A team of experts made up of technical officers from various ministries is being set up to identify data gaps and give impetus to the country’s drive towards reaching the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

UN member states have agreed to reach these 17 goals by 2030, to improve quality of life and ensure the well-being of future generations.

According to the latest report, while Malta remains at the top end of the global index of goals, it has fallen five places, sliding backwards particularly on good governance.

Replying to questions, a spokesperson for the Sustainable Development Ministry explained the sustainable development goals were integral to the ministry’s work. The ministry was working towards setting up an expert team to closely oversee data behind the targets, she said.

The National Expert Group on Sustainable Development Indicators, to be established with the help of the National Statistics Office, would be responsible for identifying specific indicators more applicable to the country.

She explained that not all the UN indicators were relevant in a Maltese context, such as extreme poverty and rivers, and appropriate indicators were essential for monitoring progress.

“In order to attain progress, each sustainable development goal will be broken down further to identify indicators for measuring progress which would be more relevant to the Maltese context in each of the different sectors,” she said.

“This would bring about greater synergy between all relevant ministries and entities and ensure further investment where it is most needed,” she added.

The country was already in good standing on its commitment to reaching the goals for 2030, she underlined.

With a current score of 75.7, the country has achieved SDG 1, ‘No poverty’, SDG 4, ‘Quality education’ and SDG 7 ‘Affordable and clean energy’, and was making progress towards attaining many other goals, the spokesperson said.