Overlooked uneven progress across sustainable development goals at the global scale: Challenges and opportunities

Yali Liu; Jianqing Du; Yanfen Wang; Xiaoyong Cui; Jichang Dong; Pan Gu; Yanbin Hao; Kai Xue; Hongbo Duan; Anquan Xia; Yi Hu; Zhi Dong; Bingfang Wu; Jürgen P. Kropp; Bojie Fu

doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100573

The Innovation > 2024 Vol. 5 > No. 2

Next Article Previous Article

ARTICLE Open Access

Cite PDF

Overlooked uneven progress across sustainable development goals at the global scale: Challenges and opportunities

1.
School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
2.
Beijing Yanshan Earth Critical Zone National Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
3.
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
4.
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
5.
College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
6.
School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
7.
School of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
8.
Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
9.
School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
10.
State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
11.
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 14412 Potsdam, Germany
12.
Institute for Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, 14412 Potsdam, Germany
13.
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

Show all affliationsShow less

More Information

Corresponding author: Yanfen Wang, yfwang@ucas.ac.cn
Received Date: June 01, 2023

Accepted Date: January 02, 2024

Published Online: January 08, 2024

The Innovation 5(2), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100573 | Cite this article

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

DownLoad: Full size image

PUBLIC SUMMARY

PUBLIC SUMMARY
1. ■ Integrating progress evenness reveals hidden challenges and opportunities toward sustainable development goals (SDGs).
2. ■ Uneven SDGs progress is related to health risks, ecosystem damage, and social inequality.
3. ■ Uneven SDGs progress is common in the low-income and extremely arid countries.
4. ■ Many high-income countries face antagonism between climate actions and other goals.
5. ■ Complementary collaborations are crucial to achieve SDGs.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Differences in progress across sustainable development goals (SDGs) are widespread globally; meanwhile, the rising call for prioritizing specific SDGs may exacerbate such gaps. Nevertheless, how these progress differences would influence global sustainable development has been long neglected. Here, we present the first quantitative assessment of SDGs' progress differences globally by adopting the SDGs progress evenness index. Our results highlight that the uneven progress across SDGs has been a hindrance to sustainable development because (1) it is strongly associated with many public health risks (e.g., air pollution), social inequalities (e.g., gender inequality, modern slavery, wealth gap), and a reduction in life expectancy; (2) it is also associated with deforestation and habitat loss in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, increasing the challenges related to biodiversity conservation; (3) most countries with low average SDGs performance show lower progress evenness, which further hinders their fulfillment of SDGs; and (4) many countries with high average SDGs performance also showcase stagnation or even retrogression in progress evenness, which is partly ascribed to the antagonism between climate actions and other goals. These findings highlight that while setting SDGs priorities may be more realistic under the constraints of multiple global stressors, caution must be exercised to avoid new problems from intensifying uneven progress across goals. Moreover, our study reveals that the urgent needs regarding SDGs of different regions seem complementary, emphasizing that regional collaborations (e.g., demand-oriented carbon trading between SDGs poorly performed and well-performed countries) may promote sustainable development achievements at the global scale.

FullText(HTML)

