{"id":654192,"date":"2024-10-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/goinggreens\/is-egypt-on-track-toward-achieving-the-uns-sustainable-development-goals\/"},"modified":"2024-10-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T00:00:00","slug":"is-egypt-on-track-toward-achieving-the-uns-sustainable-development-goals","status":"publish","type":"goinggreen","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/goinggreens\/is-egypt-on-track-toward-achieving-the-uns-sustainable-development-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Egypt on track toward achieving the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our SDG progress was a mixed bag in 2024:<\/strong> While Egypt has made progress on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), significant work remains to reach the country\u2019s 2030 targets, according to the UN\u2019s recently published Sustainable Development Report 2024 (pdf)<\/a>. The report notes advancements in Egypt\u2019s clean energy initiatives, but many climate-related and social goals are still behind schedule \u2014 in line with global and regional trends.<\/p>\n

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links <\/strong>to our background as well as external sources.)<\/p>\n

What are the SDGs?<\/strong> The SDGs are a universal framework adopted by the UN in 2015 aimed at tackling 17 interconnected goals that cover environmental, economic, and social issues. Each goal has specific targets and indicators, with countries evaluated on their progress in areas like poverty reduction, clean energy, and sustainable infrastructure.<\/p>\n

About the SDG scoring system:<\/strong> Depending on how countries score out of 100 in each SDG \u2014 which is broken down into several indicators \u2014 the country receives either a red (major challenges remain), orange (significant challenges remain), yellow (challenges remain), or green (SDG achieved) scores. The trend directions for each country are also broken down into colored indicators, with red signifying a decrease in progress, orange indicating stagnation, yellow reflecting moderate improvement, and green denoting that the country is on track or maintaining the SDG achievement.<\/p>\n

Egypt is more or less on the right track:<\/strong> Egypt\u2019s SDG achievement ranking saw a slight downtick this year, with modest improvements in some areas and setbacks in others. The country\u2019s overall score came at 69.2 in 2024, down slightly from 69.6 last year, placing it in 83rd place out of the 167 countries researched in the report. However, this ranking places Egypt above the average regional score of 65.6 and ahead of all MENA countries except Tunisia, Morocco, the UAE, and Algeria.<\/p>\n

Five of the goals are directly related to the environment <\/strong>\u2014 SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 15 (life on land). In terms of trends, the country scored orange on affordable and clean energy \u2014 meaning that significant challenges remain. It scored red \u2014 indicating major challenges \u2014 on the life below water, life on land, and sustainable cities SDGs. On a more positive note, Egypt received a yellow score on climate action, with indications that the country is making moderate progress on getting the climate action SDG on track.<\/p>\n

The <\/strong>report noted that there are significant challenges remaining on the affordable and clean energy goal<\/strong>, particularly due stagnating carbon emissions levels and no improvements to clean energy\u2019s share of the nation\u2019s power mix. For climate action, the report notes that Egypt\u2019s progress on reducing carbon emissions to an extent that would get them on track to meet the SDGs has stalled.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re doing on that front: <\/strong>The Madbouly government has a plant to reduce COs emissions by 17 mn tons a year<\/a> through the closure and decommission of 5 GW of gas-fired power plants by 2025. <\/p>\n

The government has been working to push clean energy and climate solutions<\/strong> through a slew of projects and initiatives aimed at integrating more clean energy into the national grid, reducing emissions, and encouraging private investments in green projects. We\u2019ve seen the government lay out a comprehensive plan to add 28 GW of renewable energy<\/a> to the country\u2019s energy mix over the next five to seven years and see 3-4 GW-worth of renewable projects go live<\/a> and start feeding the national grid by next summer. Meanwhile, the national low carbon hydrogen strategy<\/a> maps out how the country can achieve ambitious goals to potentially capture between 5-8% of the global clean hydrogen market by 2040. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all: <\/strong>Egypt\u2019s and Africa\u2019s first voluntary carbon market<\/a> launched over the summer, and the Financial Regulatory Authority has begun listing<\/a> new carbon reduction projects since last month. The government sees renewables making up 18.6% of Egypt\u2019s total energy mix by FY 2026-27, up from 11.5% last fiscal year and 13.8% forecasted for this fiscal year, aiming for renewables to make up 42% of the energy mix by 2030<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re lagging behind on the sustainable cities front:<\/strong> Egypt\u2019s cities failed to meet the SDG targets \u2014 which evaluate cities\u2019 and other communities\u2019 safety, inclusivity, and sustainability \u2014 meriting a red score. The report noted in particular stagnant progress on combatting pollution and enabling public transport access across the country.<\/p>\n

Remember: <\/strong>Egypt\u2019s air was deemed among the most polluted in the world last year according to the IQAir\u2019s World Air Quality Report 2023, which said that the country\u2019s average PM2.5 concentration reached a record 42.4 \u2014 8.5 times<\/a> the World Health Organization\u2019s annual air quality guidelines. The new Madbouly cabinet has set its sights on bringing down pollution levels<\/a>, with plans to set up more monitoring systems for air and noise pollution and solutions for waste funneling toward the Nile and other bodies of water.<\/p>\n

Life on and off of land is also not making the SDG cut, according to the report.<\/strong> The life below water SDG \u2014 for which Egypt received a red rating \u2014 places priority on sustainable management of fish stocks, water pollution levels, and marine biodiversity protection, with Egypt seeing downward progress on ocean pollution and fish stock overexploitation. Egypt\u2019s life on land SDG score \u2014 also red \u2014 saw the country\u2019s already low score for land protection stagnate, with only 38.8% of terrestrial sites important to biodiversity protected as of 2023. <\/p>\n

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HOW DOES EGYPT STACK UP TO THE REST OF THE REGION?<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s SDG progress reflects common challenges across the MENA region:<\/strong> Many of our neighbors face substantial hurdles on environmental SDGs \u2014 notably in affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities, life below water, and life on land, where overwhelmingly red and orange scores indicate significant challenges. <\/p>\n

The silver lining to a somewhat dour regional outlook is that when considered alongside <\/strong>neighboring countries, Egypt is doing pretty well in a couple of key categories.<\/strong> Our renewable energy expansion has earned us a higher rating on affordable and clean energy than every country in the region except Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE, which are on par with orange ratings. Our yellow climate action rating also places us on par with countries like Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, and above Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar \u2014 all of which received red ratings.<\/p>\n

How Egypt and MENA compare globally:<\/strong> Globally, Egypt and other MENA countries are working to close the gap on key SDGs, yet they still trail behind regions like Northern Europe and East Asia. The 2024 SDG Index reveals that Nordic countries such as Finland, Sweden, and Denmark continue to lead in SDG achievement.<\/p>\n

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