Changes from plenary report to adopted text

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Article 3(5) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 208(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

– having regard to the joint statement by the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission of 7 June 2017 on the New European Consensus on Development – ‘Our world, our dignity, our future’,

– having regard to Decision (EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030,

– having regard to the EU’s first voluntary review of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), presented to the UN on 19 July 2023,

– having regard to the Eurostat report entitled ‘Sustainable development in the European Union – monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context – 2025 edition’, published on 4 June 2025,

– having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 70/1 entitled ‘Transforming our World – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (2030 Agenda), adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015 in New York, which establishes the SDGs,

– having regard to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed in December 2022 at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UNCBD,

– having regard to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted by UN member states at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction on 18 March 2015,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 12 May 2021 entitled ‘Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All – EU Action Plan: Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil’ (COM(2021)0400) and the annexes thereto,

– having regard to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015,

– having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025,

– having regard to the 2023 SDG Summit, which took place in September 2023, during the UN General Assembly high-level week,

– having regard to the Summit of the Future, which took place on 22 and 23 September 2024 in New York, to its outcome, the Pact for the Future, which pledges 56 actions to accelerate and finance sustainable development, and to the two annexes to the Pact for the Future, namely the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations,

– having regard to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, which took place in Seville, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July 2025,

– having regard to the COP29 Declaration on Water for Climate Action, adopted at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 20 November 2024 and endorsed by the EU,

– having regard to the World Health Organization’s One Health Initiative,

– having regard to the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health report of January 2026 entitled ‘Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era’,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 4 June 2025 entitled ‘European Water Resilience Strategy’ (COM(2025)0280),

– having regard to UN General Assembly Resolutions 64/292 of 28 July 2010 on the human right to water and sanitation and 68/157 of 18 December 2013 on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and to UN Human Rights Council Resolution 45/8 of 6 October 2020 entitled ‘The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation’,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the joint deliberations of the Committee on Development and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety under Rule 59 of the Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (A10-0187/2026),

A. whereas the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs it contains represent the only globally shared and politically agreed framework for evidence-based policies to address common challenges, reorient the global compass towards social, economic and environmental sustainability and ensure peace and prosperity for all people;

B. whereas the SDGs have improved millions of lives in the past decade, with over 100 million children and young people gaining access to education, hundreds of millions of people gaining access to safe drinking water, sanitation and electricity, and electricity access reaching 92 % of the global population;

C. whereas, although substantial progress has been made in some areas, only 35 % of SDG targets are on track or showing moderate progress, nearly half are moving too slowly or showing only marginal progress, and 18 % have regressed;

D. whereas the current geopolitical climate and multiple crises, including armed conflicts, economic pressure and international instability, the energy crisis, increasing water scarcity and greater incidence of droughts, the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, growing inequalities democratic backsliding, growing anti-gender and anti-rights movements and shrinking space for civil society, severely affect progress towards achieving the SDGs;

I. whereas climate change poses a major threat to water resources and aquatic ecosystems; whereas, by 2030, global water demand will exceed available resources by 40 % and, at the current demand rate and according to recent estimates, the world will not achieve sustainable water management until at least 2049;

J. whereas women and girls bear primary responsibility for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and energy management at household level; whereas women and girls are disproportionately affected by water scarcity as a result of gender-specific health needs, social factors and the fact that they bear primary responsibility for water collection and management; whereas women and girls face increased health risks, a loss of educational opportunities and heightened exposure to gender-based violence, especially in conflict-affected areas and during humanitarian crises;

K. whereas investment in gender-responsive WASH and energy policies lowers the risk of gender-based violence, decreases child and maternal mortality, increases girls’ access to education and improves the quality of the education they receive, enhances women’s economic participation and livelihoods, accelerates the transition to sustainable energy and helps to create resilient communities;

L. whereas over 1 000 children under five die every day as a result of diseases linked to unsafe WASH, such as diarrhoea; whereas, for millions of people living with disabilities, the absence of appropriate WASH services presents significant barriers, with inaccessible infrastructure and stigma harming their health, safety and dignity; whereas the current rate of progress will need to be doubled if the targets for universal water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH service coverage in schools are to be met by 2030;

M. whereas water and energy infrastructure is protected under international humanitarian law; whereas access to water is essential for purposes including ecosystem management, agriculture and energy; whereas there is an increasing trend of using water as a means of warfare, whereby parties to a conflict unintentionally or deliberately destroy water systems, contaminate water resources and cut off power, severely affecting the civilian population; whereas restoring WASH services in conflict settings remains essential and can act as a bridge for peace; whereas the mining industry and industrial farming require careful management to protect both the availability and quality of water resources;

N. whereas Europe is a global leader in water technology, with EU Member States producing 40 % of all international patents in water-related technologies; whereas healthy ecosystems make it possible to improve water quality, while also increasing climate resilience;

O. whereas Article 208 TFEU stipulates that the primary objective of EU development cooperation is the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of poverty;

P. whereas people with disabilities face a higher risk of poverty because of limited opportunities for employment and education, lower wages and higher costs of living; whereas the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasises the importance of international development cooperation in removing architectural and communication barriers, including in cities, as a key element promoting their professional and social inclusion;

Q. whereas investing in children and young people is key for long-term socio-economic development, stability and poverty reduction; whereas children constitute a significant share of the population in developing countries and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of poverty, of conflict and of having limited access to basic infrastructure and services; whereas actions under the SDGs, including in areas such as access to water, energy and infrastructure, should take greater account of the real needs of children;

W. whereas the US administration has taken a series of deeply concerning and harmful decisions in the field of international development and humanitarian assistance, most notably the suspension of most funding for programmes under USAID; whereas these cuts are already disrupting access to essential health, food and protection services, and are expected to push millions of people into extreme poverty and exacerbate humanitarian crises; whereas, according to recent analyses, the funding cuts could contribute to millions of preventable deaths, including up to 14 million deaths by 2030, with particularly severe consequences for women, children and other vulnerable groups;

State of play

1. Reaffirms its strong and unwavering commitment to ensuring the full and prompt implementation and delivery of all the SDGs; believes that the EU should remain fully committed to integrating the SDGs across all EU policies and legislative initiatives and ensuring policy coherence for sustainable development, while recognising that the Member States play a key role in driving sustainable development at national, regional and local levels; calls for the EU to continue its leadership in pursuing the implementation of the SDGs in the EU and worldwide by providing political and financial support; reaffirms its strong commitment to the Pact for the Future; calls for the role and ability of multilateral institutions to be strengthened in order to improve SDG delivery;

2. Acknowledges the steps taken at EU level and worldwide, since 2015, to implement the SDGs; regrets the fact that, despite significant achievements over the past decade, the global community is severely off track as regards implementing the 2030 Agenda; recognises that the 17 SDGs are interconnected and that achieving the 2030 Agenda will require accelerated action across all SDGs; underlines that the scarring effects of escalating conflicts, geopolitical tensions, health and humanitarian emergencies and the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution constitute significant obstacles to the achievement of the SDGs; stresses, therefore, the urgent need for international cooperation and the systemic transformation of the implementation framework in order to achieve the SDGs, taking into account economic constraints and development differences between countries; regrets the fact that most Member States will not have the opportunity to present their Voluntary National Reviews of SDG implementation at the 2026 High-Level Political Forum; nevertheless encourages all Member States to conduct Voluntary National Reviews to inform their SDG implementation;

3. Is concerned that the current geopolitical and security situation, coupled with the urgent challenge of achieving climate neutrality, creates further difficulties for society and for the achievement of the SDGs; believes that stability, security, conflict prevention and economic and climate resilience, particularly in fragile contexts, will be required for the delivery of the SDGs, including with regard to human development and equality, and cannot be achieved in isolation from geopolitics, energy security and food and water security; emphasises the urgent need for increased efforts by all actors and highlights the indispensable role played by multilateralism, the defence and strengthening of a democratic and rules-based multilateral system under auspices of the UN, and sustained investment in addressing the problems underlying the SDGs;

4. Underlines that the EU’s commitment to the global and European implementation of the SDGs and 2030 Agenda remains crucial and should send a clear signal to partners around the world; recalls the EU’s commitment to respect planetary boundaries and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and, in this regard, calls for increased resource efficiency; calls for the EU and its Member States to reinforce their leadership role by building global alliances and to constructively strengthen their engagement with partner countries in order to deliver the SDGs and secure adequate and sustained funding for the SDGs’ achievement by filling the huge financing gap, including that left by the suspension of most USAID funding;