Abstract
Recent failures in COVID-19 prevention and control in some of the richest countries raise questions about the relevance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the fight against pandemics. To examine this issue, we adopted the measure of countries’ progress for the SDGs in the SDG Index Scores (SDGS) and employed two analytical devices. The first was regression-aided adjustment of the number of deaths and confirmed cases. The second was the use of robust regressions to control the undue influence of outliers. The results are mixed. Between the SDGS and the adjusted infection rates, we found no significant correlation; however, between the SDGS and the adjusted death rates, the correlation was negative and statistically significant. These results provide a nuanced contrast to the hasty conclusions some of us might be tempted to draw from apparent positive correlations between SDGS and the cases and the deaths. The SDGs represent the fruit of painstaking global efforts to encourage and coordinate international action to enhance sustainability. We find the results reassuring, in that they suggest that the countries with higher SDGS have been able to control the devastation of deaths from COVID-19 more effectively, despite being unable to control the propagation of infections.
Highlights
COVID-19 has infected more than 180 million individuals and resulted in close to 4 million deaths across the world as of 30 June 2021 (World Health Organization, WHO )
We find the results reassuring, in that they suggest that the countries with higher Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Scores (SDGS) have been able to control the devastation of deaths from COVID-19 more effectively, despite being unable to control the propagation of infections
These results provide a nuanced contrast to the hasty conclusions some of us might be tempted to draw from apparent positive correlations between SDGS and the cases and the deaths
Summary
COVID-19 has infected more than 180 million individuals and resulted in close to 4 million deaths across the world as of 30 June 2021 (World Health Organization, WHO ). Aside from short-lived improvements in SDGs 12–15 (responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; and life on land) [7,8,9], the reversals in the international trends toward the accomplishment of Agenda 2030 have been across-the-board and world-wide [8,10,11] These setbacks mean heightened vulnerabilities of societies to future threats to global sustainability, including climate change and pandemics similar to COVID-19.
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