efforts to achieve their targets by the 2030 deadline. They are alarmed by the annual investment gap of approximately $4 trillion in funding needed to achieve the SDGs, a gap exacerbated by declining official development assistance (ODA) levels across the world. They want the EU and member states to honour their development aid commitments and to reinforce their leadership role to deliver the SDGs and secure adequate and sustained funding for their achievement by filling the huge financing gap, including that left by the suspension of most USAID funding under the current US administration.

Additional EU funding needed

MEPs argue that the EU should support its efforts to achieve the SDGs through ambitious financial commitments in the EU’s next long-term budget covering the period 2028-2034. In particular, MEPs want the EU and member states to provide additional financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as loss and damage, as agreed at COP 29, and to further investigate opportunities to raise funding through the involvement of the private sector and the leveraging of private finance. The Global Gateway initiative remains, MEPs say, the EU’s flagship instrument to strengthen sustainable partnerships and deliver high-quality infrastructure, while promoting international standards and long-term economic and social development in partner countries.

In the report, MEPs highlight the numerous policy areas covered by the SDGs – water and sanitation, urban development, energy, climate mitigation and adaptation, among others – where progress is sorely lacking and in some cases has even regressed, exacerbated by escalating conflicts, geopolitical tensions, health and humanitarian emergencies and the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The EU should, MEPs say, continue its leadership role in pursuing the implementation of the SDGs in the EU and worldwide.

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Speaking after the adoption of the report, co-rapporteur for the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety Pierfrancesco Maran (S&D, IT) said: “Incredible progress has been made over the past decade, but big steps are still needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The EU must lead a global coalition to support the achievement of the SDGs and secure adequate funding. Importantly, as our Resolution highlights, we must boost renewable and affordable energy for all, while equipping cities with vital tools for climate adaptation and mitigation."

Co-rapporteur for the Committee on Development Lukas Mandl (EPP, AT), said: “The world needs the United Nations. The UN system is in desperate need of a reform. The world needs the SDGs, too. No part of the world observes the SDGs as much as Europe does. With out vote on the SDGs report, we as the parliamentary representatives of Europeans will have a strong mandate to advocate for a balanced, values-based, and solution-oriented observation of the SDGs in their entirety."

Next steps

A plenary vote on the report is scheduled for the July 2026 session. A joint delegation of MEPs from both committees will travel to New York in July to attend the High-Level Political Forum.