Real-time tracking must be at the core of sustainable development goals.

Abstract

How close are we to achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs)? No one really knows. As the world enters the countdown to 2030, uncertainty remains. Progress remains fragmented, hindered by data gaps, opaque governance, and politicization that limits scientific communication and real-time policy adaptation. Limitations reveal the need to rethink how sustainability is measured, reported, and governed. Using the SDGs, we argue that monitoring systems fail to capture real-time dynamics, leaving humanity rudderless amid sustainability crises. In an era of big data, future sustainability agendas must evolve into adaptive, data-integrated frameworks capable of continuous feedback and adjustment. However, weaknesses in progress measurement and reporting are not only technical. They also reflect data politics, because decisions over which indicators count, who produces them, how they are validated, and whose infrastructures and funding sustain them are shaped by power relations that may influence what becomes visible and what remains unmeasured.