Three foci at the science-policy interface for systemic Sustainable Development Goal acceleration

Authors: Prajal Pradhan, Nina Weitz, Vassilis Daioglou, Gabriel Abrahão, Cameron Allen, Geanderson Ambrosio, Frederike Arp, Furqan Asif, Therese Bennich, Tim Benton, Frank Biermann, Min Cao, Henrik Carlsen, Fang Chen, Min Chen, Michiel Daams, Jonathan Dawes, Shobhakar Dhakal, Elisabeth Gilmore, Luis González, Klaus Hubacek, Yuanchao Hu, Wander Jager, Samir KC, Norman Kearney, Utkarsh Khot, Teun Kluck, Shridhar Kulkarni, Julia Leininger, Chaohui Li, Jing Li, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Gonzalo Parrado-Hernando, Matteo Pedercini, Ram Phuyal, Christina Prell,Arpan Rijal, Vanessa Schweizer, Frans Sijtsma, Bjoern Soergel, Nathalie Spittler, Detlef van Vuuren, Anne Warchold, Birka Wicke, Oscar Widerberg, Rienne Wilts, Christopher Wingens, Eartha Weber, Chaoyang Wu, Qiang Xing, Jin Yan, Zifeng Yuan, Xin Zhou, and Caroline Zimm.

Journal: Nature Communications,15, Article number: 8600 (2024).

Abstract

The integrated and indivisible nature of the SDGs is facing implementation challenges due to the silo approaches. We present the three interconnected foci (SDG interactions, modeling, and tools) at the science-policy interface to address these challenges. Accounting for them will support accelerated SDG progress, operationalizing the integration and indivisibility principles.

The 2024 Summit of the Future aimed to accelerate efforts to meet existing international commitments. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the pre-eminent international commitment to be achieved by 2030, comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the underpinning principles of integration, indivisibility, and universality. However, these principles have yet to be prominent in SDG implementation. Since countries are not on track to achieve all SDGs¹, accelerating efforts is crucial in the time remaining to 2030 and for informing a post-2030 sustainable development agenda². The SDGs’ integrated nature challenges the traditional silo implementation approaches. Thus, we present the three interconnected foci (i.e., SDG interactions, modeling, and tools) to support accelerated SDG progress and operationalize integration and indivisibility principles.

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