Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Are we successful in turning trade-offs into synergies?

Abstract

The Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides the framework that all United Nations (UN) member states have pledged to fulfill. The achievement of this agenda crucially depends on whether humankind will be able to maximize synergies and resolve existing trade-offs between the SDGs. We provide the first analysis of future interactions for projected SDG trends until 2030 within and between goals, and we analyze how trade-offs and synergies have evolved in the recent past globally. For certain goals, we find positive developments with notable synergies in our projections, especially for SDGs 1, 3, 7, 8, and 9: Poverty alleviation and strengthening the economy, rooted in innovation, and modern infrastructure, therefore continue to be the basis upon which many of the other SDGs can be achieved. However, especially SDGs 11, 13, 14, 16, and 17 will continue to have notable trade-offs, as well as non-associations with the other goals in the future, which emphasizes the need to foster innovations and policies that can make our cities and communities more sustainable, as well as strengthen institutions and spur climate action. We show examples of a successful transformation of trade-offs into synergies that should be emulated in other areas to create a virtuous cycle of SDG progress. The alarming inability to overcome certain persistent trade-offs we have found, and indeed the deterioration for some SDGs, can seriously threaten the achievement of the Agenda 2030.

The SDGs and human well-being: a global analysis of synergies, trade-offs, and regional differences

“…Trade-offs between the SDGs and SWB can also arise as a result of interactions between different SDGs. In particular, SDGs 11,13,14,16, and 17 continue to have negative trade-offs and non-associations with other SDGs 47 . The highly positive links we identified between goals 11 and 16 and human well-being may possibly compensate for these intra-SDG trade-offs, but policy-makers may find pursuing SDGs 13, 14, and 17 more difficult due to the negative or insignificant correlation with the well-being of current generations.…”

Where to begin? Defining national strategies for implementing the 2030 Agenda: the case of Switzerland

“…Third, we applied network analysis, including a prospective structural analysis, with three aims: to understand the systemic impact of targets, to establish an order of priority for policy action on the SDGs in Switzerland, and to suggest concrete transformation pathways and entry points for implementation using the identified synergies. Finally, we analyzed interactions between targets using the relevant data time series from MONET 2030 and calculating Spearman's rank correlation according to Pradhan et al (2017) and Kroll et al (2019).…”

Barriers to handpump serviceability in Malawi: life-cycle costing for sustainable service delivery

“…2,4,5,20,50 This hinders the progress of the wider SDG agenda due to the synergies between the goals. 62,63 It is therefore essential that focus on the coverage of water supply move towards effective service delivery and sustainable O&M services. 25 The SDGs risk creating more of the same if the short term reward of implementing improved coverage continues.…”