Implementing the 2030 Agenda: Integrating Growth, Environment, Equality and Governance
With its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their 169 associated targets, the Agenda 2030 has set an ambitious vision for human development. In the agenda’s networked system of targets, policy fields and sectors do not stand isolated. Rather, potential synergies and tradeoffs exist between the SDGs. This research project focuses on the question of how political institutions and processes must be shaped in order to ensure the integrated and coherent implementation of the agenda that is needed to maximize synergies and mitigate tradeoffs.
Project Lead:
Anita Breuer
Project Team:
Tilman Altenburg
Pooja Balasubramanian
Ines Dombrowsky
Julia Leininger
Malerba, Daniele
Srinivasa Srigiri
Financing:
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Time frame:
2017 - 2022
/
completed
Project description
With the 2030 Agenda, the international community has established an ambitious, interlinked goal system that serves as a guide for a sustainable global transformation. The successful implementation of the agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires that the complex interactions between the SDGs and their associated sub-targets be taken into account. A distinction must be made between positive and negative interactions within and between the social, ecological, economic and political dimensions of sustainable development. Positive interactions (synergies) arise when progress on one goal facilitates the achievement of other goals. Infrastructure development and expansion, for example, can stimulate economic growth. To maximize synergies, political institutions and processes need to be shaped in a way that allows for an integrative rather than an isolated implementation of the respective related goals. Negative interactions (tradeoffs) arise when the achievement of one goal constrains or even impedes or reverses the achievement of other goals. Improved access to energy for all, for example, can negatively affect efforts for climate change mitigation. To minimize tradeoffs, political institutions and processes need to be shaped in a way that priorities are set and compromises can be found.
Several requirements need to be met for the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda:
- The identification and categorization of interdependencies between the overarching SDGs and their associated targets is necessary in order to maximize synergies and mitigate tradeoffs
- Political coherence and integration are central in planning and implementation. In the interlinked target system of the Agenda 2030 policy fields and sectors cannot be addressed in an isolated manner. Instead, an integrated implementation approach is needed.
- Political institutions and processes must be shaped in a way that produces integrated action strategies and implementation processes.
Against this background, the project addresses the following research questions:
- Which potential synergies and tradeoffs exist between central goals of the agenda, which synergies should be strengthened, which compromises should be sought, and which political institutional arrangements are needed to reach and realize these compromises?
- How can the objective to reduce inequality be operationalized in the process of agenda implementation; which synergies with other SDGs can be exploited; which tradeoffs arise and which political institutions and processes foster or discourage the reduction of social inequality?
- How can the SDGs be implemented in an integrated manner that respects and promotes democracy and human rights? Which elements of democracy support the implementation of the SDGs?
The aim of the research project is to investigate central interlinkages between the SDGs and provide advice to BMZ and other development actors on devising approaches and action strategies to support developing countries in their effort towards an integrated implementation of the Agenda 2030. The project thus intends to contribute to the identification of needs for adaptation and reform of development policies and strategies for a successful implementation of the Agenda 2030.
The project focuses on approaches to maximize synergies and mitigate tradeoffs in four thematic areas:
Thematic area 1: The water-food-energy nexus under conditions of climate change
Thematic area 2: The decoupling of economic growth and resource consumption
Thematic area 3: Adequate allocation strategies to tackle poverty and social inequality
Thematic area 4: Good governance and peace as necessary conditions for sustainable development
Publications
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Connections that matter: how does the quality of governance institutions help protect our ocean?
Allen, Cameron / Anita Breuer / Julia Kercher (2023)
Oslo: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in cooperation with German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) -
Connections that matter: how the quality of governance institutions may be the booster shot we need to reduce poverty and inequality
Allen, Cameron / Julia Kercher / Anita Breuer / Julia Leininger / Pooja Balasubramanian (2022)
Oslo: UNDP / DIE (May 2022) -
Governing the interlinkages between the SDGs: approaches, opportunities and challenges
Breuer, Anita / Daniele Malerba / Srinivasa Srigiri / Pooja Balasubramanian (eds.) (2023)
London: Routledge -
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 16: a governance compass towards just transition?
