Sustainable Development Goals Against Covid-19: The Performance Of Brazilian Cities In Sdgs 3 And 6 And Their Reflection On The Pandemic

Abstract

The aim of this article is to understand the relationship between two of the Sustainable Development Goals (UN Agenda 2030) – Good health and well-being (SDG 3) and Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) – and the statistics of the COVID-19 pandemic (number of cases and deaths) in Brazilian cities. To analyze this relationship, we used secondary data from public organizations on the SDG panorama by city and conducted a moderated regression analysis. The sample was composed of 649 cities with a population exceeding 50 thousand inhabitants. The results show that the higher were the indicators used to measure SDGs, the lower was the number of cases and deaths from the disease. We have also proved that cities’ population density and their distance from the pandemic epicenter moderate this relationship, since a higher level of these moderation variables increases the impact of a lower level of SDGs 3 and 6 coverage in society on the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19. Thus, the efficient and effective investment to reach SDGs 3 and 6 is directly associated with cities’ ability to successfully deal with infectious diseases and the resulting number of deaths. As for its contribution, this research innovates by establishing a model for analyzing the impact of compliance with SDGs on cities’ performance in their fight against COVID-19, which may also suit other nations.

Quality of Government, Democracy, and Well-Being as Determinants in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

“…The behavioral sciences highlight concepts such as subjective well-being and happiness [29], considering that happiness is essential for everyone around the world and across generations; so, today's decisions should attach due importance to the well-being of current and future generations [40]. At the same time, some suggest that subjective well-being (measured from national or international public opinion surveys) can be used as a dependent variable with respect to achievement of the 2030 Agenda [33][34][35]. Others argue that the SDGs cannot be achieved unless there is global sustainable human well-being [17,32] since human well-being is not separable from the well-being of other living entities and the non-human world [41].…”

“…With respect to the third current, even though some authors identify the theoretical relevance of human well-being for the 2030 Agenda [17,32], there are no studies that investigate the effect of well-being on sustainable development, since in this area, research has, instead, analyzed the impact of sustainable development on improvement in well-being [33][34][35].…”

Toward Environmental Sustainability, Health, and Equity: How the Psychological Characteristics of College Students Are Reflected in Understanding Sustainable Development Goals

“…Eight of the 17 SDGs address the social dimensions of sustainable development and the relationship between them and the economic, environmental, and process dimensions. The COVID-19 pandemic makes it difficult to achieve the next social goals of sustainable development [11][12][13]: poverty reduction (SDG 1) [14,15], hunger eradication (SDG 2) [14], the promotion of good health and well-being (SDG 3) [16,17], decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) [18], and peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16). It is also damaging education (SDG 4) [19] and undermining gender equality (SDG 5) and increasing inequalities (SDG 10).…”

“…It is also damaging education (SDG 4) [19] and undermining gender equality (SDG 5) and increasing inequalities (SDG 10). In addition, it impairs access to clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) [16,20].…”