Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the post-pandemic era

In 2015, the United Nations adopted The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, proposing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at eradicating poverty and promoting peace and prosperity by 2030. As time to 2030 shortens, the world has faced the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 500 million cases and more than six million deaths by May 2022. Health services were stretched to the verge of collapse, lockdowns led to job losses, and millions were pushed back into extreme poverty and malnutrition. Even prior to the pandemic, SDG advancement was constrained and delayed, but the health crisis and the ensuing socio-economic recession have severely impeded SDG progression. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) analyze pre-pandemic challenges to SDG progress; (2) identify the impact of COVID-19 on progress towards the SDGs; and (3) provide a systematic and practical framework for implementing SDGs in the post-pandemic era.

Challenges facing SDG progress before COVID-19 are synthesized from existing literature and global assessments: - Inequitable access to resources limits sustainable development: Food, energy, and water (SDGs 2, 6, 7) underpin SDG implementation. Despite substantial growth in primary energy and food production since 1970 alongside population growth, billions still lack adequate access. Ecosystem service degradation threatens resource security and the foundations of sustainable development. - Environmental crises threaten SDG implementation: Climate change, ecosystem degradation, and pollution (SDGs 13–15) undermine poverty reduction, food and health security, water security, and resilient infrastructure (SDGs 1–3, 6, 9, 11). Environmental degradation exacerbates inequalities (SDG 10), hampers progress on sustainable energy, responsible production and consumption, and decent work (SDGs 7, 8, 12), and fuels conflicts affecting peace and institutions (SDGs 16, 17). - Gaps between SDG visions and actual capabilities discourage national efforts: Only about half of countries had roadmaps for SDG implementation. High target thresholds sometimes exceed national capacities; limited technology and efficiency gains mean socio-economic improvements often come with high environmental costs, threatening planetary boundaries and, in turn, overall SDG achievement. - Turbulent geopolitical environment undermines the SDG process: Conflicts, trade wars, and instability hinder food and energy security, reduce aid flows, and disrupt international cooperation essential for SDG progress. Examples include cropland abandonment in South Sudan and deforestation dynamics linked to commodity trade. - Imbalances and trade-offs limit effectiveness: SDG progress is uneven across regions and income groups, with developing countries facing basic needs and climate risks, while developed countries confront consumption/production and ecosystem integrity bottlenecks. Negative interactions among goals (e.g., involving SDGs 10, 12, 13) and increasing trade-offs over time, especially around SDG7 with SDG1 and SDG3, impede overall progress.

This study is a synthesis based on available global datasets and a comprehensive literature review. The authors collate and analyze secondary data to illustrate SDG performance and COVID-19 impacts, including: - Regional and national SDG performance data from the Sustainable Development Report 2019 to depict pre-pandemic SDG status (e.g., Figure 1). - SDG index scores and their changes between 2019 and 2020 from the Sustainable Development Report 2020 to assess pandemic-era progress and unevenness across income groups (e.g., Figure 2). - COVID-19 epidemiological data (cumulative confirmed cases in 2020) from the WHO Coronavirus Dashboard to examine relationships between infection rates and SDG index growth rates. - Additional UN and international statistics for sectoral impacts (poverty, education, employment, GDP, aviation) to quantify disruptions to specific SDGs. - The paper integrates evidence from peer-reviewed studies and reports to identify pre-pandemic challenges, pandemic-induced effects, and to propose a systematic "Classification-Coordination-Collaboration" framework for post-pandemic SDG action. No primary data collection or experimental interventions were conducted.

