The Sustainable Development Report 2020 (SDR2020) presents some early thoughts on the Covid‑19 crisis and the future of sustainable development and describes how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can help chart medium-term and longer-term responses to recover from the health, economic, social, and environmental impacts of the pandemic. The report also describes each country’s progress towards achieving the SDGs and indicates areas requiring faster progress by providing an overview of major data and statistics initiatives introduced globally since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015.