Implementing the “Sustainable Development Goals”: towards addressing three key governance challenges—collective action, trade-offs, and accountability

Bowen, Kathryn; Cradock-Henry, Nicholas A.; Koch, Florian; Patterson, James; Häyhä, Tiina; Vogt, Jess; Barbi, Fabiana

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2017.05.002

Cited by 200 publications

(193 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Externally actionable SDG targets are vulnerable to the ''free rider'' problem, in which agents are reluctant to act collectively towards reaching a goal unless it is likely that progress is made and others are held accountable for their contributions (Bowen et al, 2017). Cross-sector partnerships could overcome this problem by promoting collaboration among actors in a structured manner.…”

Section: Actionabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their voluntary nature, lack of sanctions, and the few formal mechanisms in place to ensure the achievement of the goals (Biermann, Kanie, & Kim, 2017;Bowen et al, 2017), allow for understanding the SDGs as ''soft'' international law (Persson, Weitz, & Nilsson, 2016). An important dimension of the SDG framework is, therefore, the liberty it offers to governments, as well as to other stakeholders, to decide which goals to act upon (Stevens & Kanie, 2016).…”

Section: The Sdgs As a Goal-based Institutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement

2018

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without the contributions of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, extant international business research hardly covers the private sector's role in achieving international policy goals. This article conceptualises the SDGs as a goal-based institution. Building on institutional theory, it develops propositions that help explain MNEs' engagement with SDGs. Exploratory survey results from 81 European and North American Financial Times Global 500 companies indicate that MNEs engage more with SDG targets that are actionable within their (value chain) operations than those outside of it, and more with SDG targets that ''avoid harm'' than those that ''do good''. Differences in SDG engagement based on MNEs' home-and host-countries and their industrial sectors are also explored. We draw policy conclusions for a more pro-active involvement of MNEs in sustainable development, and we define avenues for future international business research. In particular, cross-sector partnerships deserve further attention.

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Section: Actionabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Sdgs As a Goal-based Institutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement

2018

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“…For example, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, adopted in 2015 by the UN member states as part of the Agenda 2030, have the ambition to transform our world [4,5]. Institutions such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) connect the term transformation with inclusive and sustainable development [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Transformative Turn towards Sustainability in the Context of Urban-Related Studies? A Systematic Review from 1957 to 2016

2017

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This article evaluates if the increasing use of the term "urban transformations" in academic research and the widely acknowledged importance of cities in sustainability transformations has led to a transformative turn towards sustainability and Global Environmental Change (GEC) in urban-related studies. This is done through a systematic review of the scientific literature on urban transformations for the last six decades. This way, the multiplicity of uses of the term urban transformations is identified and a contextualization of the urban transformations to sustainability-debate within the wider sphere of urban-related studies is achieved. Our findings show that until now the term is very heterogeneously used in the scientific literature and that the number of articles referring to urban transformations to sustainability has significantly increased during the last five years. While first steps towards a transformative turn can be identified, empirical cases of successful urban transformations towards sustainability hardly appear in the articles. A gap between the theoretical concept and the empirical cases of urban transformations is clearly visible, which also has implications for future research on urban sustainability.

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“…To foster agreement and "bridge the gap between decisionmakers [sic] and those affected by decisions" [108], interactions between governmental actors, citizens, non-governmental organisations, and multilateral agencies have increased, creating new structures of involvement and decision making in the process. It may be possible to fully capitalise on the shifting equilibrium following disaster and realise the opportunities for transformation towards greater resilience in part by acknowledging the contributions and particular role for bottom-up inputs into the governance system, fostering longer-lasting interaction between policy makers and stakeholders and establishing inter-organizational arrangements to introduce a polycentric system structure [109,110]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand

2018

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On 14 November 2016, a magnitude (M w ) 7.8 earthquake struck the small coastal settlement of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand. With an economy based on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, Kaikōura was immediately faced with significant logistical, economic, and social challenges caused by damage to critical infrastructure and lifelines, essential to its main industries. Massive landslips cut off road and rail access, stranding hundreds of tourists, and halting the collection, processing and distribution of agricultural products. At the coast, the seabed rose two metres, limiting harbour-access to high tide, with implications for whale watching tours and commercial fisheries. Throughout the region there was significant damage to homes, businesses, and farmland, leaving owners and residents facing an uncertain future. This paper uses qualitative case study analysis to explore post-quake transformations in a rural context. The aim is to gain insight into the distinctive dynamics of disaster response mechanisms, focusing on two initiatives that have emerged in direct response to the disaster. The first examines the ways in which agriculture, food harvesting, production and distribution are being reimagined with the potential to enhance regional food security. The second examines the rescaling of power in decision-making processes following the disaster, specifically examining the ways in which rural actors are leveraging networks to meet their needs and the consequences of that repositioning on rural (and national) governance arrangements. In these and other ways, the local economy is being revitalised, and regional resilience enhanced through diversification, capitalising not on the disaster but the region's natural, social, and cultural capital. Drawing on insights and experience of local stakeholders, policy-and decision-makers, and community representatives we highlight the diverse ways in which these endeavours are an attempt to create something new, revealing also the barriers which needed to be overcome to reshape local livelihoods. Results reveal that the process of transformation as part of rural recovery must be grounded in the lived reality of local residents and their understanding of place, incorporating and building on regional social, environmental, and economic characteristics. In this, the need to respond rapidly to realise opportunities must be balanced with the community-centric approach, with greater recognition given to the contested nature of the decisions to be made. Insights from the case examples can inform preparedness and recovery planning elsewhere, and provide a rich, real-time example of the ways in which disasters can create opportunities for reimagining resilient futures.

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Implementing the “Sustainable Development Goals”: towards addressing three key governance challenges—collective action, trade-offs, and accountability

Cited by 200 publications

References 63 publications

Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement

Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement

A Transformative Turn towards Sustainability in the Context of Urban-Related Studies? A Systematic Review from 1957 to 2016

Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand

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