Assessment Of Sustainable Development Goals Research Articles

Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals and Population in Punjab

Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals and Population in Punjab

A Refined Supply‐Demand Framework to Quantify Variability in Ecosystem Services Related to Surface Water in Support of Sustainable Development Goals

AbstractAs water‐related ecosystem services (WRES) encounter unprecedented threats with climate change and human activities, it is important to understand the impact of variations in the supply and demand for WRES on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Previous studies commonly overlooked water quality and water‐use sectors when using comprehensive supply‐demand index (SDIcom), defined as the difference between water supply and demand, leading to challenges in applying WRES estimation to SDGs assessment. We constructed a refined supply‐demand framework for WRES, categorizing the water supply by water quality and the water demand by sectors. It allows the calculation of refined supply‐demand index (SDIref), addressing the limitations of SDIcom. Our findings demonstrate that SDIref could be effectively employed to assess SDGs and rectify the overestimation of SDIcom in the case study in Xinjiang. The supply‐demand relationship of water resources indicates surpluses in domestic and industrial water use and deficits in agricultural and ecological water use, with the latter worsening. SDIref is projected to be higher in the scenario with SSP2‐4.5 and high growth rate of irrigation efficiency. Our study suggested informed decisions based on SDG‐specific targets to either maintain or enhance SDG progress scores. The proposed refined supply‐demand framework of WRES established a quantitative link between WRES and human well‐being, providing applicable insights for other ecosystem service assessments in other regions.

Analyzing three Zeros (zero poverty, unemployment, and carbon emissions) in Asia and the Pacific region: Assessment of sustainable development goals through the STIRPAT model

AbstractPoverty, unemployment, and environmental degradation are growing issues and significant challenges to sustainable development. They are visible obstacles to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The three ZEROS (zero net carbon emissions, zero poverty, and zero unemployment) within the SDGs have not yet been thoroughly explored and need to be empirically examined. This is the primary aim of this study, which focuses on 10 developing countries in Asia & the Pacific. The study utilized panel data from 1997 to 2021 and a stochastic impact by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model and implemented the second‐generation panel unit root test, cross‐sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lags (CS‐ARDL), panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) approaches, and panel Granger‐causality test. The empirical results of the CS‐ARDL approach vindicate that poverty contributes to the environmental deterioration proxied by CO2 emissions, while the unemployment rate inhibits the environmental damage. The other regressors, namely national income by real gross domestic product per capita, energy use, and population are harming the environment, while technological innovation and digitalization reduce environmental degradation. These results are re‐corroborated by implementing the FMOLS estimator. The Granger causality results reveal a bidirectional causality between poverty and environmental degradation. Therefore, it is essential for management authorities to implement pragmatic public policies that focus on sustainable development strategies, such as investing in education and stimulating sustainable economic growth. This will help to reduce unemployment, improve living standards, decrease poverty, and ultimately achieve the Three Zeros Club initiative and sustainable development goals.

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

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.

Selecting indicators for measuring progress towards sustainable development goals at the global, national and corporate levels

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) guide towards sustainability across a broad palette of aspects. Since their adoption by the United Nations in 2015, many organizations have started using them to relate their own sustainability performance. However, there exists no consensus nor science-based methods for performing such assessments, hence bringing the risk of cherry-picking and arbitrary target-setting among the 17 goals and potentially compromising the robustness, usefulness, and credibility of SDG assessment. To address this, we propose a framework that enables to systematically evaluate or select indicators for assessing and monitoring SDG performance at different scales. A critical review of sustainability indicator selection criteria was performed, forming the basis for recommendations of existing criteria. Two separate applications of the framework are operationalized, namely the evaluation of existing indicator sets and the selection of new indicators, respectively. The guide is tested and demonstrated on two different proof-of-concept cases representing the global level and the company level. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework allows decision-makers to systematically evaluate and select SDG indicators for different scopes, offering stronger scientifically founded indicator sets and reducing unintentional bias. Furthermore, the framework still provides the flexibility of tailoring indicators in the selection process, allowing the user to freely select the indicators to be tested. The framework and criteria are central inputs for the indicator selection phase and represent an essential step towards a full-fledged, consistent framework for SDG performance assessments.