Balasubramanian, Pooja / Anita Breuer / Julia Leininger / Cameron Allen / Julia Kercher (2022)
Policy Brief 4/2022 -
Unravelling hidden factors explaining competition for and overuse of groundwater in Azraq, Jordan: Digging deeper into a network of action situations
Oberhauser, Daniel / Ramona Hägele / Ines Dombrowsky (2023)
in: Sustainability Science 18, 235–249 -
Analysing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus from a polycentric governance perspective: Conceptual and methodological framework
Srigiri, Srinivasa Reddy / Ines Dombrowsky (2022)
in: Frontiers in Environmental Science, 1-13 -
Disentangling the relationship between social protection and social cohesion: introduction to the special issue
Burchi, Francesco / Markus Loewe / Daniele Malerba / Julia Leininger (2022)
in: European Journal of Development Research, 34 (3), 1195 - 1215 -
Key players in national SDG accountability: the role of parliaments
Breuer, Anita / Julia Leininger / Kirsten Brosbøl / Léna Belly-Le Guilloux / Bora Sefa (2021)
Briefing Paper 15/2021 -
Key players in accountable SDG implementation: national human rights institutions
Breuer, Anita / Julia Leininger / Saionara König-Reis (2021)
Briefing Paper 16/2021 -
Mechanisms for governing the Water-Land-Food Nexus in the Lower Awash River Basin, Ethiopia: ensuring policy coherence in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
Srigiri, Srinivasa Reddy / Anita Breuer / Waltina Scheumann (2021)
Discussion Paper 26/2021 -
Horizontal accountability for SDG implementation: a comparative cross-national analysis of emerging national accountability regimes
Breuer, Anita / Julia Leininger (2021)
in: Sustainability 13 (13), article 7002 -
Innovations for sustainability: pathways to an efficient and sufficient post-pandemic future
Nakicenovic, Nebojsa et al. (2020)
3rd report prepared by The World in 2050 Initiative (TWI2050), Laxenburg: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis -
Agenda 2030 y nexos entre seguridad de agua, energética y alimentaria: el caso de Huexca, Morelos
Oswald Spring, Úrsula / Anita Breuer (2021)
in: Veredas. Revista del Pensamiento Sociológico (40), 61 - 93 -
The 2030 Agenda as agenda setting event for water governance? Evidence from the Cuautla River Basin in Morelos, Mexico. Water 2020
Breuer, Anita / Ursula Oswald Spring (2020)
in: Water 12 (2) (Online) -
Poverty alleviation and local environmental degradation: an empirical analysis in Colombia
Malerba, Daniele (2020)
in: World Development 127 (March 2020) -
Integrated policymaking: choosing an institutional design for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Breuer, Anita / Julia Leininger / Jale Tosun (2019)
Discussion Paper 14/2019 -
Human capital returns to cash transfers in Uganda: does it matter in the long run?
Dietrich, Stephan / Daniele Malerba / Armando Barrientos / Franziska Gassmann / Pierre Mohnen / Nyasha Tirivayi (2019)
in: Journal of Development Effectiveness 12 (1), 54-73 -
Experimental games for developing institutional capacity to manage common water infrastructure in India
Falk, Thomas / Shalander Kumar / Srinivasa Srigiri (2019)
in: Agricultural Water Management 221 (July), 260-269 -
Obesity and food away from home: what drives the socioeconomic gradient in excess body weight?
Strupat, Christoph / Gabriela Farfán / Laura Moritz / Mario Negre / Renos Vakis (2019)
Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group (Policy Research Working Paper 9066) -
How much does reducing inequality matter for global poverty?
Lakner, Christoph / Daniel Gerszon Mahler / Mario Negre / Espen Beer Prydz (2019)
Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group (Policy Research Working Paper 8869) -
Der Mythos von der Unvereinbarkeit von Wachstum und Gleichheit
Negre, Mario / José Cuesta / Ana Revenga / Prescott J. Morley (2019)
Analysen und Stellungnahmen 12/2019 -
Economic mobility across generations: old versus new EU member states
van der Weide, Roy / Ambar Narayan / Mario Negre (2019)
Briefing Paper 14/2019 -
Dismantling the myth of the growth-inequality trade-off
Negre, Mario / José Cuesta / Ana Revenga / Prescott J. Morley (2019)
Briefing Paper 9/2019 -
Promoting tax compliance with behavioral insights
Hernandez, Marco / Jonathan Karver / Mario Negre / Julie Perng (2019)
Washington, DC: International Development Agency / The World Bank -
Comparing global trends in multidimensional and income poverty and assessing horizontal inequalities
Burchi, Francesco / Daniele Malerba / Nicole Rippin / Claudio E. Montenegro (2019)
Discussion Paper 2/2019 -
Translating Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) interdependencies into policy advice
Breuer, Anita / Hannah Janetschek / Daniele Malerba (2019)
in: Sustainability 11 (7) -
Poverty-energy-emissions pathways: recent trends and future sustainable development goals
Malerba, Daniele (2019)
in: Energy for Sustainable Development 49 (April ), 109-124 -
Putting your money where your mouth is: geographic targeting of World Bank projects to the bottom 40 percent
Öhler, Hannes / Mario Negre / Lodewijk Smets / Renzo Massari / Željko Bogetić (2019)
in: PLOS One June 21, 2019 (Online) -
Shared prosperity: concepts, data, and some policy examples
Ferreira, Francisco H. G. / Emanuela Galasso / Mario Negre (2018)
Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group (Policy Research Working Paper 8451) -
Climate change impacts and vulnerability of fallow-chickpea based farm households in India : assessment using integrated modeling approach
Nedumaran, Swamikannu / Madhu Kadiyala / Srinivasa Reddy Srigiri / V. Roberto / S. McDermid (2018)
(Proceedings of the 30th International Conference of Agricultural Economists Vancouver) -
Tackling income inequality: what works and why?
