Research pick: Research review helps to reframe the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals - "Scoping SDG interlinkages and methods to infer them"

In 2015, the United Nations initiated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) an ambitious plan to end poverty, safeguard the environment, and promote prosperity for all by 2030. These 17 interconnected goals recognise that progress in one area can affect another area in positive ways. For instance, improving water quality (SDG 6) can have a ripple effect, enhancing health (SDG 3) and education (SDG 4). It is important to understand the connections so that effective policies can be put in place to help us achieve the goals in what might be referred to as a holistic manner.

A review in the International Journal of Sustainable Development has looked at the state of research in this area and provide a systematic summary, as well as incorporating insights from a workshop with SDG experts. The findings show that work is still in its infancy and focuses largely on statistical and conceptual associations rather than causal relationships. The reviewers suggest that this emphasis on correlation rather than causation means it is difficult to reproduce findings and apply them to policymaking. This, they add, is a particular issue at the local level.

The SDGs are the successor to the Millennium Development Goals and emerged from a participatory process that required consensus among UN member states. Unlike those earlier projects, the SDGs are broader in their scope and more integrated. They emphasize the need to understand how progress in one goal might affect other goals. This, the team suggests, means that policymakers and other stakeholders must recognise the interconnectedness of the goals and dismantle the old policy silos to help promote integrated approaches to sustainable development.

A new framework to address the gaps in research and understanding, emerges from this current review. The framework stresses the importance of the local context, as well as the interconnections that might vary critically because of regional socio-economic and environmental conditions. As the 2030 deadline approaches, there is an increasing urgency in attempting to achieve the SDGs. The consolidation of research findings and the standardization of data collection could help us implement real-world action that works to achieve those goals.

Chaniotakis, E., Siragusa, A., Tzanis, D. and Stamos, I. (2024) ‘Scoping SDG interlinkages and methods to infer them’, Int. J. Sustainable Development, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp.1–54.