Ms Meaghan Carmody:

We thank the members and secretariat of the committee for the opportunity to discuss concerns related to the EU's progress towards achieving the SDGs. We represent a coalition of civil society organisations and trade unions dedicated to holding Ireland accountable for its commitment to achieving the SDGs by 2030, as outlined in the transformative 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

The SDGs are a global roadmap to address interconnected challenges and guide us toward eradicating poverty, meeting universal needs, tackling inequality and operating within planetary boundaries. They are, or should be, our guiding principles, our north star, ensuring we stay on course towards a sustainable future. Yet, the latest Eurostat and SDG index studies shows the EU has not achieved any overall SDG. Challenges persist across most areas, notably in food systems and agriculture, biodiversity, climate action and global partnerships. To illustrate, the EU is falling short, and in fact moving away from, its target for net greenhouse gas emissions from land use, land use change and forestry, and there has been insufficient progress towards its target for net greenhouse gas emissions. The EU is also moving away from its terrestrial protection targets related to phosphate in rivers, the grassland butterfly index and the common bird index. These trends represent a stark risk to food security, yet they are largely caused by the degradation of the ecosystem due to agricultural intensification and unsustainable food systems.

Progress on global partnership goals is also lagging, such as the EU target of 0.7% of GNI for official development assistance. The target for progressing EU financing to developing countries remains insufficient. Article 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union commits the EU to the sustainable development of Europe, and Article 21 explicitly states that the EU shall promote sustainable development beyond its borders. The EU is also obliged to incorporate development co-operation objectives into all internal and external policies that are likely to affect developing countries, as set out in Article 208 of the Treaty.

We will outline three areas where the EU risks contravening these articles and, by extension, risks not just the EU's SDG achievement but also the ability of partner countries to reach the SDGs. The leaked draft of the EU’s next strategic agenda reveals an alarming shift. Climate and nature are sidelined in favour of security, defence, migration, enlargement and economic development. This contradicts the previous agenda's focus on building a climate-neutral, green, fair and social Europe. In this one, climate and nature receive no priority mention. The draft agenda omits biodiversity, which is vital for climate resilience, and fails to mention the SDGs. It references the need for a vibrant agricultural sector but does not state that farming must also be sustainable to allow for genuine and long-term food security. The only mention of the environment is in the context of "promoting an innovation- and business friendly environment". This back-pedalling is taking place in the context of a Europe which is warming at twice the rate of other continents and where there has been a 30% increase in heat-related deaths in the past 20 years. Europe saw its joint warmest year on record in 2023. It also saw a record number of days with extreme heat stress. Precipitation across the region was 7% above average for 2023, making it the wettest year ever.

The draft strategic agenda emphasises accelerating the energy transition and preparing for climate change's impacts in the context of a "prosperous and competitive Europe", but Europe cannot hope to be secure, prosperous or competitive without addressing the interdependent climate and biodiversity crises. The EU will not be secure until the potential for climate and biodiversity breakdown-induced global instability is addressed. These must not be the final priorities for the strategy.

We also want to raise concerns regarding the brief of the next European Commission. The also leaked draft briefing book published by the Department for International Partnerships, DG INTPA, indicates a pivot away from human-centred commitments to sustainable development and a move towards prioritising competition, trade and the interests of the EU to the detriment of the interests of partner countries.

This indicates a disproportionate reliance on the private sector and specific industries of interest to the EU while leaving almost no room for a deliberate sustainable development agenda, human rights, addressing inequalities or leave-no-one-behind approaches.

DG INTPA is entrusted with supporting its partner countries on their path to sustainable development. However, this move, if brought to fruition, risks damaging the EU’s credibility and reputation as a reliable partner and also risks the achievement of the SDGs globally. This should be a major concern for Ireland, as this proposed change in direction does not correspond with the objectives or approach set out in Ireland’s development policy, A Better World. The proposals are also in contravention of Article 3.5 of the Treaty of the European Union. Moreover, the brief is silent on the impact of inequality and its root causes, for example vicious debt cycles, tax injustice and power imbalances in international forums such as the UN Security Council.

Finally last week, MEPs approved the EU’s economic governance reform. Despite improvements post Covid-19, opposition persists from trade unions and CSOs which fear that these reformed fiscal rules auger a return to austerity. We share this concern about overly restrictive fiscal policy as it risks jeopardising investments critical for SDG achievement. The reformed rules maintain unsubstantiated and arbitrary benchmarks, which risk triggering a wave of social and environmental budget cuts across Europe.

Several countries have already slashed green and social spending for this year and next and a New Economics Foundation study commissioned by the European Trade Union Confederation shows 18 member states would not be able to invest sufficiently in social infrastructure under these new rules. This reform poses a major risk to Europe's social and climate goals.

We recommend that the Irish Government ensures that the EU makes its next period of work to address the twin climate and biodiversity crises in a just way and that national budgets are facilitated to front-load green and social investments. It should also advocate for subordinating debt reduction to a new understanding of debt sustainability which asks what level of debt will allow for sustainable development, meeting the needs of all today while ensuring the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

It should also advocate for establishing a permanent fiscal solution for sustainable development akin to the Covid-19 recovery budget, in particular, a dedicated EU public investment fund post 2026 to drive SDG achievement. It should also immediately realign its international co-operation efforts with the SDGs and human rights and addresses root causes of poverty and inequality.

The next European Parliament and Commission will be in power during the final five critical years we have to achieve the SDGs. There are ample recommendations from both civil society and the current European Parliament - I draw the committee's attention to a longer briefing on that - regarding how to turn the tide away from insularity and towards well-being, sustainable development, intergenerational justice and policy coherence. We would be delighted to elaborate on specific ideas and recommendations on these matters and to answer members' questions.