Impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals and effective approaches to maneuver them in the post-pandemic environment.

In the pursuit of constructing a sustainable world for all through the instrumental seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and affected the efforts concentrated on these goals. Therefore, there is a pressing need to analyze the extent of the impact that unfolded from the pandemic on each Sustainable Development Goal and further to direct the post-pandemic situation to accelerate the progress in every goal. Besides, there exists a knowledge gap in understanding the Sustainable Development Goals and its interaction with each goal through synergic and trade-off effects. To address the aforementioned imperative problems, this study is formulated to perform an impact assessment as well as to provide direction in the post-pandemic environment to effectively progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by using a hybrid qualitative and quantitative framework. A detailed investigation is carried out to examine the pandemic impacts in every goal, and a quantified impact analysis is performed in terms of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals with the aid of ranking methodology. The results indicate that SDG 1 and SDG 8 are the most impacted goal. To provide deeper perspectives into the Sustainable Development Goals, a critical analysis of the targets and indicators is performed to characterize the goals from their elemental point of view, such as nature of goals, depending factors, locus of the goal, and Sustainable Development Goal interactions. Further, a novel parameter, the degree of randomness, is proposed whose application in environmental research is immense. The impact on each goal and impact interaction between all the SDGs are also mapped, through which the dynamics of Sustainable Development Goal interactions is elaborated. In context with the post-pandemic scenario, the strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with environmental focus are presented with prioritization factor that supports quick recovery. The introduced prioritization factor is formulated by employing a multi-criteria analysis methodology. In addition, the fundamental elements of SDGs are built upon one another to frame an optimized and effective approach to achieving the SDGs in the post-pandemic environment. Despite the strategies, a conceptual framework to align the business practices with the SDGs is propounded. This study deep down would provide a unique perspective to the research community and would impart deeper knowledge in connection with sustainability, while the solutions framed would steer the policy and decision-makers.

Envisioning the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the lens of energy sustainability (SDG 7) in the post-COVID-19 world

The United Nations (UN) have formulated seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and thus, humans were trying to traverse the sustainable path. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged and forced out the ephemeral conventional approaches. Thus, the post-COVID world indicates the need for sustainable development and strategies in par with the ecosystem. The authors propose this study as a guide to direct the post-pandemic scenario into the sustainable pathway by prioritizing energy sustainability to engage the actions for achieving the SDGs. The analysis in this study commences with the investigation of pronounced impacts in the energy sector with its influence on the progress towards sustainability. To pursue the path of energy sustainability, a qualitative analysis is performed in a parallel approach from the key viewpoint of the renewable and sustainable energy transition, digital transformation of the energy sector and energy affordability in the post-COVID world. A SWOT-AHP hybrid methodology is employed to identify the significance of each strategy or issues to be focused on immediately in the post-COVID world. The study also discusses energy sustainability from political bodies and policy makers’ perspective, and the actual scenario where we are headed is revealed with the aid of process-tracing method. Furthermore, a novel quantitative analysis is established to represent the SDG’s interaction and the result shows that the SDG 7 is the underpinning goal in relative to other SDGs. In context with it, the mapping of energy sustainability to the sustainable world is accomplished. The ultimate inference from envisioning the SDGs through energy sustainability shows that a sustainable world would result after the pandemic. However, the changes in the energy market, investment preferences and more importantly, the decisions influenced by the political bodies in the post-COVID-world is decisive in achieving the same in a stipulated time frame.