Yearbook - Edition 20jj

The pressing issue of climate change, which world-renowned naturalist David Attenborough called “the biggest threat to security that modern humans have ever faced,” brought world leaders to a single stage culminating in the landmark Paris Agreement. This resulted in the requirement for countries to submit climate action plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), outlining their emissions-reduction targets and the measures they would undertake to achieve them.

This publication provides updated statistics on a comprehensive set of economic, financial, social, and environmental measures as well as select indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The present report provides information on the region’s progress in each of the 17 SDGs and their 169 target and related indicators, and highlights where the region now stands in relation to 2030, with a 2015 baseline. It stresses the importance of data availability and its impact on planning processes. It also presents key messages under each Goal.