Role of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in environmental quality and their subsequent effects on average temperature: an assessment of sustainable development goals in South Korea.

Environmental quality is a global concern, and an accurate assessment of environmental progress has emerged as a key element in achieving sustainable development goals. The study offers a two-pronged contribution by analyzing the interplay between renewable energy consumption, traditional energy consumption, and urbanization on environmental quality while simultaneously testing the impact of environmental quality on average temperature. Distinguishing itself from prior research, the study employs both carbon emissions and ecological footprint to ensure an intricate and reliable analysis. Current study analyzes data from 1970 to 2022 from South Korea to indicate that energy-environment association is influenced by energy consumption, urbanization, and economic growth, while renewable energy consumption is key in long-term environmental sustainability. Our extensive econometric analysis allows us to suggest that South Korea need to prioritize renewable energy, and green growth is prioritized so that economic growth and green agenda are synchronized to overcome environmental challenges. Addictingly, there is need to devise long-term environmental policies to strengthen the role of environmental innovation in energy productivity and boost renewable energy consumption.

Integrated assessment for Sustainable Development Goals of metropolitan regions: A case study of the Pearl River Delta region, China

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the sub-national scale requires contextual insights and localized implementation. This study utilizes Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to assess SDG progress and interactions in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) metropolitan region of China. Population growth, economic development, and rapid urbanization are key drivers, exerting pressures on energy and water consumption, pollutant discharges, transportation, environmental degradation, and disaster management. The results reveal varied progress in nine goals intrinsic to this metropolitan context, with notable progress in energy and water consumption, and employment (Goals 7, 8, and 3). While moderate progress is evidenced in poverty reduction, economic growth, healthcare services, social security, access to potable water, water quality (Goals 1 and 6), challenges remain in transportation, waste generation, air quality, forest management, and disaster response (Goals 9, 11, and 15). Furthermore, target interaction analysis suggests that initiatives in high-leverage areas - ecosystem and environmental protection, equal access to resources and basic services, and climate change response - can yield substantial systemic impacts. However, poverty reduction, access to resources and basic services, ecosystem protection, and economic growth appear more dependent on system-wide efforts. By leveraging the DPSIR model, this context-sensitive SDG assessment accentuates priority zones and offers valuable perspective for cohesive SDG strategy formation and policy-making in dynamically growing metropolitan areas globally.

Big data analytics in programme evaluation: Examining models for the assessment of sustainable development goals in Colombia

New paradigms for evidence-based decisions such as big data analytics (BDA) have emerged to assess programmes in sustainable development goals (SDGs). The arguments supporting the contributions of BDA in the assessment of SDGs in Colombia are mixed. This article presents a qualitative review of a list of programmes that adopted BDA and assesses whether problems such as bias and wrong impressions of programme performance can be controlled with the adoption of these methods. The results vary depending on the quality of the data and the collection method. Unfortunately, Colombia faces challenges such as data privacy management and deficiency of institutional interoperability to exploit these techniques conveniently.

A Sustainable Development Evaluation Framework for Chinese Electricity Enterprises Based on SDG and ESG Coupling

In 2021, China’s power generation industry took the lead in launching carbon emissions trading, ushering in a major challenge and opportunity for the sustainable development of power enterprises. Assessing the sustainable development performance of power enterprises has become the key to the sustainable financing and development of power enterprises in this new developmental stage. Based on the integration of the long-term UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) evaluation indicators of listed companies, this paper constructed an index system for the evaluation of the sustainable development of electric power companies consisting of 75 indicators corresponding to four dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and governance. Given the vision for the sustainable development of electric power companies, the assessment thresholds for each indicator were determined by the practical exploration and typical progress assessment of SDGs. Aggregate assessment and dashboard assessment techniques for the sustainable development of electric power companies were established, and we conducted a robustness analysis of the evaluation system. The results revealed the following details: (1) The disclosure of sustainable development indicators of Chinese electricity enterprises was 94.13%, among which the four dimensions of economy, environment, society, and governance were 99.89%, 82.62%, 94.00%, and 97.71%, respectively. (2) The aggregate sustainable development index for Chinese power companies was 59.34, and the environment, society, governance, and economic scores were 62.10, 64.49, 76.79, and 41.37, respectively. (3) Based on the results of the dashboard, investment in innovation, public welfare, emissions of greenhouse gases, and economic sustainability are the key factors limiting the achievement of sustainable development. (4) The framework’s robustness analysis showed that the results of the evaluation of this paper’s indicator framework fell within a reasonable range of variation using different ranking and weighting systems. Chinese electricity companies should comprehensively control costs and expenses, strengthen capital management, expand funding channels, focus on enhancing R&D capabilities, enhance their scientific and technological innovation management systems, and improve their disclosure of information about greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption and use, and employee issues to improve the overall level of sustainable development. The evaluation system developed in this paper further enriches the evaluation of corporate sustainability performance. This paper explored the application of the SDG index and dashboard construction methods at the national level to the evaluation of sustainability at the corporate level, providing a clear picture of corporate performance with respect to various dimensions, issues, criteria, and indicators.

