• We have entered the final third of the time available to achieve the 17 Goals set by the UN in 2015: only 18 per cent of them are on track.
• The political climate is not the most encouraging for sustainability, but polls show that Italian and European citizens still believe in the validity of the goals.
• ASviS continues its campaign for a Generational Impact Assessment to be included in all legislation, so as to extend the outlook towards future generations.

Ten years after the adoption of the Agenda 2030, and with only five years left to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the picture is mixed: some progress has been made, but global crises – the pandemic, wars, the climate emergency and economic tensions – have slowed or undermined many of the expected results. This was the message that emerged during the ASviS Live "10 years of Agenda 2030: progress, obstacles and future prospects", organised by the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development in collaboration with Italian and international institutions.

"The challenges ahead of us make it imperative to adopt an anticipatory governance, capable of taking the future as the guiding criterion for present decisions," said Enrico Giovannini, scientific director of ASviS, recalling that Italy is introducing a Generational Impact Assessment of new legislation, "but that is not enough: the future must be placed at the centre of education and research, in order to engage the whole country in building a fairer and more sustainable society."

Citizens still believe in Agenda 2030

F.SecretariadoGitano @gitanos_org

𝕏

#Hoy se cumplen #10añosdeAgenda2030
De las 169 metas de los ODS, solo el 35% progresa adecuadamente:
🟢 El 18% va por el buen camino
🟠 El 17% logra avances moderados
🔴 Un 18% ha retrocedido
#NosVaElFuturoEnEllo @FuturoEnComun

♥ 1 25 Sep 2025 · Open on X →

With 5 years left on the countdown, only 18 per cent of Agenda 2030's goals are on track, while almost half are progressing too slowly and more than a third have stalled or gone into reverse. At the global level, inequalities, conflicts and environmental crises are growing, putting entire ecosystems at risk. There has been progress too: 95 per cent of the world's population has access to mobile broadband, renewable energy has grown by 8.1 per cent annually over the past five years, and access to treatment has prevented more than 20 million AIDS-related deaths over three decades. But the most critical goals concern hunger, education, decent work, sustainable consumption and production models, while ocean conservation is deteriorating due to plastics, CO₂, acidification and overfishing, with serious consequences for biodiversity.

In general, the prevailing political wind, blown in by the Trump presidency in the United States, bodes nothing good. A survey conducted by UN Global Compact Network Italia, the organisation that promotes the achievement of the goals, nonetheless shows that European public opinion still believes strongly in Agenda 2030: 80 per cent of citizens consider sustainable development a priority for governments and the EU, and 73 per cent see it as a driver of competitiveness for businesses. Yet, in a realistic vein, only 37 per cent think that most of the goals can still be achieved by the deadline. "The majority of Europeans identify sustainable development as a priority," recalled Filippo Bettini, president of UN Global Compact Network Italia, "but the transition will only be possible with proportionate and effective rules capable of engaging businesses as well."

UN Global Compact Network Italia @FondazioneGCNI

𝕏

➡️How is sustainability perceived by European citizens?
Results of a survey conducted on 13,000 people in 15 European countries and the UK were presented today at #UNGA80. UNGCNI participated with the CNs of Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and Spain.

24 Sep 2025 · Open on X →

And this is where the other research presented at the event comes into play: the study promoted by WeWorld and Mani Tese, which signals that, in the Italian context, 85 per cent of respondents are calling for binding legislation to compel large companies to prevent harm to people, the environment and the climate, even if this entails higher costs. Three out of four Italians are also convinced that competitiveness cannot exist without human rights and environmental protection.

The Future Paper: anticipatory governance for Italy

In order to give concrete shape to this vision, ASviS has presented the Future Paper Una governance anticipante per l'Italia. The document proposes reforms to be implemented by 2027 to embed a long-term perspective into national policies: creating strategic foresight structures to analyse scenarios and weak signals, introducing (through a bill on regulatory simplification currently under examination) a Generational Impact Assessment for all new legislation, establishing independent authorities to protect future generations, and training the public administration in a culture of the future. Among the most innovative proposals is a "National Assembly on the Future" to involve citizens and young people in planning for tomorrow.

ASviS underlines that these reforms are directly linked to the reform of Article 9 of the Italian Constitution, which has incorporated the protection of the environment also in the interest of future generations. "The Constitution requires us to safeguard the interests of future generations. Young people must be the protagonists of this process," reiterated Giulia Di Donato, co-author of the Future Paper.

The reflection on the 2030 Agenda fits into a broader context: "Since its launch, it has represented an instrument of great ambition for guiding the choices of States in their paths toward sustainable growth," explained Maurizio Massari, Italy's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, recalling our country's commitment to issues such as transparent institutions, sustainable food systems and food security. Universities and research also play a decisive role, noted Patrizia Lombardi, co-president of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Italia: "Recent crises have made it clear how urgent it is to educate for the future, developing skills and responsibilities capable of steering individual and collective choices toward sustainability and intergenerational justice." For Pierluigi Stefanini, president of ASviS, the key is to turn the future into a guiding criterion: "Only in this way will we be able to combine economic prosperity, social cohesion and environmental protection. It is a collective responsibility that requires vision, courage and consistency."