Impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals and effective approaches to maneuver them in the post-pandemic environment

Abstract

In the pursuit of constructing a sustainable world for all through the instrumental seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and affected the efforts concentrated on these goals. Therefore, there is a pressing need to analyze the extent of the impact that unfolded from the pandemic on each Sustainable Development Goal and further to direct the post-pandemic situation to accelerate the progress in every goal. Besides, there exists a knowledge gap in understanding the Sustainable Development Goals and its interaction with each goal through synergic and trade-off effects. To address the aforementioned imperative problems, this study is formulated to perform an impact assessment as well as to provide direction in the post-pandemic environment to effectively progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by using a hybrid qualitative and quantitative framework. A detailed investigation is carried out to examine the pandemic impacts in every goal, and a quantified impact analysis is performed in terms of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals with the aid of ranking methodology. The results indicate that SDG 1 and SDG 8 are the most impacted goal. To provide deeper perspectives into the Sustainable Development Goals, a critical analysis of the targets and indicators is performed to characterize the goals from their elemental point of view, such as nature of goals, depending factors, locus of the goal, and Sustainable Development Goal interactions. Further, a novel parameter, the degree of randomness, is proposed whose application in environmental research is immense. The impact on each goal and impact interaction between all the SDGs are also mapped, through which the dynamics of Sustainable Development Goal interactions is elaborated. In context with the post-pandemic scenario, the strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with environmental focus are presented with prioritization factor that supports quick recovery. The introduced prioritization factor is formulated by employing a multi-criteria analysis methodology. In addition, the fundamental elements of SDGs are built upon one another to frame an optimized and effective approach to achieving the SDGs in the post-pandemic environment. Despite the strategies, a conceptual framework to align the business practices with the SDGs is propounded. This study deep down would provide a unique perspective to the research community and would impart deeper knowledge in connection with sustainability, while the solutions framed would steer the policy and decision-makers.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has Derailed the Progress of Sustainable Development Goals

“…The report also acknowledges that ongoing efforts towards access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities (SDG 6) as well as to affordable electricity (SDG 7) have to be paced up to ensure global coverage of these basic amenities. With respect to SDG 8 dealing with ‘decent work and economic growth’ the report reiterates that the cascading effects of inflation, supply chain disruptions, emerging COVID variants and ineffective administrative policies have further impeded economic growth and recovery, similar to the findings of Elavarasan et al 2022 (Fig. 1 ).…”

Quantifying the impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals using machine learning models

“…S9). However, the existing study concluded that SDG 1 is the most affected goal by COVID-19 [11] . The difference is mainly from the definition of the impacts of COVID-19 on SDGs.…”

“…Several studies have assessed the impacts of COVID-19 on SDGs [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] . For example, the UN's 2020 annual report on SDGs showed worrisome initial impacts of COVID-19 on some specific goals and targets [3] .…”

“…However, most of these studies are qualitative assessments with limited quantitative examinations. Elavarasan et al performed a hybrid qualitative and quantitative impact analysis in terms of the targets of the SDGs with a ranking methodology [11] . However, the key impact assessment score in this study was evaluated by subjective expert knowledge rather than an objective evaluation framework.…”

Sustainable Development Goals in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

“…The International Labor Organization (ILO) reports that due to the COVID-19 crisis, a 14% decline in hours worked is expected in 2020, which meant a 400 million job loss compared to the 4th quarter of 2019 [135]. Low-and middle-income countries were the hardest hit, estimating a fall in working time of up to 23.3%, equivalent to 240 million jobs in the second quarter of 2020.…”