Oman has ranked third among Arab countries in the 2020 Sustainable Development Report issued by the UN Development Institution.
The report, published in the institution’s last night, said that Oman occupied the 76th position globally and won 69.76 points. Sweden took first place, followed by Denmark and Finland in the rating, which comprises 193 countries.
Taking insights from the achievements made in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the report monitored the performance of all UN member states in terms of Sustainable Development Standard, the extent to which they achieved the goals of development and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The report noted that COVID-19 had its toll on many goals of sustainable development, particularly the goals targeting the elimination of poverty and hunger and the improvement of health, welfare, employment opportunities, economic prosperity and equality.
The report showed that, in some areas, the lasting effects of COVID-19 are not clear and that the pandemic brought about immediate relief to some regions in goals of sustainable development like responsible consumption/production and climate affairs.
The report recommended the significance of using low-carbon emission vehicles and cautioned against relaxing automobile emission criteria.
It also stressed the need to expedite research and development in the aviation sector and proposed intensifying personnel training and investment in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