REFERENCES

[1]	United Nations. (2015). Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to Transform Our World (United Nations). View in Article Google Scholar
[2]	Naidoo, R., and Fisher, B. (2020). Sustainable Development Goals: Pandemic reset. Nature *583*: 198–201. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01999-x. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[3]	Sachs, J., Lafortune, G., Kroll, C., et al. (2022). From Crisis to Sustainable Development: The SDGs as Roadmap to 2030 and beyond. Sustainable Development Report 2022 (Cambridge University Press). View in Article Google Scholar
[4]	Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., et al. (2020). The Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19. Sustainable Development Report 2020 (Cambridge University Press). View in Article Google Scholar
[5]	Di Marco, M., Baker, M.L., Daszak, P., et al. (2020). Sustainable development must account for pandemic risk. P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA *117*: 3888–3892. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001655117. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[6]	Rohr, J.R., Barrett, C.B., Civitello, D.J., et al. (2019). Emerging human infectious diseases and the links to global food production. Nat. Sustain. 2: 445–456. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0293-3. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[7]	Springmann, M., Clark, M., Mason-D’Croz, D., et al. (2018). Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits. Nature *562*: 519–525. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0594-0. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[8]	Di Marco, M., Watson, J.E.M., Currie, D.J., et al. (2018). The extent and predictability of the biodiversity–carbon correlation. Ecol. Lett. 21: 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12903. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[9]	Hanspach, J., Abson, D.J., French Collier, N., et al. (2017). From trade-offs to synergies in food security and biodiversity conservation. Front. Ecol. Environ. 15: 489–494. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1632. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[10]	Wu, X., Fu, B., Wang, S., et al. (2023). Three main dimensions reflected by national SDG performance. Innovation 4: 100507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100507. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[11]	Le Quéré, C., Jackson, R.B., Jones, M.W., et al. (2020). Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement. Nat. Clim. Change 10: 647–653. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0797-x. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[12]	Giani, P., Castruccio, S., Anav, A., et al. (2020). Short-term and long-term health impacts of air pollution reductions from COVID-19 lockdowns in China and Europe: a modelling study. Lancet Planet. Health 4: e474–e482. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30224-2. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[13]	Sachs, J., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., et al. (2021). The Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals: Sustainable Development Report 2021 (Cambridge University Press). View in Article Google Scholar
[14]	Jiang, Q., Xu, Z., and Zhang, H. (2022). Global impacts of COVID-19 on sustainable ocean development. Innovation 3: 100250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100250. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[15]	Chinazzi, M., Davis, J.T., Ajelli, M., et al. (2020). The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Science *368*: 395–400. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba9757. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[16]	Pradhan, P., Costa, L., Rybski, D., et al. (2017). A systematic study of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) interactions. Earth’s Future 5: 1169–1179. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000632. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[17]	Nilsson, M., Griggs, D., and Visbeck, M. (2016). Policy: Map the interactions between Sustainable Development Goals. Nature *534*: 320–322. https://doi.org/10.1038/534320a. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[18]	Fu, B., Wang, S., Zhang, J., et al. (2019). Unravelling the complexity in achieving the 17 sustainable-development goals. Natl. Sci. Rev. 6: 386–388. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwz038. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[19]	Pradhan, P. (2019). Antagonists to meeting the 2030 Agenda. Nat. Sustain. 2: 171–172. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0248-8. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[20]	Warchold, A., Pradhan, P., and Kropp, J.P. (2020). Variations in sustainable development goal interactions: Population, regional, and income disaggregation. Sustain. Dev. 29: 285–299. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2145. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[21]	Pedercini, M., Arquitt, S., Collste, D., et al. (2019). Harvesting synergy from sustainable development goal interactions. P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA *116*: 23021–23028. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817276116. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[22]	Xu, Z., Chau, S.N., Chen, X., et al. (2020). Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time. Nature *577*: 74–78. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1846-3. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[23]	Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., et al. (2016). An SDG Index and Dashboards - Global Report (Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)). View in Article Google Scholar
[24]	Liu, Y., Du, J., Wang, Y., et al. (2021). Evenness is important in assessing progress towards sustainable development goals. Natl. Sci. Rev. 8: nwaa238. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa238. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[25]	Liu, J., and Raven, P.H. (2010). China’s Environmental Challenges and Implications for the World. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 40: 823–851. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389. 2010.502645. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[26]	Rodell, M., Famiglietti, J.S., Wiese, D.N., et al. (2018). Emerging trends in global freshwater availability. Nature *557*: 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0123-1. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[27]	Chan, C.K., and Yao, X. (2008). Air pollution in mega cities in China. Atmos. Environ. X. 42: 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.09.003. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[28]	Zhu, J., Yang, Y., Liu, Y., et al. (2023). Progress and water stress of sustainable development in Chinese northern drylands. J. Clean. Prod. 399: 136611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro. 2023.136611. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[29]	Smith, B., and Wilson, J.B. (1996). A Consumer’s Guide to Evenness Indices. Oikos 76: 70–82. https://doi.org/10.2307/3545749. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[30]	Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., et al. (2017). SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2017 (Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)). View in Article Google Scholar
[31]	Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., et al. (2018). SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2018 (Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)). View in Article Google Scholar
[32]	Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., et al. (2019). Sustainable Development Report 2019 (Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)). View in Article Google Scholar
[33]	Zhao, B., Johnston, F.H., Salimi, F., et al. (2020). Short-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a nationwide case-crossover study in Japan. Lancet Planet. Health 4: e15–e23. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30262-1. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[34]	Burnett, R., Chen, H., Szyszkowicz, M., et al. (2018). Global estimates of mortality associated with long-term exposure to outdoor fine particulate matter. P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA *115*: 9592–9597. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1803222115. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[35]	Bowe, B., Xie, Y., Li, T., et al. (2018). The 2016 global and national burden of diabetes mellitus attributable to PM2.5 air pollution. Lancet Planet. Health 2: e301–e312. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30140-2. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[36]	Brønnum-Hansen, H., and Baadsgaard, M. (2007). Increasing social inequality in life expectancy in Denmark. Eur. J. Publ. Health 17: 585–586. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckm045. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[37]	Singh, G.K., and Siahpush, M. (2006). Widening socioeconomic inequalities in US life expectancy, 1980-2000. Int. J. Epidemiol. 35: 969–979. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyl083. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[38]	Strassburg, B.B.N., Iribarrem, A., Beyer, H.L., et al. (2020). Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration. Nature *586*: 724–729. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2784-9. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[39]	Keesing, F., Belden, L.K., Daszak, P., et al. (2010). Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases. Nature *468*: 647–652. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09575. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[40]	Allen, T., Murray, K.A., Zambrana-Torrelio, C., et al. (2017). Global hotspots and correlates of emerging zoonotic diseases. Nat. Commun. 8: 1124. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00923-8. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[41]	Jones, K.E., Patel, N.G., Levy, M.A., et al. (2008). Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature *451*: 990–993. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06536. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[42]	Huang, J., Yu, H., Guan, X., et al. (2016). Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change. Nat. Clim. Change 6: 166–171. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2837. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[43]	Cheng, H. (2020). Future Earth and Sustainable Developments. Innovation 1: 100055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2020.100055. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[44]	Tian, H., Xu, R., Canadell, J.G., et al. (2020). A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks. Nature *586*: 248–256. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2780-0. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[45]	Felipe, J., Abdon, A., and Kumar, U. (2012). Tracking the Middle-Income Trap: What Is it, Who Is in it, and Why? (Levy Economics Institute), p. 715. View in Article Google Scholar
[46]	Kharas, H., and Kohli, H. (2011). What is the middle income trap, why do countries fall into it, and how can it be avoided? Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies 3: 281–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/097491011100300302. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[47]	Egger, D., Miguel, E., Warren, S.S., et al. (2021). Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis: Quantitative evidence from nine developing countries. Sci. Adv. 7: eabe0997. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe0997. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[48]	Zhuang, M., Lu, X., Peng, W., et al. (2021). Opportunities for household energy on the QinghaiTibet Plateau in line with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. *144*: 110982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.110982. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[49]	Nijsse, F.J.M.M., Mercure, J.F., Ameli, N., et al. (2023). The momentum of the solar energy transition. Nat. Commun. 14: 6542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41971-7. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[50]	International Energy Agency (2020). Clean Energy Innovation (IEA). View in Article Google Scholar
[51]	Griscom, B.W., Adams, J., Ellis, P.W., et al. (2017). Natural climate solutions. P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA *114*: 11645–11650. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[52]	Anderson, C.M., DeFries, R.S., Litterman, R., et al. (2019). Natural climate solutions are not enough. Science *363*: 933–934. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw2741. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[53]	Zimmerer, K.S., Duvall, C.S., Jaenicke, E.C., et al. (2021). Urbanization and agrobiodiversity: Leveraging a key nexus for sustainable development. One Earth 4: 1557–1568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.10.012. View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[54]	United Nations Environment Programme. (2021). UNEP Medium-Term Strategy 2022-2025 (UNEP). View in Article Google Scholar

