COVID 19 pandemic has reversed/halted decades of progress: UN SDG Report 2021
The COVID 19 pandemic has halted or reversed years, or even decades, of progress, according to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021, prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The report has been prepared in collaboration with more than 50 international agencies.
“In 2020, the global extreme poverty rate rose for the first time in over 20 years. Hundreds of millions of people were pushed back into extreme poverty and chronic hunger. The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted one or more essential health services and poses major health threats beyond the disease itself. It has wreaked havoc worldwide on children’s learning and well-being, and women have suffered a disproportionate share of job losses and increased care work at home,” the report says.
Liu Zhenmin, Under Secretary General for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, says in his introductory note to the report, “The pandemic has exposed and intensified inequalities within and among countries. The poorest and most vulnerable people have a greater risk of becoming infected by the virus, and bear the brunt of the economic fallout. The crisis has threatened the livelihoods of 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy. The collapse of international tourism disproportionally affects small island developing States. And vast inequities exist in vaccine distribution: as of 17 June 2021, around 68 vaccines were administered for every 100 people in Europe and Northern America compared with fewer than 2 in sub-Saharan Africa.”
According to the report, climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution crisis persist, despite the pandemic. Concentrations of major greenhouse gases continue to increase despite the temporary reduction in emissions in 2020 related to lockdowns and other COVID-19 response measures. The world remains woefully off track in meeting the Paris Agreement. Biodiversity is declining, and terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded at alarming rates. Around the world, one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute and 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are thrown away each year.
The reports shows that the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a mirror for the world. “It reflects deeply rooted problems in our societies: insufficient social protection, weak public health systems and inadequate health coverage, structural inequalities, environmental degradation and climate change.
Resilience, adaptability and innovation bring us optimism. In the face of tremendous challenges, many Governments, the private sector, academia and communities have demonstrated quick responses,
remarkable creativity and new forms of collaboration,” according to the report.
The report points out that the crisis demonstrates the interdependency and interlinkages among the various dimensions of sustainability – from health, well-being, and social and economic prosperity to climate and ecosystems.
The report suggests that in the light of the vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic, Governments and the international community should make structural transformations and develop common solutions guided by the SDGs. These include significantly strengthening social protection systems and public services (including health systems, education, water, sanitation and other basic services); increasing investments in science, technology and innovation; creating fiscal space in developing countries; taking a green-economy approach and investing in clean energy and industry; and transitioning to sustainable food systems.
Zhenmin ends his message on a positive note stating, “We are at a critical juncture in human history. The decisions we make and actions we take today will have momentous consequences for future generations. Lessons learned from the pandemic will help us rise to current and future challenges. Let us seize the moment to make this a decade of action, transformation and restoration to achieve the SDGs and make good on the Paris Climate Agreement.”