Assessing COVID-19 impact on the Sustainable Development Goals

Author: UNDP

UNDP’s new study conducted with the Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver shows that COVID-19 could push the number of people living in extreme poverty to over 1 billion by 2030.

WHAT UNDERPINS THIS ANALYSIS?

The study applies the International Futures tools developed by the Fredrick S. Pardee Center at the University of Denver to understand the potential effects of three scenarios:
  • The ‘Baseline COVID’ scenario represents significant pandemic-period increases in poverty and hunger and substantial longer-term negative consequences;
  • The ‘High Damage’ scenario describes a future where the economic damage is worse and recovery is delayed;
  • The ‘SDG Push’ scenario outlines the impact of targeted policy interventions that can accelerate progress towards a more fair, resilient and green future.
Learn more about the study 

SDG Interventions – HOW DO WE GET THERE?

These interventions are ambitious, even radical, and require behavioural changes on all levels of society. Governments must improve their effectiveness and efficiency. Citizens must change consumption patterns in food, energy and water. And the global collaboration on climate change must improve – including on carbon taxes and fossil fuel subsidies.

The benefits are echoed across additional human development indicators, including nutrition and education. You can explore more of these indicators and scenarios for your region across the years.

What might the world look like in the next decades? Explore how regions and countries are predicted to fare on each indicator under the different 'futures'.

Pick the geographies you are interested in to explore in more detail the impact of the various 'futures' on each of them and how they compare to each other.

Changes don't happen in isolation. Explore the relationship between different indicators under the scenarios for the selected countries and regions.