1. SDG LOCALIZATION IN THE COVID19 ERA The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development represents a universal and overarching roadmap for humanity and a global policy framework to address sustainable development from a multidimensional perspective, i.e., social, economic and environmental dimensions, and to tackle the most pressing societal challenges at all levels. The implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals identified by the Agenda is an imperative to guarantee a prosperous and sustainable life for all human beings, leaving no one behind (UN, 2015). Nowadays, this imperative confronts with the devastating effects of the Covid19 pandemic all around the world, quickly leading to the worst human and economic crisis of our lifetimes (UN, 2020a). In particular, the pandemic has been exacerbating several problems of our economies and societies, which were already serious and evident even before (Anand et al., 2020; Fleurbaey, 2020; Mazzuccato, 2020; Sen, 2020; WEF, 2020). Increasing inequality within and across countries, multidimensional poverty affecting millions of people and the unsustainability of modern production and consumption patterns have coupled with the atrophying of the capacity of state institutions. In a few words, the systemic crisis spurred by the pandemic has been hitting a world already dealing with “unresolved tensions: between people and technology, between people and the planet and between the haves and the have-nots – all of which are shaping a new generation of inequalities” (UNDP, 2020b, p. 3). Moreover, the differential impact of Covid19 on class, generations, social groups, territories and countries is undeniable and will become ever more evident. Indeed, the consequences of the Covid19 pandemic have one common denominator: they widened structural inequalities not only for the most vulnerable groups of people but also for vulnerable territories, threatening both social and territorial cohesion. In countries with high inequalities by class, age, gender, ethnicity or residence status, the effects of the crisis can amplify these differences, at least in the short run (UNDP, 2020b). In other words, the pandemic is laying bare the profound inequalities that exist within and among countries and is exacerbating these inequalities (Venkatapuram, 2020; UN, 2020b). All in all, the Covid19 pandemic is unleashing a systemic human development crisis, affecting health, economic and broad social dimensions of development and potentially eroding gains accumulated over decades without appropriate policies in place (UNDP, 2020b). Indeed, UNDP estimates that global human development could fall this year for the first time since 1990 due to the triple hit of the pandemic to health, education, and income. Nevertheless, after almost one year this impact has revealed to be widely heterogeneous among and within countries. The pandemic presents both an enormous challenge and tremendous opportunities for reaching the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals. Several recent studies1 have highlighted the direct impact of the Covid19 pandemic on the 17 SDGs (see, for instance, Figure 1). Nevertheless, the pandemic is also influencing and impacting the SDG implementation approach and mechanisms (UCLG, 2020). First, it is pushing most countries to institutionalize their commitment to the SDGs, by establishing both coordination mechanisms to ensure their implementation at the highest level of government, as well as participatory 1
Preliminary information and data on the impact of Covid19 on each SDG is available in Sachs et al. (2020) and UN (2020b). For briefs and reports on the socio-economic Impact of the Covid19 Pandemic for several countries and regions see UNDP website. Additional information can be extracted by the UNDP Covid19 Data Futures Platform, which provides data and interactive tools that can support the analysis of strategic policy questions on Health First, Protect People, Economic Recovery, Macro Response and Social Cohe sion, in order to build into a better world toward 2030. For data, analysis and recommendations on key policy responses to address the emerging health, economic and societal crisis see the OECD platform. 8
