United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, & United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2025). Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2025. UN Women. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/gender-snapshot/2025/

The Pardee Institute used its International Futures (IFs) to develop and analyze future scenarios related to gender equality and women's empowerment. The analysis examined several of the six action areas outlined in UN Women's Beijing+30 Action Agenda and informed contributions to UN Women's Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2025 report, providing data-driven insights into pathways for advancing gender equality worldwide.

Hughes, B. B. (2025, July 22). Analysis of integrated global SDG pursuit: Challenges and progress. Sustainability, 17(15), 6672. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156672

How can we more fully analyze potential progress toward the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, globally and by country? Methodological challenges include (1) the comprehensiveness of issue coverage, integration of causal elaboration, and geographic detail in available models; (2) clear quantification of goal targets; and (3) specification of scenario interventions that connect meaningfully to the potential leverage of agents. This study uses a large-scale, global but country-based analytical system that tightly integrates multiple issue-area models to push against methodological challenges. It explores the prospects for progress toward selected quantified targets across all goals, using scenarios that consider potential agency-linked interventions relative to the Current Path (CP). The scenarios distinguish interventions focused on Human Development (HD) and natural system sustainability (NSS) plus a Combined SDG scenario (CSDG). Even with a large, integrated push through 2030 and 2050, the world in aggregate will fail to reach many targets, and a great many of the 188 countries represented will fall short. Also of interest is possible tension between the underlying thrusts of HD- and NSS-oriented interventions. Both the Current Path of key variables and intervention leverage constraints make NSS goals harder to reach than HD goals. Because synergies of action considerably outweigh trade-offs, however, complementarity better characterizes the two intervention sets.

Sahadevan, D., Irfan, M. T., Luo, C., Moyer, J. D., Mason, C., & Beynon, E. (2025). Charged for change: The case for renewable energy in climate action. UNDP; Pardee Institute for International Futures; Octopus Energy.

Abu, T., Achore, M., Irfan, M., Musah, I., Azzika, T. (2024, December). The past, present, and future of Ghana’s WASH sector. An explorative analysis. Water Security. 23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2024.100185

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) are fundamental to human health and development. Initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) propelled WASH inequities to the forefront of development. Several countries have undergone reforms to ensure universal access to WASH. Using Ghana as a case study, we traced the evolutionary path of Ghana’s WASH sector highlighting persistent socio-ecological and political-economic factors shaping the current WASH sector reforms and access. We then engage in an integrated assessment modelling to examine the viability and implications of achieving targets of SDG 6 using the International Futures simulation. We find a more feasible pathway to achieving universal WASH access should prioritize eradicating open defecation and surface water use often experienced in rural and urban slums.

Abidoye, B., Banda, A., Baumwoll, J., Carman, R., Moz-Christofoletti, M., Orlic, E., Patterson, L. (2024). Advancing the SDG Push with equitable low-carbon pathways. UNDP. https://www.undp.org/publications/advancing-sdg-push-equitable-low-carbon-pathways

The ‘SDG Push x NDC 3.0’ research, a collaboration between UNDP and the Frederick S. Pardee Center, outlines a framework for a fair, low-carbon energy transition that considers the needs of both wealthy and lower-income nations. The report updates the second flagship publication, Leaving No One Behind: Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), examining an integrated set of policy strategies that accelerates climate actions while promoting human development. By supporting equitable access to energy, green investments, and digital infrastructure, it aims to foster inclusive, sustainable growth and align with the Paris Agreement targets.

The research finds that an additional 60 million people could be lifted from poverty by 2030, and upwards of 175 million people by 2050, through these ambitious, yet feasible policy choices. In addition, nine out of ten low-human development countries could make significant strides towards improving their current development outcomes by 2050 while carbon emissions are reduced by two-thirds by 2050.

