1. Introduction

The year 2023 marks the midterm of the “2030 Agenda”. It is imperative to assess the progress of current SDGs with more precise data to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced globally and by individual nations. This assessment will facilitate the exploration of scientifically feasible solutions and provide direction for the implementation phase of the agenda.

However, based on the analysis of the 17 goals in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 and research results from over 230 indicators, it is evident that approximately half of the countries worldwide still severely lack progress data for these indicators. Additionally, the data updates are not timely, there is a lack of geospatial information, and these deficiencies significantly impede the monitoring of indicators and informed decision-making (United Nations 2022, 2023). The midterm evaluation of the SDGs presents an opportunity to assess the progress in implementing the SDGs and identify shortcomings, as well as to enhance data acquisition capabilities. According to the project team, out of the currently over 230 SDG indicators, 35% remain at Tier II, where methodologies exist but data are unavailable. Moreover, for those indicators with available data, their distribution across different countries and sectors is highly uneven. This is particularly challenging for many developing and underdeveloped countries, which find it difficult to achieve large-scale data computation in the short term and urgently require high-quality global data products.

The UN has promoted a “Digital Cooperation Roadmap” aimed at accelerating sustainable development through digital technologies (United Nations 2020). Big data is a crucial method and tool within digital technologies. In this report, we integrate Big Earth Data from multiple sources, including satellite observations, station records, survey statistics, online media, and foundational geographic data, to compensate for the absence of statistical data. This integration also provides rich spatiotemporal information, illustrating the spatial disparities and progress of indicators. The “Sustainable Development Science Satellite 1” (SDGSAT-1), launched in November 2021, is dedicated to serving the “2030 Agenda”. Currently, satellite data are being shared globally to further enhance the acquisition and service capabilities of SDG data.

From 2019 to 2022, we have continuously published the “Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals” (http://​www.​cbas.​ac.​cn/​en/​publications/​reports/​), aiding the realization of the SDGs in China and along the BRI countries. This report continues to focus on the progress of indicators at the scales of China and the BRI countries from the perspectives of data products, methods and models, and decision support. Additionally, this report emphasizes the midterm progress assessment of indicators within China and the BRI countries. Among the more than 230 SDG indicators, over one-third are related to the environment (UNEP 2021). These environment-related indicators are also the areas where Big Earth Data’s spatiotemporal advantages are most evident. As Earth Big Data research deepens, the data available for indicator computation are continuously increasing and being updated.

At the scale of BRI countries, we have primarily provided public data products from 2019 to 2023 related to SDG 2, SDG 6, SDG 7, SDG 11, SDG 13, SDG 14, and SDG 15. These include global arable land data products, global lake and reservoir water quality products, global electrification rate products, global urban impermeable surface and global urban public space products, global greenhouse gas emissions and natural disaster impact products, global marine aquaculture and mangrove distribution products, global forest cover and land degradation products, as well as SDGSAT-1 data products. These products are at the forefront in terms of resolution, timeliness and accuracy, and can directly support the assessment of global SDGs. Additionally, we have developed a Big Earth Data sharing platform and an online data visualization platform aimed at the sharing, display, and online computation of indicators.

Big data offers advantages such as rapid updates, repeatability, and extensive coverage in the computation of globally consistent indicators, playing a crucial role in addressing data deficiencies in certain countries (Guo 2020, 2021a, 2021b, 2022). However, during the long-term research and monitoring of indicators, from the perspective of big data analysis and computation, there remain three areas where the definitions and evaluation standards of some SDG indicators can be further refined and improved.

In response to the current disparities in data acquisition capabilities among countries and the issues in indicator settings, we recommend that, on the one hand, countries strengthen support to continue enhancing their ability to compute indicators using Big Data. On the other hand, the UN should adjust the indicator settings by clarifying definitions and standards and increasing considerations for data accessibility. These measures will better leverage the role of globally consistent big data, advancing towards a framework that is “more equitable and accessible”.