Indicators for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals

Published on 19 July 2023


To track global progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 232 indicators was adopted on March 11, 2017 by the UN Statistical Commission. These indicators, as defined at that time, are intended to serve as the primary basis for tracking global progress toward the SDGs.


Global indicators (UN)

Following the negotiation on the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets, the UN Statistical Commission agreed on a list of 232 indicators. The UN list includes 244 indicators, but due to existing duplications, the list contains 232.
This list was stabilized at a meeting held March 7-10, 2017. The UN itself publishes a series of data, relying on its specialized agencies.

The 232 indicators defined are therefore not necessarily applicable to any country’s context, due to the specificities of each country.

Member States are invited to define their own set of indicators for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level according to the priorities, realities, computational capacities and circumstances of each State.

France will nevertheless continue to provide useful data to UN agencies for the calculation of these 232 indicators, by defining a dashboard of national strategies that contribute to the SDGs.

To go further ...
https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database/


The European version of SDG indicators (Eurostat)

Through its statistical organization, Eurostat has drawn up a list of around 100 indicators. Adapted to the European Union in terms of both challenges and statistical capacities, it allows for an annual assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the SDGs in a European context. The list of indicators is also evaluated each year to ensure that it still includes the most relevant indicators available, and to integrate new ones if necessary.


The French version of SDG indicators

Insee

In France, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) is responsible for coordinating the collection and production of statistical indicators, in parallel with the UN’s own production. INSEE relies on ministerial statistical services and acts as an interface with the UN, notably by participating in the UN Statistical Commission.

The Cnis

The National Council for Information and Statistics (CNIS) which includes representatives of both ministries and civil society, set up a working group dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals. Open to all, and in particular to representatives of civil society who are not members of the CNIS, the working group selected and adapted the indicators in order to propose a list suitable for France.

To go further ... The CNIS working group selected 98 indicators to monitor France’s commitment to the SDGs.. The dashboard, comprising 98 indicators, is available online on the Insee website.

The Sdes

The data and statistical studies department (SDES),, the statistical service of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, like the other ministerial statistical services, is responsible for producing some of the indicators. It is particularly concerned as it is responsible for the production of approximately one-third of the indicators.

The regional declination of SDG indicators

ODDeT, a visualization tool at the territorial level

ODD and Territories, ODDet, is a tool for visualizing sustainable development indicators. This web application is aimed at a wide audience and is open to all. It allows to follow sustainable development indicators. This application aims to provide graphs and maps facilitating the monitoring over time of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), at all levels of the territory, from municipality to national level.

Antidote database, a tool to make territorial indicators consistent with the 2030 Agenda known

In order to shed light on territorial approaches to sustainable development, INSEE and the SDES have joined forces to make territorial indicators that are consistent with the 2030 Agenda known. These indicators, which are accessible to all, can be used to manage and monitor sustainable development and ecological planning at the territorial level.

An observatory for Ile-de-France local authorities

The Ile-de-France SDGs Observatory provides all Ile-de-France stakeholders with a free summary of their territory in terms of the 17 SDGs, based on relevant, reliable and territorialized indicators.

Regional publications

At the regional level, several territories have used the SDGs as indicators.
Some regions have published sustainable development scorecards in relation to the SDGs. These works are the result of partnerships between local actors and in particular the Regional Direction for the Environment, Planning and Housing (DREAL) and INSEE’s Regional Direction.

In Burgundy-Franche Comté, a guide entitled “Elaborating indicators of contribution to the SDGs to feed territorial strategies” was produced. It is the result of an experimental process conducted with the cities of Besançon and Quetigny, with the support of the DREAL Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and CEREMA. This guide aims to test a methodology for developing indicators to assess the contribution of local authorities to the SDGs.