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Assessing global sustainability performance, imbalance, and coordination over space and time
Zhenci Xu1,2, Xiuzhi Chen3,4, Qutu Jiang1
1Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Nature Communications
|October 16, 2025
Summary
Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) show progress, with low-income nations advancing faster. New indices reveal narrowing imbalances and highlight the need for targeted policies to ensure coordinated development.
Area of Science:
- Global Development Studies
- Environmental Science
- Socioeconomics
Background:
- The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by 193 countries in 2015, targeting urgent global challenges by 2030.
- Comprehensive spatiotemporal assessments of country-level SDG performance, balance, and coordination are limited.
- Existing research lacks robust metrics for evaluating SDG progress across diverse nations and over time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop novel indices for measuring global SDG performance, imbalances, and coordination.
- To analyze the spatiotemporal trends in sustainable development across countries from 2000 to 2020.
- To identify factors influencing SDG progress and coordination globally.
Main Methods:
- Development of three indices: Sustainable Development Relative Performance Index (SDRPI), Sustainable Development Gini Index (SDGI), and Sustainable Development Coordination Index (SDCI).
- Analysis of country-level SDG performance, imbalances, and coordination over the period 2000-2020.
- Comparative analysis of progress between low-income and high-income countries.
Main Results:
- Most countries demonstrated improved sustainable development performance between 2000 and 2020.
- Sustainable development imbalances narrowed globally, with low-income countries progressing faster than high-income countries.
- Eastern European nations showed significant performance gains (SDRPI), while Sweden, Spain, and Poland had minimal imbalances (SDGI); low-income countries exhibited strong SDG coordination.
Conclusions:
- Global sustainable development has improved, but disparities persist.
- Targeted governance and policies are crucial for addressing underperforming SDG targets.
- Fostering balanced and coordinated global sustainable development requires focused interventions.
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