Unleashing Policy Coherence to Achieve the SDGs

1. Background

1.1. History and context

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (“2030 Agenda”) adopted by all United Nations (UN) Member States in 2015 calls for enhancing policy coherence. The 2030 Agenda states that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are indivisible, and that they balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It also calls for no one to be left behind. To help make progress toward this balance, the SDGs include Target 17.14, which calls on all countries to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) as an essential means of implementation for all the SDGs.

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the OECD has been working on aligning its approaches to policy coherence with the principles and integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. It has developed tools and guidance for implementation in collaboration with the European Union, the UN and its specialised agencies, and other stakeholders. Notably, it is collaborating with the UN Environment Programme and OECD Members to develop methodologies for tracking progress on policy coherence at the global and national levels. In this context and to respond to the growing demand by OECD Members and non-Members to deal with the “how” of coherent 2030 Agenda implementation, the OECD Council in 2019 adopted the revised Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development [OECD/LEGAL/0381] (hereafter “the Recommendation”).

1.2. Purpose and scope of the Recommendation

The Recommendation provides Adherents (the Members and non-Members having adhered to the Recommendation)1 with a comprehensive standard to equip policy-makers with the necessary mechanisms and tools to address economic, social and environmental priorities in an integrated manner. The primary focus is on the enablers that are essential to improve governments’ ability to implement complex and integrated agendas, notably the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.

The Recommendation then sets out eight principles structured around three main pillars. Specifically, it recommends that Adherents: 1) develop a strategic vision for achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in an integrated and coherent manner; 2) develop effective and inclusive institutional mechanisms to address policy interactions across sectors and align actions among levels of government; and 3) develop a set of responsive tools to anticipate, assess and address domestic, transboundary and long-term impacts of policies to advance SDGs.

Figure 1.1. Eight principles for enhancing PCSD

Source: (OECD/EC-JRC, 2021[1])

The eight principles and related actions refer to institutional structures, policy-making processes as well as working methods in public administrations, which have proven conducive to higher degrees of policy coherence in governments from different political and administrative traditions. They are mutually supportive and the Recommendation outlines efforts and actions that should be made in each area in order to enhance PCSD:

Box 1.1. 3 Pillars and 8 Principles of the Recommendation

I. Strategic vision for implementing the 2030 Agenda underpinned by a clear political commitment and leadership to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development.

1. Building a strong, inclusive political commitment and leadership at the highest political level;

2. Defining, implementing and communicating a strategic long-term vision that supports policy coherence; and

3. Improving policy integration to better incorporate sustainable development into policy and finance.

II. Effective and inclusive institutional and governance mechanisms to address policy interactions across sectors and align actions between levels of government.

4. Ensuring whole-of-government co-ordination to identify and mitigate divergences between sectoral priorities and policies;

5. Engaging appropriately sub-national levels of government in areas where they have a role in policy co-ordination to promote co-ordinated actions; and

6. Engaging stakeholders effectively to sustain broader support for PCSD and its implementation.

III. A set of responsive and adaptive tools to anticipate, assess and address domestic, transboundary and long-term impacts of policies.

7. Analysing and assessing policy and financing impacts; and

8. Strengthening monitoring, reporting and evaluation systems to collect qualitative and quantitative evidence on this impact of policies and financing, and report progress on PCSD.

Source: OECD, Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, OECD/LEGAL/0381

Recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to PCSD when implementing the Recommendation, Adherents are encouraged to adapt their actions in a way that matches their specific national realities.

1.3. An overview of developments

The current global context of multiple, overlapping crises has underscored the need to strengthen whole-of-government approaches to managing systemic challenges, including through greater policy coherence. Years of sustainable development gains are being reversed. At the midpoint of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is falling short of meeting most of the SDGs by 2030. Recent findings from the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Report (2023) indicate that incremental and fragmented change is insufficient to achieve the 2030 Agenda and SDGs, but also that the potential for making simultaneous progress on the goals is high and not yet fully tapped.  The UN report states that, given the diversity of the SDGs and their specific targets, an integrated and coherent approach to implementation is critical.

There is also a growing expectation that OECD policies consider the effects on non-Members. Given the broad array of tools and policy levers that OECD policy work covers – for example, on public governance, regulatory policy, taxation, trade, artificial intelligence and digitalisation, agriculture, and climate finance and the environment – the OECD and its Member countries have a critical role in identifying and supporting progress on the SDGs based on their mutual interest in global stability.

A renewed recommitment to accelerated, sustained and transformative action for sustainable transformation will be critical to create the conditions in which implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can more readily be achieved.

1.4. Purpose of the Report

This Report provides an overview of the implementation and dissemination of the Recommendation across Adherents based on collected data, as well as conclusions regarding its continued relevance.

References

[1] OECD/EC-JRC (2021), Understanding the Spillovers and Transboundary Impacts of Public Policies: Implementing the 2030 Agenda for More Resilient Societies, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Union, Brussels, https://doi.org/10.1787/862c0db7-en.

Note

← 1.  Currently all OECD Members as well as Romania. Current OECD Members: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States.