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Ecological debt and sustainable development ] 93 its main focus on environmental challenges and aims towards the year 2050; while the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs operate on a much wider perspective and in a fifteen-year time frame. Without a doubt, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015 gave a massive new rise to globally shared efforts for achieving sustainable development. “Leave no one behind” is the central message of the initiative, representing the firm commitment of all UN member states to move forward towards a sustainable, inclusive future, which considers the well-being of all members of the global community (United Nations 2015). The SDGs cover a wide range of different objectives from eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities to combating climate change and fighting for peace, justice, and strong institutions - a vision fully consistent with Europe’s future policy strategies. The European Union was instrumental in shaping this global agenda, and it fully committed itself to delivering on the plan and its implementation. Over this five-year period, the EU has made significant progress towards most of the Goals, although this progress has been unequal among the Member States (see also Eurostat 2021). We will return to the EU’s 2030 Agenda contribution later, but let us first take a wider look at the Unions record in sustainable development policies. THE EU’S PATH TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT For many years now, sustainable development has represented a great deal of the EU’s overall political vision. It brings various forms of economic, social, and environmental policies under one collective objective: to improve the quality of life and well-being of all people in the continent, and globally. The European Community had always been proud to promote peaceful societies, social inclusion, and economic prosperity, but in 1997, with the adoption of the Amsterdam Treaty, sustainable development was formally declared as one of its fundamental objectives." Since that year, sustainable development has been a decisive factor in EU policymaking, shaping numerous sectoral policies, both at national and international levels, and the workings of many institutions and agencies, > Although sustainable development did not gain full legal recognition until 1997, the notion itself had raised significant attention among EU institutions even before. In 1988, only a year after the Brundtland Report had been published, the term sustainable development was mentioned in European Council Conclusions for the first time. In 1993, when the Community adopted its fifth Environment Action Programme, it named the action plan Towards Sustainability. The document defined sustainable policy goals as “a policy and strategy for continued economic and social development without detriment to the environment and the natural resources on the quality of which continued human activity and further development depend” (European Community 1993, 12).
