The Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals: Special Report for a Decade of the SDGs (hereafter “the Report”), drafted by the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) with over 40 research institutions, was officially released on the UN website (https://sdgs.un.org/events/big-earth-data-strengthening-potential-digital-technologies-sdgs-post-covid-world-52849#background）on September 27, 2025.
Adopted in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development established 17 SDGs as a blueprint for global progress. Marking the 10th anniversary of its adoption, the Report provides comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of global progress on seven SDGs and China’s performance across all goals from 2015 to 2024 by integrating remote sensing, ground observations, statistical surveys, and international datasets.
The Report reveals that global progress is lagging behind the expected trajectory. Among the 59 indicators monitored, only 16.9 percent are on track to be achieved by 2030, while 27 are progressing slowly, 5 have stagnated, and 17 have regressed. Hunger persists worldwide, with undernourishment and food insecurity continuing to rise despite an 8 percent increase in agricultural labor productivity. Safe drinking water and sanitation remain critical challenges, with freshwater environments under growing pressure and submerged vegetation in shallow lakes declining rapidly. Access to clean energy and energy efficiency is advancing slowly, while international clean energy financing has declined. Health risks are intensifying, with average heat-related mortality in major cities of the Global South rising from 0.29 percent to 0.36 percent between 2015 and 2024. Ocean conservation and sustainable use are lagging, with eutrophic coastal waters expanding at about 6,300 square kilometers per year from 2015 to 2024. Land degradation is worsening, with the proportion of degraded land increasing by 3.38 percent—equivalent to about 2.6 times the area of Indonesia—between 2015 and 2022.
Meanwhile, China has made significant progress. By 2024, 141 out of 233 indicators—representing 60.5 percent—were close to or had already met the 2030 targets. China leads globally in clean energy development, with 39 percent of global wind power installations and 68.21 percent of new capacity added in 2024. More than 90 percent of urban residents now have convenient access to public transport, and all provincial governments have adopted disaster reduction strategies, both having already met the 2030 targets ahead of schedule. China’s mariculture industry has shifted from traditional methods to more intelligent and sustainable practices, with marine aquaculture output ranking first in the world for consecutive years. Ecological improvements are notable: forest cover now exceeds 25 percent, China has the world’s largest plantation area, and the country has become the fastest and largest contributor to global forest resource growth. Air quality has improved, with PM2.5 concentrations dropping by 30.2 percent, and the average mass of floating marine debris decreased by 71.13% in 2020–2024 compared with 2015–2019. Water resource management has also strengthened: total national water use has remained flat, water stress has eased from 73.3 percent to 61.7 percent, and surface water quality has improved to 90.4 percent. Meanwhile, agricultural productivity has more than doubled, rising from RMB 36,400 per person in 2015 to RMB 103,600 in 2024.
Between 2015 and 2024, Africa’s rice planting area grew by 15.7 percent, contributing more than 20 percent of the global net increase, with 25 African countries achieving expansion. China–Africa agricultural cooperation has effectively enhanced the production of this staple crop in food security–vulnerable regions. In addition, the investment recovery cycle of photovoltaic power generation has reached or approached that of conventional coal and hydropower in roughly 75% of regions worldwide, mainly driven by Chinese innovation and large-scale production.
Former President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim commented: “As we celebrate the decade of the SDGs, the Report presents some fascinating findings showcasing yet again the need for accurate and credible data in order to assess progress on the SDGs and also to make recommendations where there are gaps. The efforts of CBAS are to be commended.”
GUO Huadong, Director of CBAS and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized: “The Report not only provides a scientific summary of the past decade’s progress, but also delivers precise data support and decision-making references for implementing the 2030 Agenda. Indicator tracking is only the starting point. Looking ahead, we will deepen the application of Big Earth Data in multi-scale monitoring, scenario simulation, and policy optimization, develop more efficient, transparent, and interoperable evaluation tools, enhance multi-source data integration and AI-enabled analysis, and work together to build a new scientific paradigm for global sustainable development.”
With only five years left until 2030, the Report calls on the international community to expand shared data infrastructure, strengthen links between monitoring and policy simulation, and promote cross-goal governance in climate change, energy transition, and ecosystem protection. It highlights the importance of developing national-level SDG indicators aligned with national statistics, while advancing innovative big-data-based monitoring and evaluation methods for the “post-2030 Agenda.”