This report comes at a critical time for Europe. The new President and Commission have already committed to a European Green Deal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. They have further pledged to place the SDGs at the centre of the European Semester – the Union’s framework for the coordination of economic policies across member states. Indeed, in their mission letters each new Commissioner is asked to ensure “the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within their policy area.

US cities are at the forefront of the sustainable development challenge. They contain 80% of the country’s population, and therefore have the capacity to make or break SDG achievement (US Census Bureau 2016). But, while crucial to SDG attainment, they Executive Summary cannot accomplish this alone. While 80 percent of US residents live in urban areas, only 3 percent of land is urban; rural and urban areas are deeply interconnected (US Census Bureau 2016).

Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, Figure 1), which were adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015, describe a universal agenda that applies to and must be implemented by all countries, both developed and developing. Sound metrics and data are critical for turning the SDGs into practical tools for problem-solving by (i) mobilizing governments, academia, civil society, and business; (ii) providing a report card to track progress and ensure accountability; and (iii) serving as a management tool for the transformations needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030.