Romania’s Path to Sustainable Development: Achieving a Sustainable Development Target

This article reviews Romania’s commitment to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a member of the United Nations and of the European Union, with a particular attention on the SDG no. 1 “No Poverty” through Target no. 3 which aims to strengthen the national emergency situation system, rehabilitation and compensation mechanisms in order to respond to natural disasters, industrial accidents and extreme weather events. The existing literature explores various aspects of the sustainable development goals, little research has been conducted on how individual countries, including Romania, are implementing measures in order to achieve their national targets. For Romania, there are three indicator that assess target no. 3. The results suggest that one of the indicators (TAN0131), related to the number of emergency situations intervention, does not require an extensive examination as it is unlikely that the target will not be reached. However, the achievement of no. 3 target depends on one main indicator and one additional indicator. The research assesses Romania’s progress towards Sustainable Development Target no. 3, focusing on the need for strengthening the emergency situation intervention services and communities’ resilience to disasters. While TAN0131 indicator is on track, achievement of the TAP0133 and TAO0132 requires increasing the number of employees as well as the budget allocated for the institution. Effective management and investments are essential to enhancing Romania’s disaster resilience and supporting Sustainable Development Goal No. 1. By highlighting the challenges and opportunities that Romania faces during the process, the paper offers policymakers with useful recommendations.