Evaluating progress in achieving the SDGs at sub-national level in Spain: a multicriteria analysis

Abstract

The UN 2030 Agenda is the current reference point for achieving sustainable development at the international level. Focusing on the implementation effort and monitoring the progress of SDGs are crucial aspects for achieving the Goals by 2030. The evaluation and achievement of sustainability at the sub-national level is fundamental, as sustainable development is considered achievable if it originates on the local level. Given that, the objective of this research was to assess sustainable development related to the 2030 Agenda considering the 17 regions (autonomous communities) of Spain. The analysis was carried out through the Spatial Sustainability Assessment Model (SSAM), set up as a plug-in of QGIS, which integrates multi-criteria analysis with the geographical tool. The region datasets referred to years 2019 and 2020 to observe a comparison of pre and post-COVID framework and to assess possible changes due to pandemic impacts. Results showed that, both in 2019 and 2020, for the environmental dimension the majority of the regions obtained very low or low results, showing a generally scarce environmental situation. A general decline for the majority of the indices was observed and a decrease in sustainability from north to south was detected, both for the social and the global sustainability dimensions. The social dimension in most cases was the one marking the global ordination of the communities.