External publications

Universality, integration, and policy coherence for sustainable development: early SDG implementation in selected OECD countries

O’Connor, David / James Mackie / Daphne van Esveld / Hoseok Kim / Imme Scholz / Nina Weitz
External Publications (2016)

published on World Resources Institute (WRI)

This paper and the case studies on which it draws look at the challenges facing developed countries as they get to grips with the universality and integration of the SDGs. It examines how they are beginning to reevaluate domestic agendas in light of the new global goals, and to reshape those agendas and their domestic priorities in light of their endorsement of the 2030 Agenda. It is a study in early implementation practices, recognizing that these countries, like others, still have a long road to travel to make their economies and societies truly sustainable.
The paper uses the lens of “policy coherence for sustainable development,” which is one of the targets of SDG 17 on global partnership and means of implementation, to examine how well the countries studied—Germany, Korea, the Netherlands, and Sweden—are tackling the universality and integration challenges of the new agenda. Policy coherence considers not just the here and now of policies—how well they work together to address the multiple dimensions of wellbeing of the present generation—but also their global
ramifications, that is, the impacts on other countries of domestic policies and practices, and the degree to which policies address the interests of future generations.
This paper is one of the first to look at early experience with preparing for SDG implementation in the developed (OECD) countries. And it asks explicitly how those countries are looking beyond traditional development cooperation to what the SDGs mean for domestic policies across a broad range of sectors and policy areas.