European Parliament adopts Resolution on EU Action for Sustainability

In September 2015, the United Nations adopted a resolution on “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development”. This resolution established 17 sustainable development goals and overall 169 targets to be reached by 2030. The European Parliament adopted a Resolution to make these development goals operational in and for the European Union.

While the term “sustainability” is used in an inflationary way and often lacks clear contours, the EP’s Resolution, 108 paragraphs long, offers a broad range of measures which the EU could and should undertake in order to improve sustainability. In parts, the Resolution reads like a recommendation, how the EU should, in the next years, re-orient its foreign, development, financial, economic and agricultural policy in view of better fighting poverty, promote economical development, support developing countries in their efforts to improve their economic situation and fight climate change.

It can only be hoped that EP’s proposals will form part of the 8th EU environmental action programme after 2020 and that the EU institutions will start taking the global sustainability goals of the United Nations seriously.

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