The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Austria

From June to September 2017, the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA) carried out an audit of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Austria. The audit aimed in particular at assessing the legal framework conditions and the national recognition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the responsibilities of the Federal Government and the coordination across all levels of government. A further objective was to evaluate the initial situation (stocktaking and gap analysis), the implementation plan and the target attainment monitoring system, as well as the inclusion of the civil society, the reporting system and the impacts of the SDGs. The audit was carried out at the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs – in their capacity as coordinating entities regarding the national implementation of the SDGs – as well as at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology – as federal ministries selected as examples by the ACA. The audited period largely spanned the years from 2016 through 2017.

Until 7 January 2018, matters related to environmental sustainability fell within the sphere of responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management. Since the amendment of the Federal Ministries Act 2017 (BMG-Novelle 2017) those matters have been governed by the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism. Consequently, the ACA uses the denomination “Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management” for the audited period. The recommendations, however, are addressed to the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism.