The year 2020 was an extraordinary time in human history. To date, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has cost over 3 million lives, devastated the global economy and upended all spheres of human life. Against this backdrop, the present report was prepared to provide an overview of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals using inputs from more than 50 international and regional organizations. The data contained herein are derived from indicators in the global indicator framework developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators and adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017 (see resolution 71/313).1
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, progress was being made on implementing the Goals in important areas such as reducing poverty, improving maternal and child health, increasing access to electricity and advancing gender equality. In many instances, however, those advances were not happening fast enough. Moreover, in truly transformative areas such as reducing inequality, lowering carbon emissions and tackling hunger, progress had either stalled or reversed. As a result, by early 2020, the world was not on track to meet the Goals and targets by 2030.
With the pandemic still raging in many parts of the world, the extent to which the achievement of the Goals has been further derailed is not yet fully known. However, it is clear from the present report that the pandemic has already had a very significant impact in a number of areas, undermining decades of development efforts.
The impact is particularly evident in relation to Goal 1. The pandemic-related economic downturn has pushed between 119 and 124 million more people into extreme poverty in 2020, further compounding challenges to poverty eradication such as conflict, climate change and natural disasters. The crisis is also exacerbating inequalities: in 2020, the equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs was lost, and an additional 101 million children and young people fell below the minimum reading proficiency level, wiping out the education gains achieved over the previous two decades. It is also estimated that up to 10 million additional girls will be at risk of child marriage in the next decade as a result of the pandemic.
The economic slowdown associated with the pandemic has done little to slow the climate crisis. Preliminary data for 2020 indicate that atmospheric concentrations of the major global greenhouse gases increased, while the global average temperature was about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels, dangerously close to the 1.5°C limits established in the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the world fell short on 2020 targets aimed at halting biodiversity loss, with 10 million ha of forest lost each year in the period 2015–2020.
As shown in the present report, some of the means of implementation required to support sustainable transformation have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) declined by 40 per cent compared to 2019. The value of global merchandise trade is predicted to have fallen by 5.6 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019. The many fiscal impacts of the pandemic are leading to debt distress in many countries and territories. While net official development assistance (ODA) increased in 2020 to a total of $161 billion, that figure still falls well short of the amount needed to respond to the pandemic and meet the long-established target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income.
In the present report, the Secretary-General paints a worrying picture of the state of the Goals six years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the collective response over the coming 18 months will determine whether or not the COVID-19 crisis serves as a much-needed wake-up call to spur a decade of truly transformative action that delivers for people and planet.
Over the past year, there have been rays of hope. There has been immense community resilience, decisive action from governments, a rapid expansion of social protection, the acceleration of digital transformation, and unique collaboration to develop life-saving vaccines and treatments in record time. In addition, as documented in the present report, there are solid foundations on which to build in some areas.
A concerted effort is now needed to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, strengthen the financial position of developing countries and embrace a recovery guided by the 2030 Agenda. To get back on track with the Goals, governments, cities, businesses and industries must take advantage of the recovery to adopt low-carbon, resilient and inclusive development pathways that will reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, create better jobs, advance gender equality and tackle growing inequities.
The ability of governments to respond effectively and achieve a better recovery will also depend on the availability of data. Over the past year, the data and statistical community has faced unprecedented disruptions in statistical operations and a spike in demand for data to use in monitoring and mitigating the effects of the global pandemic. Many national statistical offices have adapted quickly to the challenges and played a major role in the COVID-19 responses of Governments. New partnerships, data innovations and novel measures have been introduced that have profoundly changed the statistical production process in many countries. However, the pandemic has exacerbated critical funding gaps in national, regional and global statistical offices, increasing the urgency of the need to mobilize international and domestic resources in support of data for decision-making.
The same is true of the availability of internationally comparable data on the Goals. Considerable progress has been made in this area, with the number of indicators included in the Global Sustainable Development Goal Indicators Database increasing from 115 in 2016 to 166 in 2019 and 211 in 2021. However, significant data gaps still exist in terms of geographical coverage, timeliness and disaggregation level, making it difficult to fully comprehend the pace of progress, and differences across regions and know who is being left behind. With the high-level political forum on sustainable development and the United Nations World Data Forum to be held in 2021, it is essential that greater resources and innovation be deployed to further enhance data for achieving the Goals.
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1 The indicator framework, a statistical annex to the report and the Global Sustainable Development Goals Indicators Database is available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/.
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