Measuring Progress 2026 – Environment Index

The Environment Index combines seven 7 SDGS: clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), climate action (SDG 13), life below water (SDG 14) and life on land (SDG 15). The analysis sees Ireland in 13^th place among our peers.  Our analysis indicates that significant challenges exist if Ireland is to meet our commitment to the environment goals set out in Agenda 2030. 

SDG 6 calls for universal access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.  It aims at improving water quality, water use efficiency and sustainable supply.  

There has been a movement away from the desired direction of SDG 6 at EU level:  “While the sanitation situation evolved favourably, the picture is mixed regarding water quality and unfavourable when it comes to water scarcity” (Eurostat, 2025, p.12).

Results for Ireland are mixed, based on 4 indicators.  Relative to other countries, we score well on Eurostat’s water exploitation index (a measure of total fresh water use as a percentage of the renewable fresh-water resources – groundwater and surface water).  Ireland is ranked in third place on this indicator.  Less favourable is our performance on the proportion of wastewater that is treated - Ireland is in last place.  Also, indicators for access to improved drinking water and sanitation show further development is required.  Ireland’s overall rank on this SDG is 13.

SDG 6:  Rank = 13

Access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy services to fulfil demands is a key aim of SDG 7.  Specifically, it focuses on improving energy efficiency, access to modern energy services and increasing the share of renewable energy.  

In the EU, most of the indicators of SDG 7 have improved compared with 2018, although “further acceleration is required in certain areas to ensure the EU reaches its 2030 targets” (Eurostat, 2025, p.12), including for example, access to affordable energy, which has been impacted by continuing high energy prices.  Also, while there have been improvements in the share of renewable energy in most countries, this needs to grow faster to meet 2030 targets.  

Our assessment of SDG 7 indicates that Ireland is performing poorly on this goal.  We use 4 indicators to compute our measure.  The share of renewable energy is one of the lowest relative to our EU peers and is well below the EU average (ranked 12).  We also do poorly on the measure of CO2 emissions from energy fuels combustion/electricity output (MtCO2/TW).  We do better on the indicator of final energy consumption in household per capita (Ireland is in 6^th place).  Our final indicator – the proportion of people who are unable to keep their home adequately warm – shows Ireland ranked 8^th.  Overall, our combined indicators give Ireland a score with a rank of 11^th place. 

SDG 7:  Rank = 11

The focus of SDG 11 is on designing cities, towns, and communities in a safe, resilient and sustainable manner.  It aims to make cities safe and sustainable by ensuring access to safe and affordable housing, investing in infrastructure, and improving planning and management in a way that is both participatory and inclusive.

Some of the official indicators for this goal are more relevant to developing countries.  We use 6 indicators, drawing mainly on Eurostat’s data, to reflect this goal.  Air pollution is less of a problem in Ireland’s urban areas compared to other countries, outranked by just the Scandinavian countries.  Our second indicator attempts to capture ‘satisfaction with public transport’ – we score poorly on this, ranked 12^th.  A third indicator captures the extent of rent over-burden – we use OECD data to reflect the theme of ‘safe and affordable housing’.  The proportion of fatal car accidents is low relative to other countries – Ireland is in third place.  There is scope for improvement on the measure of CO2 from new passenger cars (ranked in 10^th place).  Finally, Ireland doesn’t perform  well on the recycling rate of municipal waste (also a ranking of 10^th place).  

To summarise, although we score well on several of the indicators used to mirror this goal, concerns about recycling of waste, CO” emissions from passenger cars and dissatisfaction with transport mean that overall, the goal which captures quality of life in our cities and communities ranks Ireland in 7^th place. 

SDG 11: Rank = 7

Economic growth has long been linked to an increase in resource and energy consumption.  SDG 12 calls for adopting sustainable practices and procedures for business and an increase in environmentally friendly activity by consumers to enhance sustainable consumption and production.  In the EU, the focus is on developments in the area of decoupling environmental impacts from economic growth, energy consumption, and waste generation and management.  

In general, trends concerning SDG 12 in the EU have been largely positive.  Indicators for this SDG focus on consumption patterns, waste generation and management, circular material use, electronic waste, and the green economy.  

