The Politics of Coherence

This executive summary from the Stockholm Environment Institute examines policy coherence between the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030, drawing on research from nine countries. It argues that incoherence is driven by power asymmetries, vested interests, and the prioritization of economic growth over social and environmental goals, rather than simple coordination failures.

• Policy objectives are generally synergistic across all studied contexts, but incoherence persists because it is driven by dominant discourses, power asymmetries, and vested interests rather than a lack of coordination.
• The prioritization of economic growth over social and environmental objectives is the primary driver of incoherence across all income levels, and fossil-fuel interests contribute to incoherence in every country case studied with significant fossil-fuel dependence.
• Incoherence disproportionately burdens vulnerable groups, while elites capture the benefits. Furthermore, coherence is not inherently a neutral good; for example, Colombia's Operation Artemis demonstrated a highly coordinated anti-deforestation policy that resulted in the militarization of enforcement against rural Amazonian and Indigenous communities.
• Regarding global architecture, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are described as partial development plans where climate pledges directly impact SDG progress. While Climate ODA aligns with NDC priorities at the SDG level, it does not do so at the target level, and this alignment has not improved since the Paris Agreement.
• A post-2030 framework should transition from discussing 'synergies' to addressing distributional consequences and trade-offs. It requires ratchet mechanisms and legally anchored commitments to ensure durability across political cycles, as well as accountability for cross-border spillovers.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2026). The Politics of Coherence. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-politics-of-coherence/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. The Politics of Coherence. 2026. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-politics-of-coherence/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=The Politics of Coherence |date=19 May 2026 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/the-politics-of-coherence/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2026politics, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{The Politics of Coherence}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/the-politics-of-coherence/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }