Progress towards most of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) has been significantly set back by the Covid-19 pandemic, a new piece of analysis by M&G shows.

While the pandemic has had a positive impact on some of the goals related to climate and the environment, the report shows that 10 of the 17 goals had been “clearly set back”.

Socio-economic goals are most affected, with more than 71 million people pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, according to the UN – causing the first increase in extreme global poverty in decades.