SDG Report 2022:
A recent UN SDG index says, all 17 SDGs, are in jeopardy due to the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in the number of conflicts across the world.
- The 2022 SDG Index is topped by three Nordic countries – Finland, Denmark and Sweden – and all top 10 countries are European countries.
- India ranked at 121.
Key Highlights:
- No improvement in performance: Performance on SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) remain below pre-pandemic levels in many low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).
- Slow progress on climate and biodiversity: Progress on climate and biodiversity goals is also too slow, especially in rich countries.
- Greenhouse gas emissions are set to rise 14 per cent over a decade.
- A 2025 peak followed by a 43 per cent decline by 2030 and Net 2050.
- The pandemic itself has emerged as one of the biggest threats to several SDGs, pointing at 15 million “excess deaths” directly or indirectly due to the novel coronavirus by 2021.
- Economic shocks due to the worldwide health emergency pushed 93 million into poverty in 2020 alone, undoing “more than four years” work at alleviating poverty.
- It also affected the education and healthcare services for millions.
- Immunization, for example, has dropped for the first time in a decade even as deaths from malaria and TB have risen.
- The pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have already led to a lowering of global economic growth projections by 0.9 percentage points, the statement highlighted, flagging the conflict for harming in more ways than one:
- Raising food and fuel prices
- Hampering global supplies and trade
- Roiling financial markets
