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China is "on track to surpass the United States" in terms of ending poverty and hunger, reducing inequality, improving education, building infrastructure, constructing sustainable cities, and other metrics of human development.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.That’s according to a new report that tracks global progress on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are made up of 17 categories that attempt to capture the many angles of human development:
- No poverty
- Zero hunger
- Good health and well-being
- Quality education
- Gender equality
- Clean water and sanitation
- Affordable and clean energy
- Decent work and economic growth
- Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Reduced inequalities
- Sustainable cities and communities
- Responsible consumption and production
- Climate action
- Life below water
- Life on land
- Peace, justice and strong institutions
- Partnerships for the goals
The top 20 countries for Sustainable Development Goals
The report scores each country on how much progress it has made toward achieving these SDGs. The goals were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – which has a deadline that is now just four years away.
Across 190 countries, Nordic countries topped the chart once again, with Finland ranking first, followed by Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. The top 20 looks like this:
- Finland
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Norway
- Germany
- Austria
- France
- United Kingdom
- Iceland
- Czechia
- Poland
- Estonia
- Croatia
- Latvia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Portugal
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Japan
If you’re wondering where the US sits, it’s down at 45, which is significantly lower than in previous years. In 2015, it ranked 40th, while Russia was 51st and China 63rd. Now, however, the US has dropped five places to 45th place, Russia remains at 51st, and China has jumped up 14 places to 49th.
“Owing to its faster pace of SDG progress over the period, China surpassed Russia in 2021, and based on current rates of progress it is on track to surpass the United States in the coming years,” the report reads.
Success and setbacks
Many of the most significant rises in the rankings have come from Asia, most notably China, as mentioned, and India, which has leapt 18 places since 2015, the biggest leap forward of any major economy.
“Notable success stories have emerged across East and South Asia and in many other countries and regions,” Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the SDSN and a lead author of the report, said in a statement.
Other success stories were seen in Ethiopia (up 9.7 percentage points), the Philippines (7.9 percent), and Vietnam (7.7 percent), By contrast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.1 percent) and Nigeria (2.3 percent) have progressed much more slowly and have much lower baseline scores.
Compared with the US, China has made bigger strides with ending poverty and providing quality education. Both countries are up on their goals to deliver infrastructure and innovation, but each has fallen in other metrics: the US has declined on its "reducing inequalities" goal, for example, and China's "climate action" goal has dropped.
Overall, China is on track or has achieved 46.6 percent of its goals and is worsening on 17.8 percent; meanwhile, the US maintains its slight lead with 49.4 percent of its goals achieved or on track, but a higher proportion – 32.5 percent – are worsening.
Uncertain times ahead
Globally speaking, progress remains slow, stalled by what the report authors call "geopolitical headwinds."
Just 16 percent of targets are projected to be met by the 2030 deadline. Many of these shortfalls are concentrated in the environmental goals, including SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Even the highest-ranked countries aren't addressing these problems as strongly as they should, the report notes.
The world needs to kick it up a gear if it wants to meet these targets by 2030, but it isn’t going to be easy given the uneasy, fractious state of the world right now.
“Sustainable development cannot be achieved amid ongoing conflict, making peace the top priority of our time,” explained Sachs.
