Keeping our eyes on the Horizon - Monitoring flash series: a Horizon 2020 monitoring report
date: 27/10/2020
On 24 September, the European Commission has published several monitoring flashes about Horizon 2020. The monitoring flash number 5 analyses and maps Horizon 2020’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Horizon 2020 Framework Programme is one of the means by which the European Commission is steering the requisite transitions, by investing in new knowledge and solutions that will help Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050, grasp the opportunities of the digital age and develop an economy that works for and protects its people.
The analysis shows that up to 84% of current Horizon 2020 investments relate to at least one of the SDGs. Overall, this represents close to €40 billion invested in over 20000 different projects, carried out by nearly 30000 different beneficiaries from 152 countries. All three pillars of Horizon 2020 appear to contribute to the SDGs to a similar degree (top-down and bottom-up investment).
The biggest proportion of the investment relates to climate action (SDG 13) and ‘good health and wellbeing’ (SDG 03). The EU’s R&I investment in ‘responsible production and consumption’ seems low, especially given its current performance gap when it comes to achieving the SDG targets in this area.
More information.