The Sustainable Development Goals report 2021

More countries and communities are recognizing the need to bolster efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in light of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on people around the world, according to the report. The study tracks global efforts to achieve the SDGs, COVID-19 has caused a major disruption to people’s lives and livelihoods. While progress to achieve the SDGs has been slow even before the pandemic struck, an additional 119-124 million people were pushed back into poverty in 2020. An equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs was lost and the number of people suffering from hunger, which was already climbing before the pandemic, may have increased by 83-132 million. To get the SDGs back on track, governments, cities, business and industries have to use the recovery opportunity to adopt low-carbon, resilient and inclusive development pathways that reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, create better jobs, advance gender equality and tackle growing inequities. The study shows the recovery effort would also depend on the availability of data to inform policy making. Ensuring sufficient funding is available for data collection, both through the mobilization of international and domestic resources, is critical to these efforts.