Systemic Links Between SDG 12 and Selected Sustainable Development Goals: Identification of Synergistic Effects

Sustainable development is one of the most important challenges facing contemporary socio-economic policy, requiring consideration of the interdependencies among the environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Particular importance is attached to identifying synergies among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as recognizing these synergies enables more coherent and effective development efforts. The purpose of this article is to assess the level of implementation of SDG 12, “Responsible Consumption and Production” (SDG 12), and selected SDGs in European Union (EU) countries, as well as to identify systemic linkages between SDG 12 and selected SDGs and to assess the synergistic effects between them. The study was conducted for the years 2019 and 2023, using the TOPSIS method based on SDG indicators available in the Eurostat database, across the 10 analyzed goals. The results obtained made it possible to determine the degree of achievement of individual SDGs in the countries studied and to rank them according to their level of progress toward the analyzed goals. Furthermore, they made it possible to identify changes in the level of SDG achievement between 2019 and 2023. In both 2019 and 2023, the countries of Northern and Western Europe maintained leading positions in most rankings, while the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and some countries in Southern Europe continued to occupy relatively lower positions in the analyzed rankings. Synergies between SDG 12 and SDG 9 were identified in 2019, while in 2023, synergistic interactions were also observed between SDG 12 and SDG 8, as well as between SDG 12 and SDG 2.