Exploring the impact of poverty on the sustainable development goals: Inhibiting synergies and magnifying trade-offs

Abstract

The synergies and trade-offs between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) influence their ultimate achievement. Poverty eradication is the first goal of the SDGs, and the impact of poverty is clearly all-encompassing. However, it remains unclear how poverty affects the changing synergies and trade-offs between the SDGs. Here, taking a typical underdeveloped region in China as the research area, this study evaluated the synergies and trade-offs between SDGs by calculating the SDG Index and the Multidimensional Poverty Index. We further explored the heterogeneous effects of poverty on different impoverished groups and the mechanism of the synergies and trade-offs between SDGs. The results showed that SDGs were mainly synergistic, and a few indicators (SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 15 Life on Land) had trade-offs with other indicators. Poverty hindered the achievement of most SDGs, and inhibition was heterogeneous among different SDGs and impoverished groups. Poverty inhibited synergies and magnified trade-offs among SDGs; it also turned synergies into trade-offs for certain SDGs (SDGs 1 and 7, SDGs 2 and 8, and SDGs 3 and 8). This study can provide a reference for other less developed regions to make reasonable and integrated arrangements for their sustainable development.