IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v28y2020i5p1269-1278.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cherry‐picking the Sustainable Development Goals: Goal prioritization by national governments and implications for global governance

Author

Listed:
  • Oana Forestier
  • Rakhyun E. Kim

Abstract

The member states of the United Nations collectively agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as equally important global objectives. Yet the same states seem to prioritize certain SDGs in national implementation. Such cherry‐picking defies the “integrated and indivisible” nature of the SDGs, and could negatively impact overall progress on sustainable development globally. Which SDGs receive more attention than the others in national policies, and what implications can we draw for global governance? We address these questions in two parts. Through a content analysis of the Voluntary National Reviews of 19 countries of varying income levels, we find that SDGs 1 and 8 on poverty eradication and economic growth are by far most widely prioritized. We then look specifically into Bhutan and Vietnam to explore possible explanations for goal prioritization as well as the potential steering effects of international organizations on their national policies. The findings have important policy implications for global governance. We argue that the High‐level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in particular, has an important role to play to better coordinate international organizations to help mitigate unhealthy goal prioritization.

Suggested Citation

  • Oana Forestier & Rakhyun E. Kim, 2020. "Cherry‐picking the Sustainable Development Goals: Goal prioritization by national governments and implications for global governance," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1269-1278, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:28:y:2020:i:5:p:1269-1278
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2082
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2082?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. André Broome & Leonard Seabrooke, 2012. "Seeing like an International Organisation," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16.
    2. Måns Nilsson & Dave Griggs & Martin Visbeck, 2016. "Policy: Map the interactions between Sustainable Development Goals," Nature, Nature, vol. 534(7607), pages 320-322, June.
    3. Kenneth W. Abbott & Steven Bernstein, 2015. "The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development: Orchestration by Default and Design," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 6(3), pages 222-233, September.
    4. Sakiko Fukuda‐Parr & Desmond McNeill, 2019. "Knowledge and Politics in Setting and Measuring the SDGs: Introduction to Special Issue," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 10(S1), pages 5-15, January.
    5. United Nations, 2016. "The Sustainable Development Goals 2016," Working Papers id:11456, eSocialSciences.
    6. Dorji Yangka & Peter Newman & Vanessa Rauland & Peter Devereux, 2018. "Sustainability in an Emerging Nation: The Bhutan Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, May.
    7. Casey Stevens & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "The transformative potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 393-396, June.
    8. Horn, Philipp & Grugel, Jean, 2018. "The SDGs in middle-income countries: Setting or serving domestic development agendas? Evidence from Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 73-84.
    9. Mark Elder & Magnus Bengtsson & Lewis Akenji, 2016. "An Optimistic Analysis of the Means of Implementation for Sustainable Development Goals: Thinking about Goals as Means," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-24, September.
    10. Christian Kroll & Anne Warchold & Prajal Pradhan, 2019. "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Are we successful in turning trade-offs into synergies?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. David Griggs & Mark Stafford-Smith & Owen Gaffney & Johan Rockström & Marcus C. Öhman & Priya Shyamsundar & Will Steffen & Gisbert Glaser & Norichika Kanie & Ian Noble, 2013. "Sustainable development goals for people and planet," Nature, Nature, vol. 495(7441), pages 305-307, March.
    12. Malcolm Langford, 2010. "A Poverty of Rights: Six Ways to Fix the MDGs," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 83-91, January.
    13. David Lusseau & Francesca Mancini, 2019. "Income-based variation in Sustainable Development Goal interaction networks," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(3), pages 242-247, March.
    14. Rahman, Md Saifur & Sadath, Md. Nazmus & Giessen, Lukas, 2016. "Foreign donors driving policy change in recipient countries: Three decades of development aid towards community-based forest policy in Bangladesh," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 39-53.
    15. Erling Holden & Kristin Linnerud & David Banister, 2017. "The Imperatives of Sustainable Development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 213-226, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ryan Wong & Jeroen van der Heijden, 2022. "How does symbolic commitment strengthen the resilience of sustainability institutions? Exploring the role of bureaucrats in Germany, Finland, and the UK," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 10-22, February.
    2. 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.
