Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

38 9. PROGRESS TOWARDS THE GOALS AND TARGETS Cyprus has been continually making efforts towards achieving the SDGs, despite the recent economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government works towards improving the performance of Cyprus in each of the 17 SDGs implementing various actions, policies, and initiatives. This section provides an in-depth analysis of each of the SDG indicators, highlights the key Government initiatives taken, and compares the performance of Cyprus between the 2017 and the 2020 VNR towards achieving the SDGs. The 2020 Sustainable Development Report 1 measures a country’s total progress towards achieving all 17 SDGs and provides an overall score. Cyprus is ranked 34th among 166 countries, with an overall score of 75.21% (i.e. the percentage of SDG achievement). Cyprus showed a significant increase in performance from 2017, a year in which it was 50th among the other 166 countries, with an overall achievement score of 70.60%. It is important to note that the country’s performance, as well as the progress made since 2017, varies by SDG. On the one hand, Cyprus overperforms in SDG01: No Poverty, SDG03: Good Health and Well-being, SDG04: Quality Education, and SDG07: Affordable and Clean Energy, for which the country reached more than 90% of achievement. On the other hand, it underperforms, scoring less than 60% of achievement, in SDG02: Zero Hunger, SDG12: Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG14: Life BelowWater, and SDG17: Partnerships for the Goals. For the remaining SDGs, the performance of Cyprus can be considered average, since the overall achievement score ranges from 60-90%. To more accurately assess the impact of Government initiatives, it is important to consider the progress made for each SDG, from 2017 until 2020. For 11 out of the 17 SDGs the performance of Cyprus has improved, while for the remaining 6 it has declined. The biggest improvement in performance is observed in SDG09: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (81.46%), followed by SDG17: Partnerships for the Goals (38.30%), SDG12: Responsible Consumption and Production (37.85%), and SDG14: Life BelowWater (36.70%). It should be pointed out that the SDGs in which the performance of Cyprus has improved are the ones for which the country was previously seriously underperforming. The biggest decline in performance is observed for SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities (-16.67%), and SDG06: Clean Water and Sanitation (-13.96%). 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2017 2020 Figure 6.: SDG’s Index Score 1 Sachs et al. (2020): The Sustainable Development Goals and Covid-19. Sustainable Development Report 2020. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.