EPRs & SDGs

Mandate 

At their 8th Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference (2016), Ministers acknowledged the important contribution of the UNECE Environmental Performance Review (EPR) Programme as an effective and practical policy tool and highlighted the role the Programme could play in supporting the achievement and monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the pan-European region (see Batumi Ministerial Declaration).
At its 22nd session (2017), the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy approved the document Role of EPRs in supporting the achievement and monitoring of SDGs in the pan-European region prepared by the EPRs Expert Group with support from the UNECE EPR secretariat.
Documents and materials
Role of EPRs in supporting the achievement and monitoring of SDGs in the pan-European region (ENG, FRE, RUS)
EPRs: progress made in conducting the third cycle (ENG, FRE, RUS)
News article "EPRs to support the achievement and monitoring of SDGs"
Article "Integrating SDGs into Environmental Performance Reviews"
Since 2017, EPRs address relevant SDGs and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The coverage of targets is tailored to the content of each review, which in turn is being determined in consultation with the Government concerned. Relevant targets under all SDGs have been addressed in the reviews conducted since 2017, however the most covered are Goals 6 “clean water and sanitation”, 11 “sustainable cities and communities”, 12 “responsible consumption and production”, 13 “climate action” and 15 “life on land”.
The following EPRs integrate relevant SDGs targets: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia and Uzbekistan.
Countries's efforts to achieve EPR-related SDG targets are supported through projects (UNDA project) and workshops (Astana Workshop, Tbilisi Workshop, Minsk Workshop, Budva Workshop, Online workshop (30.09.2021) ).