Central to the achievement of the Agenda for Sustainable Development is an adequate, equitably distributed and fully supported health workforce.

In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the impacts of climate change are clear. 2024 was the warmest year on record for Europe. Storms were often severe and flooding widespread, claiming at least 335 lives and affecting an estimated 413 000 people.

In 2024, global employment expanded in line with a growing labour force, keeping the global unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent, similar to that of 2023. Slowing productivity growth remains a major bottleneck with respect to expanding the opportunities for decent work.

With global population increasingly concentrating in urban areas, cities are driving national economic growth, while also grappling with challenges such as inequalities, affordable housing shortages, extreme weather events, pollution, and loss of green space.

The EEA report ‘Urban adaptation in Europe’ highlights the urgent need to adapt European cities to climate change and provides an overview of actions they are taking. The report provides a rich source of information to support climate adaptation policies across Europe, from EU to municipal level.

Electrification of end-uses and the growth of solar and wind is changing how electricity systems operate on all time scales. This report analyses how seasonal variations in both demand and supply affect electricity system operations to 2050 – in Europe, India, Indonesia and Korea – and what sources will be used to manage them.

Northern forests hold around 54% of the world’s total terrestrial carbon stock and contribute more than one-third to our global terrestrial carbon sink. This report reviews the impact of human induced climate change on northern temperate and boreal forests.

Since February 2022, geopolitical events have made clear Europe’s need to diversify its energy sources and avoid excessive dependence on fossil fuel imports. The drop in Russian natural gas flows to Europe in 2022 marked the single largest supply shock in the history of global gas markets.

The Europe Sustainable Development Report 2023/24 (5th edition) provides an independent quantitative assessment of the progress by the European Union, its member states and partner countries towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).