A decade of disruption: The threat of international events to global economic and environmental sustainability

Sustainable development worldwide has been seriously influenced by the disturbance of global supply chains resulting from dynamic international events such as tariff disputes, global epidemics, and regional trade agreements. Amidst efforts to advance global sustainability, events like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the Sino-US trade war have reshaped the landscape. Thus, the interactive impacts of multiple events on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) selected from economic-environmental perspectives (EESDGs, including 13 targets across 10 goals) will be assessed in this study. The alteration of global supply chains among countries and the challenge of regional economy and environment will be emphasized, deepening the understanding of the mechanism behind EESDG changes. Our results suggest that the global pandemic has the weakest negative effect on national EESDG performance (∼1 %), while trade and energy restrictions between the European Union and Russia lead to a much larger reduction (∼7 %). Continued China–United States trade frictions are associated with decreases by ∼4 % for the United States and ∼ 2 % for China. In contrast, the regional trading agreement appears to generate positive effects (2.5–3.6 %). When all four events occur together, the most affected country experiences an overall reduction by ∼5 %. By delivering a comprehensive analysis of both the barriers and potential pathways forward, this study provides valuable insights into seeking effective policies to foster a more sustainable future.