Yemen voluntary national review. (2024, July). Contributions from Taylor Hanna, Abdelrahman Ibrahim, and Jonathan D. Moyer. Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. https://hlpf.un.org/countries/yemen/voluntary-national-reviews-2024

Yemen has been experiencing an exceptional phase and highly complex conditions for ten years due to a coup by the Houthi terrorist militia against the state. One of the consequences of this war has been the collapse of the state and the redirection of development and growth trajectories into the negative for many years, with Yemen falling in all international economic, humanitarian, and social indicators. However, despite this difficult reality, the resilience and cohesion of Yemenis, along with the sincere support from brothers and friends, have been fundamental in normalizing the situation, restoring stability, and resuming the building of state institutions. Despite all the challenges, including the ongoing war and difficult economic conditions, there are efforts being made to restore building and development, with national consensus on strengthening institutional work and developing tools to interact with the world and integrate into the visions of development and prosperity of the region and the world, and to address the consequences of the war. The economic file represents a top priority in the government's agenda and its general program, including achieving sustainable development goals and enhancing economic resilience. Five main priorities have been set for the government's work in the coming phase: (a) restoring the state and achieving sustainable peace, (b) combating corruption and enhancing transparency and accountability, (c) achieving financial and administrative reform, (d) developing economic resources, and (e) maximizing the benefits from external aid and grants and directing them according to the needs and priorities of the government. Through these five priorities, we will strive to achieve tangible and clear progress towards the sustainable development goals, and we will harness all possible energies for this purpose.

Hanna, T., Hughes, B.B., Irfan, M.T., Bohl, D.K., Solórzano et al. (2024, April 16). Sustainable Development Goal Attainment in the Wake of COVID-19: Simulating an Ambitious Policy Push. Sustainability. 3309. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083309

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was not on course to meet key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). Some significant degree of additional effort was needed before the pandemic, and the challenge is now greater. Analyzing the prospects for meeting these goals requires attention to the combined effects of the pandemic and such additional impetus. This article assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on progress toward the SDGs and explores strategies to recover and accelerate development. Utilizing the International Futures (IFs) forecasting system and recognizing the near impossibility of meeting the goals by 2030, three scenarios are examined through to 2050: A pre-COVID-19 trajectory (No COVID-19), the current path influenced by the pandemic (Current Path), and a transformative SDG-focused approach prioritizing key policy strategies to accelerate outcomes (SDG Push). The pandemic led to a rise in extreme poverty and hunger, with recovery projected to be slow. The SDG Push scenario effectively addresses this, surpassing the Current Pathand achieving significant global improvements in poverty, malnutrition, and human development by 2050 even relative to the No COVID-19 path. The findings emphasize the need for integrated, transformative actions to propel sustainable development.

Hanna, T., Meisel, C., Moyer, J., Azcona, G., Bhatt, A., Duerto Valero, S., & Meagher, A. (2023). Forecasting Time Spent In Unpaid Care and Domestic Work. UN Women.

In collaboration with UN Women, this report examines the gender gap in unpaid care and domestic work. Using the Pardee Institute's IFs modeling platform, this report estimates and forecasts time spent on unpaid care and domestic work by both men and women.

Full Citation: Sahadevan, D., Hanna, T., Moz-Christofoletti, M. A., Orlic, E., Okiya, S., Abidoye, B., & Moyer, J. D. (2023). UNDP. https://data.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke476/files/2023-11/20230606_Universal-Electrification-Research-Report.pdf

Pushing for universal electricity access through Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) interventions can have powerful multi-faceted effects across economic and human development. Despite its benefits, expanding electricity access comes with significant costs that may require trade-offs in fiscal choices. By using futures modelling that captures both synergies and trade-offs of pursuing particular SDG targets, UNDP and the Pardee Center for International Futures (University of Denver) assessed the current state of electricity access and modelled different pathways to achieving significant milestones in electricity access, including the UN-Energy Pledge and the UNDP commitments. Read the official report and others here.

Modelling Universal Access
Development Impacts of Electrification

Full Citation: Mekonnen, S. M., Mbate, M., Osman-Elasha, B., Akol, C., Janneh, A et Al., (2022). 2022 Africa Sustainable Development Report. UNDP. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-01/Africa%20Sustainable%20Development-Report_2

The Coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change have all hampered Africa’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Halfway towards 2030, most African countries are struggling to meet most SDG targets. Without deliberate policies to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, by 2030, at least 492 million people will be left in extreme poverty and at least 350 million people by 2050.

The report evaluates Africa’s progress towards the SDGs and the objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 in the context of the triple crises of COVID-19, climate change, and the war in Ukraine, which are all adversely impacting the continent’s performance on both agendas.