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The Design of Environmental Priorities in the SDGs

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  • Mark Elder
  • Simon Høiberg Olsen

Abstract

This article argues that the environment was extensively incorporated into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with broad and ambitious targets, reflecting environmental concerns throughout the SDGs. Many environment‐related targets – including some of the most important ones – were placed under ‘non‐environmental’ goals. The SDGs also adopted the view that economic growth can be made environmentally sustainable using ‘decoupling’ and ‘resource efficiency’ as key technological solutions. Governments rejected a more transformative objective ‘beyond GDP’, the concept of planetary boundaries, and strong implementation mechanisms. Most disappointing, the environmental elements in many targets were not included in indicators, or the indicators lacked ambition, or were watered down. Key factors in achieving the strong and integrated approach to environment and development at the level of goals and targets were: (1) the role of new ideas on the importance of the environment and an integrated approach to sustainable development which was promoted by the science and research community; (2) a group of norm entrepreneurs, who promoted these ideas; and (3) the institutional structure and working modalities of the Open Working Group (which drafted the text of the SDGs) whose special characteristics facilitated the final agreement. The dilution of the indicators resulted from a very different institutional structure and process with different actors and from the development focused legacy of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that had not resulted in sufficient capacity for thoroughly measuring environmental concerns.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Elder & Simon Høiberg Olsen, 2019. "The Design of Environmental Priorities in the SDGs," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 10(S1), pages 70-82, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:10:y:2019:i:s1:p:70-82
    DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.12596
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    Cited by:

    1. Frank Biermann & Thomas Hickmann & Carole-Anne Sénit & Marianne Beisheim & Steven Bernstein & Pamela Chasek & Leonie Grob & Rakhyun E. Kim & Louis J. Kotzé & Måns Nilsson & Andrea Ordóñez Llanos & Chu, 2022. "Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(9), pages 795-800, September.
    2. Peng Li & Zhen He & Jianwu Cai & Jing Zhang & Marye Belete & Jinsong Deng & Shizong Wang, 2022. "Identify the Impacts of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Watershed Sediment and Water Yields Dynamics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Pan, Wenjian & Du, Juan, 2021. "Towards sustainable urban transition: A critical review of strategies and policies of urban village renewal in Shenzhen, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Joseph Paul Lavallee & Bruno Di Giusto & Tai-Yi Yu & Su-Pin Hung, 2022. "Reliability and Validity of Widely Used International Surveys on the Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.
    5. Lena Partzsch, 2023. "Missing the SDGs: Political accountability for insufficient environmental action," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(3), pages 438-450, June.
    6. Halliki Kreinin & Ernest Aigner, 2022. "From “Decent work and economic growth” to “Sustainable work and economic degrowth”: a new framework for SDG 8," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 281-311, May.
    7. Krzysztof Kluza & Magdalena Zioło & Iwona Bąk & Anna Spoz, 2021. "Achieving Environmental Policy Objectives through the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. The Case for European Union Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-22, April.
    8. Thor Olav Iversen & Ola Westengen & Morten Jerven, 2023. "Measuring the end of hunger: Knowledge politics in the selection of SDG food security indicators," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1273-1286, September.
    9. Abdulkarim Hasan Rashed & Afzal Shah, 2021. "The role of private sector in the implementation of sustainable development goals," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 2931-2948, March.
    10. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    11. Matthias Winfried Kleespies & Paul Wilhelm Dierkes, 2022. "The importance of the Sustainable Development Goals to students of environmental and sustainability studies—a global survey in 41 countries," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. Fatin Aliah Phang & Anis Nadirah Roslan & Zainul Akmar Zakaria & Muhammad Abbas Ahmad Zaini & Jaysuman Pusppanathan & Corrienna Abdul Talib, 2022. "Environmental Awareness in Batik Making Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    13. Dmitry A. Ruban, 2022. "Analytical Review of Conjugation of the Ethical Bases of Artificial Intelligence Implementation and Ecologization in Corporate Governance," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 21(2), pages 390-418.
    14. Mark Elder & Gemma Ellis, 2023. "ASEAN countries’ environmental policies for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 10975-10993, October.
    15. Zhiqiang Zhao & Meng Cai & Thomas Connor & Min Gon Chung & Jianguo Liu, 2020. "Metacoupled Tourism and Wildlife Translocations Affect Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals across Spillover Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.

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