Interlinkages, Integration and Coherence

Abstract

Interlinkages, Integration and Coherence lead authors ma ˚ns nilsson and marjanneke j. vijge contributing authors ivonne lobos alva, basil bornemann, karin fernando, thomas hickmann, michelle scobie and sabine weilandThe 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a novel approach to global sustainability governance. It goes beyond the earlier Millennium Development Goals in that it envisions a global transformation for economic prosperity, human well-being and planetary health (UNGA 2015). The breadth of this agenda, however, creates novel challenges of policy interlinkages and goal integration. The 2030 Agenda emphasizes that 'interlinkages and the integrated nature of the Sustainable Development Goals' are crucial for its success (UNGA 2015: 2). Also, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were officially designed as an 'integrated and indivisible' set, and every goal has to be met equally to attain sustainable development (UNGA 2015: 1). In short, integration is a leitmotif of the 2030 Agenda (Nilsson and Persson 2017).The integrated nature of the goals, however, increases complexity in policymaking, because it implies that the implementation of the goals must consider the interactions among them. Progress or lack of progress with one goal will affect other goals, some positively and others negatively, creating synergies and tradeoffs (Nilsson and Weitz 2019). Institutional integration and policy coherence hence become central in addressing normative conflicts, fragmentation and policy complexity across the goals. The challenge is embodied as part of Goal 17, which calls upon governments and other actors to enhance policy coordination and policy coherence for sustainable development (UNGA 2015: Targets 17.13-17.14).Institutional integration and policy coherence have thus become central concerns in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in national and global governance. At the national level, most governments acknowledge the need to consider synergies and trade-offs in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. At the global level, there is growing recognition that governments need better capacities, tools and resources to address the interlinkages, synergies and trade-offs between goals. Many international organizations have produced guidance documents and tools to support governments, including the United 92

Success factors of global goal‐setting for sustainable development: Learning from the Millennium Development Goals

“…As a recent assessments on the political impact of the SDGs shows, several questions are still heavily under‐researched despite the evolving research field (Biermann, Hickmann, & Sénit, 2022). This applies in particular to research on whether the SDGs lead to more institutional and policy coherence at domestic level (Nilsson et al, 2022). We hence need studies that explore the links between global and domestic politics from a critical perspective to improve our understanding of the concrete pathways under which global governance initiatives may effectively unfold tangible effects on national politics.…”

“…A fourth lesson is that professional public administrations with effective coordination are crucial for countries to make progress on the SDGs. Weak institutional frameworks in public-administrative systems hamper the adoption and design of coherent policies for promoting sustainable development (Nilsson et al, 2022). Efforts for coordination and integration of the SDGs into national systems differ from country to country and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to achieve the SDGs.…”

Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Such a political strategy requires consideration of interactions between different goals. Furthermore, national integration has been discussed as a multi-directional, rather than a linear, process, whereby the SDGs influence – and are influenced by – domestic contexts, priorities, and political dispositions (Nilsson et al, 2022; Ordóñez Llanos et al, 2022; Okitasari and Katramiz, 2022; Forestier & Kim, 2020). In this understanding, the contextual integration (i.e.…”

“…The literature on steering effects of the 2030 Agenda has captured some initial empirical trends during the 2030 Agenda's first implementation phase: Nilsson et al (2022) found that the SDGs mostly impacted the political discourse on interlinkages and interactions, along with some governments advancing institutional integration by aligning their public-administrative systems to the 2030 Agenda, and some designating bodies or forming new units for goal implementation. Considering cross-country variation, Allen et al (2018) found that, while all countries face challenges with the interlinkages among SDGs, lower-income countries are generally less advanced than higher-income countries in this regard.…”

“…In sum, policy coherence for SDG implementation has not increased significantly (Nilsson et al, 2022). This may partly be explained by the need to set up institutional and policy structures in the first few years of SDG implementation to overcome institutional silos, as well as to dedicate time to building momentum and high-level policy commitments.…”