Submitted by D.C. Morgan on Wed, 10/03/2021 - 12:55
Dick Fenner and Tom Cernev address this question in a new paper recently published in Futures in March 2021 (which can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2021.102726)
They focus specifically on four “foundational” SDGs: SDG 1 No Poverty; SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing; SDG 14: Life Below Water; and SDG 15 Life on Land as well as the overarching SDG 13 Climate Action. These are critical in maintaining a healthy human and environmental resource base on which progress towards all goals can be built. The performance of these goals is discussed under 4 scenarios which may emerge as a response to the pandemic: Global Well-being Prioritised b) World Trade Recovers c) Poverty Gaps Widen c) Earth Systems in Danger. Dick and Tom conclude that opportunities to refocus efforts on delivery of the SDGs exist but may be hampered by the competing interests of a new geo-politics.