Analyzing and visualizing global research trends on COVID-19 linked to sustainable development goals

Abstract

This study is intended to afford a comprehensive overview of the implications of COVID-19 on progress toward achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set out in the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda and the state of related research activities on COVID-19 linked to the SDGs. Bibliometric techniques and visual mapping are proposed as methodological tools to better approach the objectives of the present work. This includes: retrieving related publications from Scopus database, investigating the trends and growth trajectories of research works, and analyzing the scenarios post-COVID-19 either optimistic or pessimistic outlooks. The national and international contributions and collaboration toward this theme of research are further analyzed at countries, institutions, and sources levels. This analysis indicates that research works conducted on the impacts of COVID-19 on the achievement of the SDGs are still in the immaturity level. The global research productivity on this topic was just 160 documents (0.19% of total global research productivity in all fields of science with relevance to COVID-19). The implications of COVID-19 on good health and well-being, SDG-3, have attracted considerable attention. It is followed by SDG-13 that concerned with climate changes. The post-COVID-19 scenarios showed deep and justified worries in relation to achieving the SDGs by 2030. This study figures the major issues debated in the literature with respect to COVID-19 and its implications on the SDGs. The study, furthermore, attempts to assess the required actions to advance the SDGs post-COVID-19.

Bibliometric analysis of sustainability papers: Evidence from Environment, Development and sustainability

“…In the sustainable development cluster, studies have explored sustainability in the agricultural industry(Fito & van Hulle, 2021 ; Medina et al, 2021 ; Pandey & Diwan, 2021 ; Singh & Misra, 2021 ; Yasmeen et al, 2022 ) as well as in tourism (Aygün Oğur & Baycan, 2022 ; Mohamadi et al, 2022 ; Xu et al, 2022 ). Other studies have focused on land use management (Surata et al, 2022 ; Yu, 2021 ; Zhou et al, 2022 ), energy consumption (Petrović, 2023 ; Saeed et al, 2022 ), economic growth (Refah-Kahriz et al, 2022 ), and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable development (Bar, 2021 ; Shammi et al, 2021 ; Zyoud, 2022 ).…”

Reviving Bandung’s Economic Engine: COVID-19 Pandemic Impact and the Private Sector’s Engagement

“…The COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges not only for the health sector but also for the economic, social, political, and environmental sectors, and may lead to a global recession due to the cessation of mobility and slowing economic growth [11,37]. And conversely, chaos in the social context, economic and political environment also played a role in creating the perfect storm of crisis [54].…”

“…Moreover, the pandemic has jeopardized sustainable development achievements [3]. Even without the pandemic, achieving the 2030 sustainable development targets would be challenging for several countries [37]. To attain sustainable development, it is essential to focus on economic development and other aspects, such as social culture and the environment [56].…”

“…Firstly, the resulting impact on economic activity was only observed through economic indicators related to the Transportation, Accommodation and Food-Beverage, Water Procurement, and Trade sectors. This is because these sectors were the most affected during the COVID-19 pandemic [11,37,45,46]. Secondly, post-pandemic data for COVID-19 was obtained through projections based on data trends from the previous year, as the status of the COVID- 19…”

“…In 2020, the economic growth rate declined to -2.28%, a sharp drop from 6.79% in the previous year (Figure 2). The decline in economic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for other sectors, such as NGOs, researchers, and communities, to play a role in post-pandemic recovery [11,37,38]. Although some stakeholders sometimes have different perceptions regarding the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic [39].…”