    3. Ojutkangas, Kirsi & Rossi, Elina & Matinmikko-Blue, Marja, 2022. "A deep dive into the birth process of linking 6G and the UN SDGs," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    4. Vélez-Torres, Irene & Vanegas, Diana, 2022. "Contentious environmental governance in polluted gold mining geographies: The case of La Toma, Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Cameron Allen & Graciela Metternicht & Thomas Wiedmann, 2021. "Priorities for science to support national implementation of the sustainable development goals: A review of progress and gaps," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 635-652, July.
    6. Ana Raquel Nunes, 2023. "Mapping interactions between sustainable development and heatwave resilience," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 12707-12733, November.
    7. Jason Phillips, 2024. "Quantifying the levels, nature, and dynamics of sustainability for the UK 2000–2018 from a Brundtland perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 17905-17939, July.
    8. Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Laida Urbieta & Olivier Boiral, 2022. "Organizations' engagement with sustainable development goals: From cherry‐picking to SDG‐washing?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 316-328, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Myriam Pham‐Truffert & Florence Metz & Manuel Fischer & Henri Rueff & Peter Messerli, 2020. "Interactions among Sustainable Development Goals: Knowledge for identifying multipliers and virtuous cycles," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1236-1250, September.
    2. David Tremblay & François Fortier & Jean‐François Boucher & Olivier Riffon & Claude Villeneuve, 2020. "Sustainable development goal interactions: An analysis based on the five pillars of the 2030 agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1584-1596, November.
    3. 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.
    4. Judith M. Ament & Robin Freeman & Chris Carbone & Anna Vassall & Charlotte Watts, 2020. "An Empirical Analysis of Synergies and Tradeoffs between Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-12, October.
    5. Anne Warchold & Prajal Pradhan & Jürgen P. Kropp, 2021. "Variations in sustainable development goal interactions: Population, regional, and income disaggregation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 285-299, March.
    6. Keith R. Skene, 2021. "No goal is an island: the implications of systems theory for the Sustainable Development Goals," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 9993-10012, July.
    7. Paul Mansell & Simon P. Philbin & Efrosyni Konstantinou, 2020. "Redefining the Use of Sustainable Development Goals at the Organisation and Project Levels—A Survey of Engineers," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-39, August.
    8. Jan Anton van Zanten & Rob van Tulder, 2021. "Improving companies' impacts on sustainable development: A nexus approach to the SDGS," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3703-3720, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Ana Raquel Nunes, 2023. "Mapping interactions between sustainable development and heatwave resilience," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 12707-12733, November.
    11. Huijuan Xiao & Yue Liu & Jingzheng Ren, 2023. "Synergies and trade‐offs across sustainable development goals: A novel method incorporating indirect interactions analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 1135-1148, April.
    12. David Horan, 2022. "Towards a Portfolio Approach: Partnerships for Sustainable Transformations," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(1), pages 160-170, February.
    13. Seong-Kyu Kim & Jun-Ho Huh, 2020. "Blockchain of Carbon Trading for UN Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-32, May.
    14. Wenmei Fei & Alex Opoku & Kofi Agyekum & James Anthony Oppon & Vian Ahmed & Charles Chen & Ka Leung Lok, 2021. "The Critical Role of the Construction Industry in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Delivering Projects for the Common Good," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    15. 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.
    16. Pascual Berrone & Joan Enric Ricart & Ana Isabel Duch & Valeria Bernardo & Jordi Salvador & Juan Piedra Peña & Miquel Rodríguez Planas, 2019. "EASIER: An Evaluation Model for Public–Private Partnerships Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, April.
    17. Siegel, Karen M. & Bastos Lima, Mairon G., 2020. "When international sustainability frameworks encounter domestic politics: The sustainable development goals and agri-food governance in South America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar & Mahesti Okitasari & Md. Rajibul Ahsan & Abul Quasem Al-Amin, 2022. "Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh: An Inclusive Framework under Local Governments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, August.
    19. Gyula Dörgő & Viktor Sebestyén & János Abonyi, 2018. "Evaluating the Interconnectedness of the Sustainable Development Goals Based on the Causality Analysis of Sustainability Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-26, October.
    20. Ingrid Boas & Frank Biermann & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "Cross-sectoral strategies in global sustainability governance: towards a nexus approach," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 449-464, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:28:y:2020:i:5:p:1269-1278. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.