Assessment of Localized Targets of Sustainable Development Goals and Future Development on Hainan Island

Hainan Island in southern China has strong ecological systems and natural resources relevant to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The island has been focusing on economic development and building a national park and a free trade port to improve the economy and people’s lives. However, current research on Hainan’s SDGs has mainly focused on urban-related indicators (SDG11), resulting in an incomplete evaluation across SDGs. It is necessary to establish a comprehensive assessment framework that incorporates a greater number of indicators for Sustainable Development Goals in Hainan. Based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Assessment System and the current situation in Hainan, a localized study has been conducted on indicators for Sustainable Development Goals 1–4 and 6–11. Our analysis of target scores, SDG scores, and SDG index scores shows the following: (1) The sustainable development of Hainan Island has significantly improved since 2015, with SDGs 1, 3, and 10 showing the largest improvement; (2) most cities and counties have increased their SDG index scores, with Sanya City replacing Haikou City as the top scorer in 2021; and (3) the sustainable development levels are unevenly distributed, with high levels in the north and south, stable levels in the east, and low levels in the central and western regions. Policies, such as the “Haicheng Wending” comprehensive economic circle, are promoting integration between cities and counties. The study provides a localized evaluation framework and methodology for SDGs assessment at the regional level that can serve as a reference for similar work on sustainable development in similar regions and tropical islands worldwide.

Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals through Industry 4.0 and reconfigurable manufacturing system practices

PurposeThe United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), introduced in 2015, connect several manufacturing strategies and promote sustainable practices in an organization. Manufacturing companies are struggling to meet changing market demands while also addressing social and biological issues. The current study aims to develop a framework that can assist practitioners and managers contribute to the attainment of the SDGs through the adoption of reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) practices and Industry 4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachAn extensive literature review was carried out to identify RMS-Industry 4.0 practices and their interconnection, as well as their contribution to achieving the SDGs. The stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method was then used to compute the weights of the selected RMS-Industry 4.0 practices, whereas the weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) method was used to prioritize performance metrics. The developed framework's robustness was tested using a sensitivity analysis across five different organizations.FindingsThe findings show that advanced technologies practices have the most importance, followed by customization and rapid adjustment of capacity and functionality practices. The sensitivity analysis revealed the robustness of the developed framework as well as its adaptability among the chosen organizations.Practical implicationsThis research will assist in the adoption of RMS and includes recent technologies that can help in the attainment of industrial SDGs. Managers will also be able to evaluate RMS in the context of industrial SDGs. Researchers and practitioners can now address the various RMS-Industry 4.0 practices while keeping the social and environmental aspects in mind.Originality/valueNo previous research has investigated the SDGs through the nexus effect of Industry 4.0 and RMS practices.

Model Implementation of the Village Sustainable Development Goals Policy in Buruk Bakul Village Bukit Batu District Bengkalis

