In alignment with the commitments made at the United Nations in September 2015, Italy is implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS). The Strategy was initially adopted in 2017 by Resolution No. 108 of the Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE). Following a consultative process, the NSDS was revised in year 2022 and received the endorsement of the State-Regions Conference and was subsequently approved by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Ecological Transition (CITE) through its resolution dated 18 September 2023.

The updated NSDS consolidates Italy’s strategic commitment to achieving national sustainability objectives in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims to strengthen sustainable development governance frameworks, enhance inclusivity and stakeholder engagement, and promote the use of robust, multidimensional indicators that reflect the full spectrum of sustainability and the well-being of both people and the planet.

The NSDS represents the national coordination framework built on the four guiding principles of the 2030 Agenda: integration, universality, inclusion and transformation.

The document includes two sections:

• "5 Ps“ section: this section describes Italy's sustainable development goals, based on the "5 Ps" of the 2030 Agenda - People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda’s targets are not directly included in the NSDS. Instead, the NSDS focuses on the interconnections among the SDGs, identifying 15 Strategic Choices that encompass 55 National Strategic Objectives. The NSDS also establishes an integrated monitoring system to track target values using a set of indicators.
• “Sustainability Vectors” section: the NSDS identifies the Sustainability Vectors as the enabling conditions for achieving sustainable development goals at both national and territorial levels. The three Sustainability Vectors are: policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD), culture for sustainability, and participation for sustainable development.

The NSDS also includes two annexes. The first one is the National Action Plan for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, which is the result of the collaboration between the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), DG Reform of the European Commission with the support of state and non-state actors. The second one is the renewed Regulation of the National Forum for Sustainable Development The NSDS also represents the national reference framework for environmental and territorial planning, programming and evaluation processes, as foreseen by the art. 34 of the Legislative Decree 152/2006. According to this article, Regions are required to develop their own Regional Strategies coherent with the National one. Regional Strategies are also required to show their contribution to the achievement of the NSDS’s objectives, ensuring an integrated monitoring process.

Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) is a guiding principle and mean of implementation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS).

The NSDS recognizes the central role and value of PCSD into the “Sustainability vectors” and includes, as annex, the National Action Plan for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD NAP).

The PCSD NAP was developed as part of the NSDS triannual review, through a two-year participative process and in accordance with the 2019 OECD Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development. It is the main result of the project "Policy coherence for sustainable development: mainstreaming the SDGs in Italian decision making process to enforce the paradigm shift" (PCSD Project) co-funded by the European Union under the Structural Reform Support Programme (now TSI – Technical Support Instrument). It was carried out in co-operation between the European Commission’s DG Structural Reform Support, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Italian Ministry of the Environment.

The PCSD NAP is built onto three pillars:

1. Vision and Leadership
2. Institutional Mechanisms
3. Policy Financing and Impacts

Each pillar includes a set of Actions, Expected Results and Targets, linked to the three “Sustainability Vectors” as identified into the NSDS, aiming at enhancing the strengths and overcoming the weaknesses of the Italian system - as identified in the Italy Governance Scan for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development.

Within the pillar “Institutional Mechanisms” the PCSD NAP proposes a set of coordination and specific tools to address policy coherence, including spillover effects in line with Law 125/2014. The NSDS explicitly aligns Italy’s transboundary impacts to its development cooperation goals stated in the three-year Programming and Policy Planning Document (PPPD) for development cooperation while the PCSD NAP provides possible mechanisms to be enacted and progress in this endeavour.

The engagement of central and territorial administrations, civil society, and non-state actors throughout the entire NSDS process, along with the implementation of a wide range of activities and projects, led to the creation of the so-called “NSDS system.”

The “NSDS system” is the combination of actors, mechanisms, and tools designed to ensure collaboration, multilevel governance, and policy coherence in pursuit of sustainability objectives.

The dialogue and supporting activities started in 2018, involving institutions, civil society and non-state actors, became over time stable mechanisms for ensuring a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, building a multi-actor and multi-level network and fostering a continuous peer-to-peer learning process.

The whole-of-government approach manly consists of the following coordination mechanisms for the implementation, monitoring and review of the NSDS:

• "National Working Group for the Monitoring of the National Sustainable Development Strategy". Established in 2018, it is supported by the National Action Plan on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD NAP). This group includes various ministries and agencies: the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), and the Departments of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. It contributes to defining key indicators for the monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensures policy coherence across sectors. It also engages with institutional and non-state actors to facilitate vertical and horizontal information sharing.
• "Inter-ministerial Group for the Implementation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy", established in 2022, oversees the implementation of the NSDS and the tools outlined in the PCSD NAP, aiming for better policy integration. This group also collaborates with other actors and contributed to the NSDS revision, focusing on setting target values and fostering institutional collaboration.
• "Territorial Working Group MASE - Regions and Autonomous Provinces" and "Territorial Working Group MASE - Metropolitan Cities", created in 2018 to promote regional and local government participation in NSDS definition and SDG localization. They ensure vertical dialogue on sustainable development while encouraging horizontal coordination among territorial administrations.

