The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Sustainable Development Goals

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a substantial disturbance to societies’ lives and livelihoods, causing us to reevaluate the whole common existence of humans worldwide. Additionally, the novel coronavirus has been a critical obstacle to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) embraced in September 2015 and set to be reached by 2030. Prior to COVID-19, most nations were progressing towards the SDGs, but the ongoing turning point is imperiling years of advances, postponing the crucial shift to low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive economies. The monetary and societal perturbation caused by the pandemic is overwhelming, and numerous individuals are at risk of falling into severe deprivation, while many enterprises are struggling with the economic failure. The pandemic has drastically heightened overall job loss and severely lowered employees’ wages. Moreover, the crisis raised persistent gender disparities in workforce participation rates since there was a greater expectation placed on women than men to abandon their jobs to care for families. Even though the authorities of high-income nations have loaned greatly in retort to the disease, low-income developing states had limited borrowing ability due to their lesser market creditworthiness. Hence, the outbreak has deepened disparities between countries. Meanwhile, imbalances continue to intensify for exposed people in nations with poor health structures and those confronting with humanitarian crunches. Unfortunately, administrations throughout the world are on the edge of greater debt than any time in recent memory, outstripping even World War II. The imposed lockdowns drastically lowered human activities, thus causing a transient drop in greenhouse gas discharges, but as the world recovers from the disease, emissions are expected to soar. Henceforward, sustainable and resilient strategies are vital for a healthy and green restoration from the COVID-19 pandemic and the SDGs are essential to this process.

This Special Issue will increase the existing literature through qualitative and quantitative studies on topics including, but not limited to:

• Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on income inequality.
• Assessing the influence of pandemic on labor market.
• Analyzing the effects of COVID-19 on energy consumption.
• Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution and climate change.
• Inspecting the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and digital skills.
• Evaluating the consequences of COVID-19 on small- and medium-sized enterprises.
• Estimating the influence of pandemic on waste generation.
• Investigating the effect of COVID-19 on food security.
• Researching the impact of the pandemic on sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
• Developing recovery strategies after COVID-19 for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Ştefan Cristian Gherghina
Dr. Liliana Nicoleta Simionescu
Guest Editors

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