Our score for SDG 12 is based on 5 indicators and show that Ireland ranks poorly overall on this goal.  This is driven mainly by the circular use rate (which puts Ireland in 13^th place based on 2024 data) and the consumption footprint indicator (which also ranks Ireland in 13^th place).

Combining all our indicators show Ireland continues to struggle on the achievement of this goal.  The overall score puts Ireland in 12^th place on this SDG.

SDG 12: Rank = 12

On fulfilling the promise to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and operationalising the Green Climate Fund, SDG 13 integrates climate change mitigation and measures into strategies and policies to reduce the severity of the effects of climate related hazards and natural disasters.  

In the EU context, SDG 13 focuses on three themes: climate mitigation, climate impacts, and climate initiatives that support climate action.  There have been improvements in this SDG, but according to the EU, more needs to be done.  For example, the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased strongly in 2023, reaching a 36 per cent reduction relative to 1990, but stronger progress will be required though to meet the 55 per cent reduction target for 2030 (Eurostat, 2025, p.13).

Problems with data availability however (for example, reliable and comprehensive measures of mitigation, impacts and initiatives) make this one of the SDGs that international agencies still find problematic when attempting to determine important trends.  A key indicator used by Eurostat is GHG emissions.  In recent years, Ireland has witnessed a fluctuation in its GHG emissions but it continues to be well above the EU average.  Ireland is ranked last on this indicator, based on most recent data.  We do better on the indicator that reflects the carbon pricing score[1] (in 4^th place).  The overall score ranks Ireland in 11^th place on this SDG.

SDG 13 Rank = 11

[1] The Carbon Pricing Score (CPS) (also called the effective carbon tax rate) measures the extent to which countries have attained the goal of pricing all energy related carbon emissions at certain benchmark values for carbon costs. The more progress that a country has made towards a specified benchmark value, the higher the CPS. The measure here comes from the OECD and excludes CO2 from biomass.

The conservation of the oceans by safeguarding and ensuring their sustainable use is the aim of SDG 14.  It aims to reduce marine pollution, ocean acidification and overfishing as addressed through policy.  The world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents and life – drive global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind.  Hence, a key priority for a sustainable future is the careful management of this goal.  

Available data measuring the themes of this SDG are still limited in scope.  Hence caution is advised in interpreting the findings here.  For example, available data for protected marine sites do not provide an indication of the sites’ conservation status nor the effectiveness of the protection they offer to species and habitats (Eurostat, 2022, p.13).  Also, it has, and continues to be, difficult to estimate how each country is contributing to ocean health.  Ocean acidification poses a risk to the marine environment and global climate regulation.  Overall, some slight improvements combined with a few clearly negative developments have resulted in an overall slightly negative goal-level assessment.

Given the data limitations at country level, our assessment of SDG 14 is computed using only 3 indicators for 12 countries[1], based on data on protected marine sites and quality of bathing sites by locality from Eurostat.  Estimates of ocean health, including ocean acidity are available from the Ocean Health Index[2] which measures ocean health by country.  The overall score gives it a ranking of 5 on this SDG.  Given time, it is hoped better quality data will allow for more reliable estimates of SDG 14.

SDG 14 Rank = 5 (out of 12)

[1] Both Austria and Luxembourg are landlocked – hence there is no data for this goal.

[2]http://www.oceanhealthindex.org/region-scores/annual-scores-and-rankings. We use the clean waters score from the Index.

SDG 15 seeks to protect, restore and promote the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial, inland water and mountain ecosystems.  It is one of the key goals, along with SDG 14 that incorporates environmental considerations for all UN member countries.

Similar to SDG 14, data availability means monitoring of SDG 15  remains somewhat limited.  In the EU, policy focuses on attempting to ensure ecosystems are healthy and sustainably used and managed.  The most recent assessment of this goal remains unfavourable with data indicating a further worsening of the situation compared with previous years, mainly due to continued land degradation and the decline in biodiversity.

Four indicators are selected here to mirror SDG 15.  Ireland scores high on an indicator of the share of protected freshwater areas but poorly on Eurostat’s measure of protected terrestrial site.  The score on the Red List index which estimates biodiversity loss ranks Ireland in 9^th place.  Finally, Ireland has a low share of land dedicated to forestry which is well below the EU average – Ireland is ranked 13^th on this measure.  Combining the indicators gives Ireland an overall rank on this SDG of 13.

SDG 15 Rank = 13