A hybrid approach to identifying and assessing interactions between climate action (SDG13) policies and a range of SDGs in a UK context

Abstract

In 2015 the United Nations drafted the Paris Agreement and established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for all nations. A question of increasing relevance is the extent to which the pursuit of climate action (SDG 13) interacts both positively and negatively with other SDGs. We tackle this question through a two-pronged approach: a novel, automated keyword search to identify linkages between SDGs and UK climate-relevant policies; and a detailed expert survey to evaluate these linkages through specific examples. We consider a particular subset of SDGs relating to health, economic growth, affordable and clean energy and sustainable cities and communities. Overall, we find that of the 89 UK climate-relevant policies assessed, most are particularly interlinked with the delivery of SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and that certain UK policies, like the Industrial Strategy and 25-Year Environment Plan, interlink with a wide range of SDGs. Focusing on these climate-relevant policies is therefore likely to deliver a wide range of synergies across SDGs 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 7, 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 11, 14 (Life Below Water) and 15 (Life on Land). The expert survey demonstrates that in addition to the range of mostly synergistic interlinkages identified in the keyword search, there are also important potential trade-offs to consider. Our analysis provides an important new toolkit for the research and policy communities to consider interactions between SDGs, which can be employed across a range of national and international contexts.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43621-021-00051-w.

Keywords: Climate action; Expert survey; Keyword search; SDG interactions; SDGs; Sustainable Development Goals.

Fig. 1

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. (Source: https://sdgs.un.org/goals)

Fig. 2

Flowchart outlining research methodology

Fig. 3

Nilsson scale for scoring interactions between the Sustainable Development Goals (adapted from McCollum et al. [12] with permission)

Fig. 4

Sankey diagram showing the frequency of SDG-relevant keywords in climate action policies and their distribution across UK administrations, departments and directorates, as determined by the keyword search

Fig. 5

Summary of SDG 13–3 positive (green) and negative (red) interactions and Nilsson scores provided by expert survey phase. Central number indicates average score

Fig. 6

Summary of SDG 13–8 positive (green) and negative (red) interactions and Nilsson scores provided by expert survey phase. Central numbers indicate average score