A proof-of-concept study applying the SDG Synergies approach to explore how environmental targets interact with other Sustainable Development Goals at the EU level.
In 2018, researchers at SEI together with the European Environment Agency (EEA) carried out a research project to identify and characterize critical interactions among the SDG targets that could be particularly relevant to environmental policy-makers in the European Union.
The project included the first regional-scale application of SDG Synergies, a practical analytical approach to better understand interactions and their potential policy implications in a given context. The analysis focused on three policy questions, and on interactions between eight targets from Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12–15 and the other 13 SDGs:
• Which environmental targets have the greatest potential to foster progress on the broader 2030 Agenda in the EU?
• What direct trade-offs and synergies with other SDGs could result from progress on environmental targets in the EU?
• What are indirect effects, across the network of SDGs, of making progress on environmental targets in the EU?
The project was intended primarily as a proof of concept – of applying SDG Synergies at a regional level, and of its potential usefulness for environmental policy-makers in the EU. This project report presents learning from applying the approach at a regional level, along with selected findings.
The report was commissioned by the EEA.
Project / SEI is piloting the SDG Synergies approach in Sri Lanka for coherent policy-making and implementation.
Project / This project will identify and characterise critical interactions between a selection of ‘environmental SDGs’ and all SDGs at target level and at EU level
SEI report / Learn from capacity-building activities on assessing interactions between sustainability targets.
SEI brief / Governments can use the new SDG Synergies approach to prioritize SDG targets and identify effective ways to achieve them.
Project / SEI is partnering with the UN Environment Programme to support the implementation of the environmental aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals in Colombia.
