Nina Weitz

• Researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Operationalizing the indivisibility and integrated nature of the UN 2030 Agenda poses a complex governance challenge. Although research has advanced our understanding of SDG localization and interlinkages, important gaps remain. In this paper, we depart from these two strands of literature by asking how synergies and trade-offs manifest in localize...

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 an...

The 2030 Agenda states that the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) make parts of an indivisible whole, and research on SDG implementation highlights how managing goal interactions—synergies and trade‐offs—is key for implementation to be successful. Here, we present an empirically based and transparent method for developing “consistent scenario...

Increased systems thinking capacity—that is, the capacity to consider systemic effects of policies and actions—is necessary for translating knowledge on Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) interactions into practice. Various models and tools that seek to support more evidence-based policy-making have been developed with the purpose of exploring s...

Background: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are integrated, indivisible and interdependent and interact and affect each other directly and indirectly. However, the 2030 Agenda does not attempt to identify or characterise these interactions. Evidence: The SDG Synergies approach was developed to enable the investigation of the strength and n...

Cities are vital for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), but different local strategies to advance on the same SDG may cause different ‘spillovers’ elsewhere. Research efforts that support governance of such spillovers are urgently needed to empower ambitious cities to ‘account globally’ when acting locally on SDG implementation stra...

Local SDG action is imperative to reach the 2030 Agenda, but different strategies for progressing on one SDG locally may cause different 'spillovers' on the same and other SDGs beyond local and national borders. We call for research efforts to empower local authorities to 'account globally' when acting locally.

The 2030 Agenda includes 17 overarching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are integrated in nature, and a principle of indivisibility should guide their implementation. Yet, the 2030 Agenda itself does not provide guidance on what indivisibility means in practice, how the SDGs interact, or on how to assess these interactions. The fast-eme...

This article introduces a suggested comprehensive framework for identifying, assessing and governing trade-offs and enhancing coherence in public policy decision-making. The framework is based on a simple three-stage model of policy-making: understanding policy interactions (input), integrating policy-making (process), and assessing ex ante policy...

Sverige ses som ledande både i hållbarhetsarbetet och vad gäller satsningar på forskning och innovation, och har därmed en möjlighet att ta en global ledarroll för att stimulera forskningensnyttiggörande och aktiva bidrag till Agenda 2030 och de sjutton hållbarhetsmålen. I den här rapporten bidrar vi med ett underlag för att förstå viktiga forsknin...

How the sustainable development goals (SDGs) interact with each other has emerged as a key question in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, as it has potentially strong implications for prioritization of actions and their effectiveness. So far, analysis of interactions has been very basic, typically starting from one SDG, counting the number of i...

In Kenya, as in many Sub-Saharan African countries, ‘clean cookstoves’ are promoted as a solution to various health, environmental and livelihood challenges. After decades of programs, there is a need to better understand if clean cookstoves are really transforming household energy use, and if not why not. Combining theory from Technological Innova...

The water-energy-food nexus has become a popular concept in environmental change research and policy debates. Proponents suggest that a nexus approach promotes policy coherence through identifying optimal policy mixes and governance arrangements across the water, energy and food sectors. Although the nexus literature identifies some barriers to ach...

Follow-up and review arrangements will play a critical role in ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are effectively implemented, much of which will need to happen at the national level. This article examines the nature of commitments that countries have made and if follow-up and review arrangements currently planned are consistent...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intended as the reference point for international development until 2030. Most of the targets are, implicitly or explicitly, global; to be reached by concerted international action. But in contrast to the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs cannot be achieved without far-reaching change in domestic po...

This report presents a study of the impacts of the Makeni Project, in Sierra Leone, on local communities, in the context of the country’s development priorities.

In 2014, SEI and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) carried out a study assessing the degree of alignment between national, regional and global priorities for the SDGs and post-2015 period. This report presents the findings and highlights gaps in both the scope and implementation of current policies, which would need to be addr...

The provision of sanitation facilities – a basic necessity for human health, well-being, dignity, and development – remains a mammoth challenge for developing countries where the vast majority of the 2.5 billion people without improved sanitation facilities reside. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is one of the regions where decent, dignified, and function...

While the MDGs aimed to lift people out of poverty, the SDGs aim to keep them out of poverty by ensuring that development is both socially and environmentally sustainable. To achieve this, a “nexus” approach that integrates goals across sectors, makes the SDGs more cost-effective and efficient, reduces the risk that SDG actions will undermine one a...