The implementation of the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) policy in Indonesia is stated in Presidential Regulation Number 59 of 2017 concerning the implementation of achieving sustainable development goals, which will then become a reference for making village SDGs policies. The implementation of the Village SDGs begins in 2021 with all village limitations through the regulation of the minister of villages, development of disadvantaged regions, and transmigration Number 13 of 2020 concerning priority for use of village funds in 2021 in article 5 paragraph 2, stating that priority for use of village funds is directed to programs and/or activities that accelerate the achievement of the village SDGs. The implementation of the village SDGs in Buruk Bakul Village is still very low, even the lowest compared to other villages in Bukit Batu District, Bengkalis Regency. This can be seen from the SDGs score of Buruk Bakul Village, which is worth 28.41 points. This study aimed to analyze the Village SDGs policy’s implementation and the inhibiting factors for implementing the village SDGs policy in Buruk Bakul Village. This study uses a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. According to the study’s findings, the implementation of the village SDG policy in Buruk Bakul Village has been a failure in terms of policy content and policy environment. This is because the inhibiting factor for implementing the village SDGs policy is the incompatibility of the village SDGs assessment indicators with village characteristics, the ability of policy implementers, and limited resources. To overcome the limited capacity of these resources, you can use the triple helix model or the interconnected relationship (MIR) model by involving the business world and universities.
 Keywords: implementation, model, policy, village SDGs

Spatial Observation and Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals

Spatial Observation and Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals

Evaluating sustainability impacts of critical mineral extractions: Integration of life cycle sustainability assessment and SDGs frameworks

AbstractThe extraction of critical minerals used in clean technologies has profound impacts on sustainable development goals (SDGs). Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is used to evaluate the sustainability impacts of products and services, but few frameworks exist to support SDGs assessment for the “green minerals” extraction. Here, we propose a mining‐specific framework identifying linkages between LCSA and SDGs, along with a process to integrate methods and data. As a proof of concept, we assess the LCSA performance and local‐community level SDG impacts of a nickel mining project in Indonesia. Integrating remote sensing, media sources, stakeholder's data, and expert opinion, we find that LCSA encompasses all 17 goals but only a subset of targets and indicators. The study highlights the need to incorporate indigenous people's perspectives in both LCSA and SDG assessments, and points to priority areas for improving life cycle sustainability and SDG outcomes: fighting corruption, protecting cultural heritage, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We suggest that this framework can inform corporate social responsibility activities, as well as consumer choices for low‐carbon technologies.

Integrating Ecosystem Services Into Assessments of Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, China

Trade-offs between eco-environment protection and socioeconomic development hinder the success of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Solutions based on ecosystem services (ESs) provide the co-benefits and pathways for fulfilling the SDGs. However, assessing the progress towards SDGs based on the contribution of ESs to SDGs is lacking. Here we assessed the spatial-temporal changes of ecosystem service values (ESV) and the SDG scores in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH) over the past 20 years using “ES-SDG linkages.” The total ESV and ES-SDG Index score in the BTH showed a spatial pattern of high values in the northern plateau and low values in the southern plain. The total ESV increased from 25,335 yuan ha−1 in 2000 to 27,344 yuan ha−1 in 2020, mainly attributed to water provision and water regulation. The decrease of cropland, grassland, and wetland in the BTH between 2000 and 2010 caused a decrease in the value of nine ESs, whereas the increase of forestland, waterbodies and wetland between 2010 and 2020 contributed to an increase in the value of seven ESs. The ES-SDG Index score decreased slightly from 36.8 in 2000 to 35.5 in 2010, and then increased to 36.0 in 2020 due to the control of rapid urbanization and strengthen of ecological restoration. Our study indicates that the changes of ES-SDG Index score mainly depended on food provision, water provision, climate regulation, nutrient cycling, habitat & biodiversity, and cultural services. The assessment of SDGs suggests that SDG6, SDG11, and SDG12 should be prioritized to advance the synergistic development of SDGs in the BTH, which will also enhance the understanding of stakeholders about the progress of achieving SDGs.

Assessments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract The United Nations announced its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development worldwide in 2015. Comprehensive assessments of member states’ performance towards achieving the related UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have since become a major challenge for national and subnational governments. This article presents a bibliometric analysis on the assessment of SDGs, at both the general and specific levels, based on 418 publications obtained from Scopus. The general level of analysis includes the number, types, and subject areas of documents published each year, as well as considerations such as the most-cited publications and the leading authors, journals, countries, institutional affiliations, and funders. The specific level of analysis includes a study of the relevant concepts in the publications and their relationships, allowing for the identification of predominant assessments under the 2030 Agenda, and of the most-often evaluated SDGs. Results indicated a focus on measuring impacts and risks, with SDGs 3, 6, 13, 7, 8, and 4 having been assessed the most often among the 17 SDGs, which is consistent with findings in prevalent subject areas such as environmental sciences, social sciences, medicine, and energy. Future works should address assessments under the 2030 Agenda more comprehensively, including analyses on trade-offs among the SDGs and on the transversal nature of some of these goals.