Cited by

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Cite this article:

Yali Liu, Jianqing Du, Yanfen Wang, Xiaoyong Cui, Jichang Dong, Pan Gu, Yanbin Hao, Kai Xue, Hongbo Duan, Anquan Xia, Yi Hu, Zhi Dong, Bingfang Wu, Jürgen P. Kropp, Bojie Fu. Overlooked uneven progress across sustainable development goals at the global scale: Challenges and opportunities[J]. The Innovation, 2024, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100573

Yali Liu, Jianqing Du, Yanfen Wang, Xiaoyong Cui, Jichang Dong, Pan Gu, Yanbin Hao, Kai Xue, Hongbo Duan, Anquan Xia, Yi Hu, Zhi Dong, Bingfang Wu, Jürgen P. Kropp, Bojie Fu. Overlooked uneven progress across sustainable development goals at the global scale: Challenges and opportunities[J]. The Innovation, 2024, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100573

Welcome!

To request copyright permission to republish or share portions of our works, please visit Copyright Clearance Center's (CCC) Marketplace website at marketplace.copyright.com.

PDF

Figures(5) Tables(1)

Article Metrics

Article views(4606) PDF downloads(1133)

Overlooked uneven progress across sustainable development goals at the global scale: Challenges and opportunities

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

PUBLIC SUMMARY

ABSTRACT

REFERENCES

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Cite this article:

Welcome!

Share

Article Metrics

Relative Articles

Cited by

Catalog

{{newsColumn.name}}

Official Account

{{newsColumn.name}}

Collections

Stay connected

{{newsColumn.name}}

Overlooked uneven progress across sustainable development goals at the global scale: Challenges and opportunities

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

PUBLIC SUMMARY

ABSTRACT

REFERENCES

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Cite this article:

Welcome!

Share

Article Metrics

Relative Articles

Cited by

Catalog

Export File

Citation

Format

Content

{{newsColumn.name}}

Official Account

{{newsColumn.name}}

Collections

Stay connected

{{newsColumn.name}}