Cluster Analysis of Sustainable Development Goal Indicators in the European Union

Abstract

Sustainable development (SD) is a fundamental objective of the European Union (EU) enshrined in its primary law. The EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) was adopted in 2001 and subsequently, its external dimension in 2002. The EU Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator set replaced the EU SDS in 2017. Selected indicators of this set were used in a cluster analysis to classify the sample of the 28 EU countries and Norway according to their performance in sustainability. In the selection of indicators, priority was given to the indicators reflecting decoupling and the indicators related to the climate and energy targets, along with the important representatives of the economic, social and institutional dimensions of SD generally. The Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was applied to create four clusters using the indicator values in the initial year (primarily 2007) and the most recent year (predominantly 2016). The changes in the allocation to clusters also reflect the path of SD in the countries investigated.