Impact of poverty and income inequality on the ecological footprint in Asian developing economies: Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals

Poverty, widening income inequality, and environmental degradation are very critical challenges to sustainable development while in the light of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), these challenges have been addressed in numerous past empirical studies. However, increasing environmental degradation is a big constraint in the path of sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and controlling income inequality as well. Hence, in this study, we empirically investigate the theoretically ambiguous and complex relationship between poverty, income inequality, and ecological footprint (EFP) for 18 Asian developing countries over the period 2006–2017. Empirical results obtained from the Driscoll–Kraay (D–K) standard error approach confirmed that poverty headcount contributing to environmental degradation in terms of EFP. Further, widening income inequality has a detrimental and harmful effect on the environment in Asian developing countries. The findings of this study also confirm the inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC-Hypothesis) for investigated countries under the D–K methodology. This study provides some important policy implications for policymakers in the light of SDGs and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the investigated region.

Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Implementation in Bulgaria and Future Developments

The European Union has taken on the role of global leader in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, making substantial efforts to support this ambitious approach at the level of each Member State. The objective of this research is the assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation in Bulgaria as well as the existing development potential, given the existing knowledge gap related to this important topic. The data available on Eurostat were processed using dynamic indices and time series analysis based on ARIMA methodology in order to identify the evolution trend of the main indicators associated with the SDGs, as well as the dynamics of progress. The results obtained estimate, for 2030, a degree of fulfillment of the assumed targets of 36.28%, but also reveal the existence of high potential for accelerating the transition process to a low-carbon economy and a more sustainable and inclusive society.

Monitoring sustainable development goals and the quest for high‐quality indicators: Learning from a practical evaluation of data on corruption

AbstractTracing progress in implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) is at the core of pushing and accounting for change. However, monitoring SDGs is challenged by a lack of purpose‐fit and high‐quality indicators based on data that are collected through a sound methodology, generated regularly, comparable over time, and publicly accessible. Assessing and improving the quality of existing data is essential for helping countries to generate an evidence base for action. General criteria for evaluating data quality are already available at the national and international level but their practical operationalization for the assessment of specific SDGs indicators is still underdeveloped. Taking target 16.5 as a case study, this paper evaluates the quality of existing corruption surveys and their relevance for SDGs. Results show that the main challenges concern data validity (they measure only one aspect of corruption), comparability (they use culturally biased definitions), periodicity (they are not regularly developed), and raw‐data accessibility. This paper develops an original framework for benchmarking the overall methodological quality of existing corruption metrics. This framework can be used beyond the immediate context of corruption measurement and SDGs assessment. The same logic and methodology can, indeed, be employed to evaluate the quality of other metrics and support national governments and practitioners in identifying the informational and methodological gaps to be addressed in order to improve and make the best use of available statistical information.

International spillover effects in the EU's textile supply chains: A global SDG assessment

Successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires world countries to account for actions that inadvertently generate negative impacts on other countries. These actions/effects are called ‘spillovers’, and can hinder a country's SDG progress. In this work, we analyse negative social spillover effects, focussing specifically on the occupational health and safety aspects of workers in textile supply chains. We select two indicators: fatal accidents and non-fatal accidents that take place in global supply chains for satisfying consumption of textile products (such as clothing, leather products) by European Union (EU) countries. Specifically, we scan global supply chains originating in countries outside of EU for meeting the demands of its citizens. To this end, we employ a well-established technique of multi-regional input-output analysis, featuring information on 15,000 sectors for 189 countries, to scan international supply chain routes that are linked to consumption of textile products by EU countries. Our findings suggest that Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Belgium and Portugal are collectively responsible for about 80% of both fatal- and non-fatal accidents that are attributed to the EU's consumption-based footprint. These findings not only call for a need for coherent SDG policies that consider spillover effects, but also the need for these effects to be included in EU's strategic instruments and policy-related tools.