With its global and overarching political approach, the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development has been highly relevant for the Council of Europe, which has, from the outset, contributed to the process which led to the adoption of Agenda 2030.
Many of the Council of Europe’s activities are relevant and contribute to the implementation of Agenda 2030. This site details how the organisation’s objectives, instruments and activities align with the Sustainable Development Goals. While recognising that the main responsibility for the implementation of Agenda 2030 lies with member States, the Council of Europe’s role as an international organisation is to assist and facilitate member States in their contribution to SDG implementation. In particular, the organisation, through its instruments, can contribute to the national implementation reporting by member States, and several member States have referred to their work at the Council of Europe in such reporting.
In the Reykjavik Declaration of 2023, the Council of Europe reaffirmed its commitment to contribute to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and to take stronger action in this respect. Furthermore, the Declaration also highlighted the implementation of the SDGs as an aspect of the Council of Europe’s cooperation and relations with other international organisations, such as the United Nations and the OSCE. The importance of enhancing dialogue and cooperation with these priority partners was reaffirmed in the Council of Europe Strategy on External Action, adopted in May 2026.
The unique added-value of the Council of Europe is a combination of:
its pan-European membership: 46 member States;
its standards: a comprehensive measurable normative framework which can be used as indicators/benchmarks;
its multi-stakeholder dimension: in addition to its intergovernmental bodies, the Council of Europe’s unique structure includes the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Commissioner for Human Rights the Conference of International NGOs, as well as the European Court of Human Rights, the case law of which covers almost all SDGs, and the unique mechanism of implementation of its judgments. The annual World Forum for Democracy is also an important platform reaching out to civil society to consolidate democratic institutions. These various bodies and instruments are precious to support States in their efforts to translate the global agenda into action at both national and local levels;
its monitoring/follow-up bodies and processes: essential to foster political dialogue, gather data, assess progress and provide further guidance;
its technical support provided to individual countries for capacity-building and removing obstacles to implementation; and
its global outreach: most of the organisation’s legally-binding conventions and activities are open to participation by non-member States, in particular, those benefitting from observer status and from the neighbouring regions
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