Tourism and Sustainable Development Goals: Exploring the Nexus Through Bibliometric Analysis

Introduction

Offering the world a new direction the Sustainable Development Goals (hereafter SDGs) laid down the roadmap for the future for ecological, environmental, economic, and social peace and harmony. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015, provided a common framework for peace and prosperity for people and the planet for both the present and the future. The 17 SDGs are at the heart of this agenda, which is an urgent call for action for a global partnership (United Nations, n.d.). Built upon the successes and failures of the Millennium Development Goals the SDGs were launched for a more sustainable future (Rajani & Boluk, 2022). In the 1980s, the concept of sustainable development was introduced, and since then scientists, researchers, politicians, academics, and other public and private entities have been discussing solutions to the global growing environmental problems, but few have succeeded in inverting these trends (Lopes et al., 2020). Concurrently, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals laid down a comprehensive framework addressing the insisting universal challenges, ranging from poverty alleviation to environmental sustainability. The current human living standards lead the planet to a state of global environmental change and subsequent natural disasters (Liburd et al., 2022; Lopes et al., 2020), which require prompt action for change (Liburd et al., 2022). The establishment of the 17 SDGs of the UN Agenda 2030 helped us recognize our responsibility for the root causes, but also our ability to drive future changes (Lopes et al., 2020).

The SDGs are an outcome of the incessant efforts of nations, the UN, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs over decades. The first-ever reference to sustainable development was in June 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (or Rio Summit) where more than 178 nations adopted Agenda 21, a comprehensive plan to build global alliances for sustainable development to improve human life and environment conservation. Eight years later, at the dawn of a new millennium (in September 2000), UN member states congregated in New York for the Millennium Summit, unanimously approving the Millennium Declaration. This summit culminated with the articulation of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce extreme poverty by 2015. In June 2012, the member nations met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to launch a set of objectives called Sustainable Development Goals based on the successes and failures of the MDGs. Finally, in late 2015 the member nations unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with 17 SDGs at its core (United Nations, n.d.). Figure 1 provides all the 17 SDGs, no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnership for the goals.