Abstract
The unprecedented crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact of planetary magnitude on the socioeconomic development of society. COVID-19 has put the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at risk. In particular, productive activities for food provision must address the degree of compliance with SDGs 6 (Clean Water), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) closely related to 2 (Zero Hunger), and 13 (Climate Action).
Spain has probably been one of the European countries where consumer behaviors have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this framework, the main objective of this research addresses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Spanish food consumption pattern through the evaluation of carbon footprint and water footprint indicators.
The results revealed significant variations in carbon footprint and water footprint between 2019 and 2021. The analysis showed a significant peak in March 2020 to April 2020. Higher household food consumption during the months of confinement could be behind these results. An upward trend was also observed in the last months of 2019 and 2020, corresponding to the Christmas holidays. On the other hand, as the vaccination campaign progressed in Spain, a downward trend was experienced (between December 2020 and August 2021).
These results suggest that COVID-19 has had a detrimental effect on the implementation of the SDGs related to maintaining a healthy planetary diet, jeopardizing the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Acknowledgments
C.C.-F. would like to express her gratitude to the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for financial support (Grant reference FPU 19/06648). This research has been supported by the project Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed) project funded by PRIMA Programme and FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation – Spanish National Research Agency (PCI2020-111978). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01). All these programs are cofunded by FEDER (EU).
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Cambeses-Franco, C., Moreira, M.T., Feijoo, G., González-García, S. (2022). Slowing Down the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Leal Filho, W., Dinis, M.A.P., Moggi, S., Price, E., Hope, A. (eds) SDGs in the European Region . Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91261-1_102-1
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