Leaving No One Behind: Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Abidoye, B., Felix, J., Kapto, S. & Patterson, L. (2021). Leaving No One Behind: Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). New York, NY and Denver CO: United Nations Development Programme and Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures.

The Frederick S. Pardee Institute for International Futures partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide the futures modeling that underpins Leaving No One Behind: Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using the International Futures (IFs) model, Pardee researchers analyzed multiple COVID-19 recovery scenarios to help policymakers understand the pandemic's long-term implications for sustainable development. The analysis showed that while COVID-19 threatened to widen global inequalities, strategic investments in governance, social protection, green development, and digitalization could help many countries recover and even exceed pre-pandemic development trajectories—demonstrating how long-range, evidence-based modeling can inform more resilient policy decisions.