The COVID-19 pandemic is a setback for sustainable development everywhere. For the first time since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, the global average SDG Index score for 2020 has decreased from the previous year: a decline driven to a large extent by increased poverty rates and unemployment following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline in SDG performance globally is likely underestimated in this year’s report, with many indicators for 2020 not yet available due to time lags in international statistics. The pandemic has impacted all three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. The highest priority of every government must remain the suppression of the pandemic, through non-pharmaceutical interventions and global access to vaccines.

Low-income developing countries (LIDCs) lack the fiscal space to finance emergency response and investment-led recovery plans aligned with the SDGs. COVID-19 has highlighted the limited capacity of LIDCs to tap market financing. While the governments of high-income countries have borrowed heavily in response to the pandemic, LIDCs have been unable to do so because of their lower market creditworthiness.

Global challenges, including pandemics but also climate change and the biodiversity crisis, require a strong multilateral system. Damages to ecosystems and nature may lead to the emergence of other zoonotic diseases and pathogens; possibly with a much higher case fatality rate next time. Climate change has already led to a sharp rise in natural disasters, including droughts, typhoons, the impact of rising sea levels, and heat waves. The digital revolution has moved many supply chains online but also increased the risk of widespread cyberattacks. No country can singlehandedly prevent, respond, and recover from these global shocks. Now more than ever, the multilateral system must be supported to work effectively. Strengthening preparedness, coordinated responses, and resilience to critical risks are key to supporting the Decade of Action for the SDGs launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2019.