- Global SDG performance declined in 2020, with many countries registering negative SDG index score growth; 49% of countries had SDG index growth rates below zero (2020 vs 2019). - Poverty (SDG 1): An additional 119–124 million people fell back into extreme poverty in 2020. - Health (SDG 3): COVID-19 health impacts and service disruptions risk reversing decades of progress. - Education (SDG 4): Over 1.52 billion children and youth were out of school/university in 2020, erasing roughly 20 years of education gains. - Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8): Approximately 255 million full-time jobs were lost; global GDP per capita fell by about 4.2% in 2020. - Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9): Air passengers fell by 60% from 4.5 billion (2019) to 1.8 billion (2020), the steepest decline on record; supply chain disruptions stalled manufacturing. - Inequality (SDG 10): The average Gini coefficient in emerging market and developing countries increased by an estimated 6%. - Cities (SDG 11): Densely populated urban areas accounted for over 90% of confirmed COVID-19 cases, with disproportionate impacts on informal settlements. - Gender equality (SDG 5): Women, comprising up to 70% of the global health workforce, faced higher infection risk; increased care burdens and domestic violence under lockdown threatened gender equality. - Partnerships (SDG 17): Progress declined in 60.6% of countries amid strained multilateralism and limited financial resources. - Connectivity and globalization: Lockdowns curtailed flows of people, goods, and capital; disrupted markets and supply chains hindered SDGs 8 and 12 in roughly 80% and 70% of countries, respectively; anti-globalization and protectionism intensified. - Environmental signals: Temporary environmental improvements occurred due to reduced activity—global greenhouse gas emissions dropped by an estimated 6% in 2020; ecosystems and oceans showed short-term recuperation. However, climate action progress declined in 85.6% of countries, indicating the gains were short-lived. - Uneven impacts: Low- and lower-middle-income countries experienced greater SDG setbacks due to limited fiscal space and weaker systems, whereas some high-income countries maintained or improved SDG progress despite high case rates, reflecting higher resilience. - Pre-existing constraints: Prior to COVID-19, inequitable resource access, environmental crises, capability gaps, geopolitical turbulence, and SDG trade-offs already hindered progress; the pandemic exacerbated these issues. - Proposed solution: A systematic "Classification-Coordination-Collaboration" framework is recommended to reset and accelerate SDG advancement post-pandemic.

The analysis shows that COVID-19 has significantly impeded global progress towards the SDGs by intensifying poverty, disrupting health and education systems, weakening labor markets and supply chains, and undermining international connectivity and cooperation. These acute shocks interacted with pre-existing structural constraints—resource inequities, environmental degradation, governance and capacity gaps, and goal trade-offs—thereby deepening spatial and socio-economic disparities in SDG outcomes. Despite these setbacks, some positive signals emerged, such as rapid digitalization and short-term environmental improvements from reduced emissions. However, these gains are transient without structural policy and investment shifts. The findings support a targeted, systems-oriented response that addresses both immediate recovery needs (poverty alleviation; food, water, and energy security; resilient health systems) and longer-term transformations (infrastructure, innovation, and restoring human–nature relations), while leveraging synergies and minimizing trade-offs among SDGs. The proposed "Classification-Coordination-Collaboration" framework operationalizes this approach by: (i) classifying countries/regions and prioritizing urgent targets based on context and synergies; (ii) strengthening domestic and international coordination across sectors and time horizons; and (iii) deepening economic, technological, and cultural cooperation to rebuild resilient, equitable, and sustainable pathways. Such an integrated strategy directly addresses the research objectives by diagnosing pre- and mid-pandemic challenges, quantifying impacts, and articulating a practical roadmap for post-pandemic SDG acceleration.

COVID-19 delivered a profound shock to SDG progress, compounding ongoing pressures from population growth, resource constraints, climate change, ecosystem degradation, and pollution. Political disputes and conflicts further limit international coordination and cooperation. To recover and transform, systematic solutions are urgently required. The authors advocate reclassifying SDG status and visions, coordinating resources and policies across scales and sectors, and promoting economic, technological, cultural, and political collaboration under a "Classification-Coordination-Collaboration" framework. With the 2030 deadline approaching, planning must also look beyond 2030—towards an Agenda 2045 aligned with the UN’s centenary—so that the pandemic and recession become a watershed guiding a truly sustainable future.