Integrating the 17 SDGs into the European Green Deal, through Strategic and Financial Approaches

The European Green Deal (EGD) is the growth strategy for Europe, covering multiple domains, and aiming to an equitable, carbon neutral European Union by 2050. The UN Agenda 2030, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set the bases for a global sustainability transition. However, the integration of the SDGs into the EGD is an overlooked issue in the literature, although it is particularly important, given Europe’s slow progress to achieve the sustainability targets. In this paper, 22 central policies and strategies published during 2020–21 to support the EGD's implementation are assessed on how they align with Agenda’s 2030 aspirations, using novel text-mining methodologies: one human-based and one machine-learning-based. The results outline an alignment of EGD policies to the main SDGs themes relevant to Food, Land, Oceans, Energy, but also a strong indication that the progress towards sustainability passes through "Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions" (SDG16) and international "Partnerships for the Goals" (SDG17). We further explain the underlying policy mechanisms of the established ‘necessary transformations’ to build a sustainable Europe, along with the relevance of valuing the natural capital and integrating it into future investment and financial decisions.