Measuring the SDGs: an initial picture for the Netherlands
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The report notes some reservations with respect to this first picture. Firstly, only one third of the SDG indicators are directly measurable for the Netherlands. In this report a number of supplementary and alternative indicators have been added. Many SDG indicators have still to be developed; this will pose a challenge, partly because the national SDG strategy in the Netherlands is still under development. National ambitions and targets have yet to be set for many SDG and sub-goals. Once they are set, priorities within the indicators will become clearer.
Secondly, a pictures based on SDGs is not a complete picture of the position of the Netherlands in terms of sustainability, as the SDGs do not make trade-offs between the economy, environment and society visible. The SDGs focus less on the future - what effects will our actions here and now have on the next generation? - and on elsewhere: what are the effects of our use of natural resources in other countries.
This report is intended as a trigger for discussion between policymakers, researchers, civil society and business about how to shape national SDG monitoring and reporting and about where the Netherlands currently stands on measuring SDG indicators.