Cuesta, Jose / Mario Negre / Ana Revenga / Maika Schmidt (2018)
in: Journal of Income Distribution 26 (1), 1-48 -
The potential of ICT‐supported participatory communication interventions to challenge local power dynamics: Lessons from the case of Togo
Breuer, Anita / Laura Blomenkemper / Stefan Kliesch / Franziska Salzer / Manuel Schädler / Valentin Schweinfurth / Stephen Virchow (2018)
published on Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries 84 (3) -
The Sustainable Development Goals viewed through a climate lens
Dzebo, Adis / Hannah Janetschek / Clara Brandi / Gabriela Iacobuta (2018)
Stockholm: Environment Institute Stockholm (SEI Policy Brief December 2018) -
Governing the transformations towards sustainability
Leininger, Julia / Ines Dombrowsky / Dirk Messner / Anita Breuer / Constantin Ruhe / Hannah Janetschek / Hermann Lotze-Campen (2018)
in: Elmar Kriegler / Dirk Messner / Nebojsa Nakicenovic / Keywan Riahi / Johan Rockström / Jeffrey Sachs / Sander van der Leeuw / Detlef van Vuuren (eds.), Transformations to achieve the sustainable development goals; Report prepared by The World in 2050 Initiative, Laxenburg: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), 107-126 -
Coordination: the key to governing the water-land-food nexus in Zambia?
Scheumann, Waltina / George Phiri (2018)
Discussion Paper 20/2018 -
Transformations to achieve the sustainable development goals; Report prepared by The World in 2050 Initiative
Kriegler, Elmar / Dirk Messner / Nebojsa Nakicenovic / Keywan Riahi / Johan Rockström / Jeffrey Sachs / Sander van der Leeuw / Detlef van Vuuren (eds.) (2018)
Laxenburg: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) -
How to reduce poverty and address climate change? An empirical cross-country analysis and the roles of economic growth and inequality
Malerba, Daniele (2018)
Manchester: The University of Manchester (GDI Working Paper 2018-32) -
Productivist social assistance and 21st-century development models
Barrientos, Armando / Daniele Malerba (2018)
London: ESRC GPID Research Network (Working Paper 16) -
Transforming our world, achieving a sustainable development model: the 2030 Agenda and the EU
With contributions by Roberto Bissio / Carles Casajuana / Koen De Feyter / Lelio Iapadre / Markus Loewe / Fabiana Maglio / Annalisa Prizzon / Liliana Rodrigues / Sahar T. Rad (2017)
in: Conny Reuter / Ernst Stetter (eds.), Progressive lab for sustainable development: from vision to action, Brussels: Foundation for European Progressives Studies / SOLIDAR / Group of the progressive alliance of the Socialist and Democrats in the European Parliament, 15-29 -
Sustainability in the water-energy-food nexus
Anik Bhaduri / Claudia Ringler / Ines Dombrowsky / Rabi Mohtar / Waltina Scheumann (eds.) (2017)
Abingdon, UK: Routledge -
Taking stock of 2030 Agenda: are we making progress with integrated implementation?
Janetschek, Hannah / Imme Scholz (2017)
Bonn: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) (The Current Column of 24 July 2017) -
Poverty and shared prosperity 2016: taking on inequality
World Bank Group. Co-directors: José Cuesta and Mario Negre (2016)
Washington, DC: World Bank Publications -
Sustainability in the water-energy-food nexus
Bhaduri, Anik / Claudia Ringler / Ines Dombrowsky / Rabi Mohtar / Waltina Scheumann (eds.) (2015)
Water International: Sustainability in the water-energy-food nexus (Special Issue) -
Towards a governance heuristic of sustainable development
Müller, Alexander / Hannah Janetschek / Jes Weigelt (2015)
in: Current Opinion for Sustainable Development 15/2015, 49-56 -
Translating an ambitious vision into global transformation: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development
Loewe, Markus / Nicole Rippin (eds.) (2015)
Discussion Paper 7/2015 -
Post 2015: an opportunity for social and ecological development
Loewe, Markus / Carmen Richerzhagen (2014)
in: Annual Report 2013-2014: 50 years of building bridges between research and practice, Bonn: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), 36-39 -
Millennium Plus or Sustainable Development Goals: how to combine human development objectives with targets for Global Public Goods?
Loewe, Markus (2014)
in: Global Review 2/2014 -
MDGs and SDGs: are the concepts compatible?
Loewe, Markus (2014)
in: Global Compact International Yearbook 2014, 10-15
Events
Project Coordination
Links
Connections that matter: how does the quality of governance institutions help protect our ocean?
Allen, Cameron / Anita Breuer / Julia Kercher (2023)
Oslo: UNDP in cooperation with IDOS