The Crises-Poverty-Sustainability Nexus in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Covid-19

Abstract

This chapter offers an introduction to the volume Financial Crises, Poverty and Environmental Sustainability: Challenges in the Context of the SDGs and Covid-19 Recovery. The first part examines the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on socio-environmental sustainability. The pandemic crisis has triggered multiple and interacting social, economic and environmental impacts. The final outcome will depend on the policy actions taken not only to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, but most importantly to transform our current unsustainable socio-environmental model, i.e. whether we will manage to use the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to build forward better. The second part of the chapter assesses the Covid-19 support packages and recovery strategies. We find that existing policy actions are falling short from the transformation that is required to bring our planet onto a sustainable socio-environmental path. For instance, we observe social exclusion and leaving behind those most in need, increase in atmospheric emissions, and loss of biodiversity. In this context, we argue for a rethink of the underlying assumptions that have determined the economy-environment interaction in our societies. We advocate the need to move away from the commercialisation of nature and a 'netzero' rationale, towards a 'do no harm' and 'common good' approach. Our transition to sustainability requires nothing less than a new global eco-social contract. The third part of our chapter presents summaries of the volume's case-studies that inform the above analysis and demonstrate how the above challenges are manifested in countries and communities across the globe.

Understanding the Linkage between Urban Growth and Land Surface Temperature—A Case Study of Bangalore City, India

“…The government of India needs to rethink its attitude towards catering to the needs of the current urban centers to create such urban centers that are sustainable in the first place, and then allow populations to migrate towards them in a phased manner. There are examples of such centers in India, such as Ahmedabad and New Delhi [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63]. This study thus directly tried to report the ongoing urbanization scenarios in one of the cities of India and the necessity for planning, monitoring, and managing various local-, regional-, and national-level programs for efficient urban policies to mitigate climate change and UHI effects.…”

Strategy Formulation and Resource Availability Determinants in Performance of Electricity Distribution Companies in Nigeria

“…As nations worldwide grapple with the imperative of achieving sustainable development, the reliance on a consistent and dependable energy infrastructure becomes fundamental. Sustainable development, marked by the interplay of economic growth, social equity, and environmental stewardship, necessitates a resilient energy sector to propel these objectives forward (Antoniades, Antonarakis, Gilman, & Kempf, 2022).…”