The report comes as the world recognised Global Goals Week last week, an event aiming to drive action, awareness, and accountability around the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What are the SDGs?

Adopted by all United Nations member countries in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides ‘a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future’. Centred around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it acts as an urgent call for action by all countries as part of a global partnership, focusing on issues such as hunger, education, affordable and clean energy and industry, innovation and infrastructure.

“The goals recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”

A central commitment of the SDGs is to Leave No One Behind, ensuring that development progress reaches the most vulnerable and marginalised populations. The UK Government is responsible for achieving these goals domestically and for supporting their attainment internationally.

How is the world progressing with SDGs?

Every year, the UN Secretary General presents an annual SDG Progress report, based on the global indicator framework and data and information collected at a national and regional level.

Unfortunately, according to the 2025 report, the world remains far off track from achieving the 2030 Agenda, with 48% of targets assigned to the SDGs showing insufficient progress. It is positive to see considerable progress on Goal 7 – affordable and clean energy – however, with global electricity access reaching 92% in 2023, up from 84% in 2010.  Renewable energy is also the fastest-growing energy source today and is projected to overtake coal as the world’s top source of electricity by “2026 at the latest”, according to new forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Although more needs to be done to accelerate renewable deployment globally, with a particular focus on how we ensure that the disparities between developed and developing countries do not deepen further, the report concludes that “transformation is possible when we combine proven strategies with political courage and adequate resources. The SDGs remain as vital and achievable as ever, but only when we match the ambition of the 2030 Agenda with the urgency and unity this decisive moment demands.”

How is Thrive delivering against the SDGs?

As an impact-driven business, we are always looking at how we can be a force for good. Thrive was set up in 1994, putting money to work build new sustainable energy projects and empower people to take action to address the climate emergency.

To keep us accountable, we measure our impact using the SDG Action Manager, developed by the United Nations Global Compact and B Lab, which oversees the B Corp certification. The tool enables us to analyse operations, policies and business models in terms of both positive impact and risks relating to the SDGs most relevant to the business. Below is an overview of our performance for the last full year.

In 2024, Thrive continued to perform above average across all the UNSDGs that are relevant to our business. Compared to the UK average, our score is particularly high for five of these goals reflecting the core purpose of the business – funding and building clean energy infrastructure to help tackle climate change. We also performed above average for SDG 16 ‘Peace, justice and strong institutions’, reflecting our commitment to business as a force for good, incorporating transparency, robust reporting and high standards of governance.

We believe that we must all play our part in the transition to a cleaner, fairer future and would encourage other businesses to explore how they can accelerate action, scale and the mainstreaming of best practices, innovation and ambition to support the achievement of the SDGs.