In 2017, the European institutions and its Member States signed a new European Consensus on Development. This shared vision frames the future of EU development cooperation around the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new consensus pledges to leave no one behind by focusing on policies and measures that recognise the fight against poverty and inequalities as an overarching priority, including universal health care, inclusive life- long learning and equitable quality education, climate transformation and just transition, corporate social responsibility, the fight against corruption and many more.

In order to create a sustainable Europe in a sustainable world, the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs are crucial. Their implementation is the most powerful instrument to radically change the world, toward a much better, just and sustainable future.

There is an urgent need to fight against all forms of inequalities at the centre of our political action, break policy silos and design a new Europe that overcomes austerity to renew its promise of shared prosperity and eternal peace. In order to achieve this, the European Union must respect, apply and implement the Agenda 2030 also in its external relations, in international agreements including trade agreements, and in development cooperation and aid. In development policy in particular, only the fight against extreme poverty and inequalities with a special focus on the most marginalised will ensure the success of all our efforts to comply with the 2030 Agenda’s economic, social and environmental goals.

COVID-19 has a serious negative impact on most SDGs.¹ The first and foremost goal in fighting the pandemic is protecting peoples’ lives. With hundreds of thousands of people who already died and millions infected worldwide, the severity of the virus is undeniable. This quickly led to strict measures in order to condemn its spread, including the shutdown of many economic activities for months. The result is a global economic crisis with massive job losses and major impacts, especially on vulnerable groups. This, at the same time, causes a significant setback of the efforts to implement the SDGs, in particular in the Global South. In addition, the negative effects are tremendous: young people are out of school, people all over the world are suffering because of fragile health infrastructures and existing hunger crises grow immeasurably.

However, the difficulties caused by the pandemic should not lead us into a situation where the SDGs are seen as an additional burden. The contrary is the case: we have to insist that SDGs represent the compass for recovery. The dramatic COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented wake-up call for the international community as a whole. It highlights the urgent need to address the still widely spread inequalities and poverty. It is now time for a systemic shift towards a more sustainable and inclusive economy, more resilient, just and equal societies and fight against climate change, for the benefit of people and environment.

The global crisis as an opportunity

It is out of question that, as a first step, we have to take quick measures to help and support people who are facing health crises, poverty and unemployment as results of the pandemic. At the same time, we should not forget about the long-term strategy in order to create a fairer and sustainable future for all. We cannot be satisfied with restoring the status quo. Our benchmark has to be the fundamental socio- ecological change in global politics towards more stability, justice and sustainability. If leaving no one behind is the goal, inequality in all its dimensions – social, economic, gender, ethnic, racial, territorial – is the central obstacle the Agenda 2030 seeks to overcome, in the global North and South alike.

Social protection and workers’ rights & public health

In the first instance, the recovery programmes have to be framed in a sustainable way, in order to support the creation of quality jobs worldwide. Enforcing the ILO conventions on social protection, workers’ rights and social dialogue is essential to build a sustainable economy. Therefore, new and existing measures must be combined in a way that they guarantee social protection in all countries, including the poorest.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows how crucial public health care is for societies. Investment in national health systems must therefore be a priority, with a focus on prevention. In many parts of the world, women and girls have less social and medical protection and, above all, have to do most of the unpaid care work that is now growing due to the health crisis. The packages of measures should consequently also focus on gender equality and the equal participation of women in local and regional decisions about crisis management and prevention.

A sustainable and inclusive economy

A more just society generates social cohesion and more democracy, which is not the case when the focus solely is on economic growth, as numerous empirical studies show. A recent analysis² indicates the start of an intellectual shift by the World Bank towards a more just, and therefore more efficient and sustainable economic model that is based on the notion of human well-being.

Furthermore, addressing inequalities does in fact reinforce economic efficiency and growth. With the economic case made, it becomes clear that the paradigm shift towards a model of sustainable development that puts the fight against inequalities front and centre is an entirely political matter that must no longer be put on the backburner.

International trade and global supply chains

Fair trade agreements that guarantee the protection of public services and services of general interest must become a priority of our political agenda. The pandemic has also shown that stabilising the global supply chains is a major issue. Fair trade rules and decent production conditions have to be strengthened by agreeing on binding social and human rights, ecological standards, review and sanction mechanisms in all EU trade, investment and economic partnership agreements. It is of utmost importance to ensure human rights and sustainable corporate governance in a mandatory due diligence law at a European level.

Towards sustainable financing

The urgent need to fight for grants for developing countries is evident. All the arguments that we use for the EU Recovery Plan are tantamount for the recovery of the global south. An exacerbating factor is the fact that the most vulnerable countries cannot stand a further increase in their already unsustainable debt, even under the conditions of low interest rates. Debt relief for the developing countries, investments and reconstruction have to be the guiding principles.

It has to be ensured that the public sector is the rule, and if private sector needs to be involved, this has to follow strict rules by a strong state administration. When it comes to conditionalities, we have to align them with positive policies like public health, education, climate protection, protection of human rights and – above all – the fight against inequalities. Well-conceived programming is important – but the implementation has to be guided and controlled along the SDGs.

The fight against inequalities continues

COVID-19 will remain in memory of people as the time when the world was facing the worst public health and economic crisis in a century. Nevertheless, there is also a chance that it becomes the turning point of the current political approach: It is necessary, now more than ever, to streamline the fight against inequalities. Focusing on eradicating inequalities improves the well-being of people, the health of our planet and economic capabilities, which, in turn, fosters inclusion and helps talents, skills and sustainable innovations to emerge.

For many years to come, the international community will have to recover from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and establish a new development model. This will only be possible if we strengthen our multilateral commitments. We must call on the international community and the EU, as global player, to come closer together for concrete actions. We must put the SDGs at the heart of our policymaking.

This article is an extract taken from the Parliamentary Network publication ‘Just Transitions’. You can download a pdf version of the full document here.

1. un.org, The Sustainable Development Goals: Our Framework for COVID-19 Recovery, website last visited 28.07.2020, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ sdgs-framework-for-COVID-19-recovery/
2. worldbank.org, World Bank Group Strategy for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence 2020-2025, published in February 2020, website last visited 28.07.2020, https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/ documentdetail/844591582815510521/world-bank-group-strategy-for-fragility- conflict-and-violence-2020-2025