"Territorial Steering Committees", established at the local level, help define and implement regional strategies and metropolitan agendas for sustainable development, with MASE facilitating collaboration agreements to support governance structures and the achievement of SDGs. The support of MASE through the stipulation of collaboration agreements with all the Regions, the Autonomous Province of Trento and the 14 Metropolitan Cities, has encouraged the creation of new institutional and governance structures at a territorial level, promoting their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals and the NSDS.The NSDS ensures also a whole-of-society approach and thus encourages stakeholder engagement for the NSDS implementation and monitoring process:

• Civil society and non-state actors’ participation - including youth - is ensured in the NSDS implementation, monitoring, and review process, as well as in broader sustainable development issues. In particular, the National Forum for Sustainable Development is designed to ensure the full integration of the various levels involved in implementing the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS). The functioning and organization of the Forum are outlined in the Forum SvS Regulations, which result from a participatory process conducted in collaboration with the Forum itself. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) is responsible for facilitating the Forum’s activities.
• Regular meetings of the Inter-ministerial Development Co-operation Committee (CICS) and the National Development Co-operation Council (CNCS) help ensure coherence in the external dimension of development policy. The CNCS has a Working Group 1 (WG 1) on “Follow-up to the 2030 Agenda: policy coherence, effectiveness, and evaluation.” Its Chair sits in the National Forum for Sustainable Development operating in the context of the NSDS. The Rules of Procedure and Terms of Reference (ToRs) for WG 1 are included in a document attached to the NSDS and were approved along with it. The National Forum for Sustainable Development, in coordination with WG 1 of the CNCS, facilitates the contribution of non-state actors to the revision and implementation of both the NSDS and the National Action Plan for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (NAP PCSD).
• Academia, universities, and research institutes are engaged through research projects, pilot actions, and public calls aimed at supporting the NSDS implementation at both the national and territorial levels. In this context, a specific collaboration agreement has been established between MASE and the Italian School of Public Administration (SNA) to conduct an applied research on the linkages between strategic foresight and PCSD to enable the use of both approaches in the Italian decision-making process and cycle.
• Partnerships are established with international and European institutions, including the UN Programme on Human Settlements (UN Habitat), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN), and the European Commission.
• Partnership Platform on Localizing the SDGs: it is a global initiative led by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) jointly with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). The Partnership Platform is a transversal initiative that focuses on the role of local governments, institutions and stakeholders as drivers of change and accelerators of SDGs implementation. It finds its roots in the Italian G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué (Turin, April 29-30, 2024) and is welcomed by G7 Development and G7 Urban Sustainable Development Communiqués. It is a collaborative and operational initiative supporting countries and territories worldwide to advance the localization of the SDGs, while offering a convening space for exchange at the global level.
• TSI 2024 project on PCSD, Foresight and Impact Assessment for localizing the SDGs. Italy, along with Austria and the Slovak Republic, is participating in the multi-country project titled "Building Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development in Austria, Italy, and the Slovak Republic," funded by the European Commission’s DG REFORM under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) program (2024). The project activities benefit from the scientific support of the OECD. In Italy, the project focuses on strengthening the capacities and skills of participating territories to localize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), based on the implementation needs of their respective Regional Sustainable Development Strategies. This will be supported through tools such as policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD), strategic foresight, and impact assessments. The beneficiaries of this initiative include the Region of Sardinia, the Region of Marche, and the Region of Apulia, coordinated by the Region of Piedmont.

In Italy, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), in collaboration with the National Statistical System (SISTAN), monitors progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as mandated by the UN Statistical Commission. ISTAT produces data based on UN-defined indicators, enriched with national-specific data, and regularly publishes findings in the SDGs Report to track Italy’s progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda.

Since 2013, ISTAT has been working to better integrate the three dimensions of sustainability into its statistical system, defining 152 "Equitable and Sustainable Well-being" (ESW) indicators across 12 domains. These indicators assess progress beyond economic growth (GDP), incorporating social and environmental factors. The ESW indicators are updated annually in the "ESW Report" and are used in the policy cycle, highlighting their impact on quality of life.

Since 2018, the Economic and Finance Document (EFD) has included an annex reporting on 12 ESW indicators to assess the impact of policies. In this context, the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) monitoring system was developed, aligning with both the ESW and SDG indicators. This integrated system includes not only quantitative data but also performance and process indicators to capture complex social phenomena.

In 2018, the Ministry of the Environment established a National Working Group for NSDS monitoring, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, ISTAT, and the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).  Currently, the NSDS monitoring system includes 62 core indicators linked to National Strategic Choices (NSCs) and 190 indicators for monitoring National Strategic Objectives (NSOs). These indicators are shared with regional and local governments for formulating and evaluating territorial sustainable development strategies.

Annual Reports on the NSDS Implementation Status

CIPE Resolution 108/2017 assigns to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security the task of reporting annually to CIPESS on the implementation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS). Starting from 2022, the Annual Report includes the Integrated Monitoring Report on the SNSvS indicators.

(please, see also the previous point)

Voluntary National Review (VNR)

Italy presented to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) at the United Nations its first Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2017 which was focused on the adoption of the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS), as a reference framework for the implementation and monitoring of Agenda 2030 in Italy.

In July 2022, during the X session of the HLPF, Italy presented its second VNRadopting an innovative and ambitious approach to the SDG review process. The 2022 VNR was structured around three thematic pillars: enhancing policy coherence for sustainable development; fostering multilevel governance and the localization of the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS); and strengthening stakeholder and youth engagement, with particular attention to the National Forum for Sustainable Development and the National Council for Development Cooperation. Each of these themes is explored in a dedicated chapter of the VNR, which also includes a Position Paper prepared by the Forum specifically for the occasion.

To highlight the degree of integration between national and local implementation processes of the 2030 Agenda, the Italian VNR stands out as one of the first examples of an integrated VNR/VLR. It includes, as an annex, 12 Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) prepared by 18 institutions, including Regions, Autonomous Provinces, and Metropolitan Cities. In the same spirit, a Voluntary Subnational Review (VSR), prepared by AICCRE (the Italian Association for the Council of European Municipalities and Regions) in collaboration with FEEM (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei), is also annexed.

Finally, the 2022 VNR includes the Three-Year Programming and Policy Planning Document for International Development Cooperation, prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), which monitors the external dimension of Italy’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda.Inizio moduloFine modulo