Agenda 2030 Compass: A strategic decision-support tool grounded in the SDGs

The Agenda 2030 Compass is a proof-of-concept tool developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute, Jernkontoret, and Swedish steel producers to evaluate how strategic decisions impact the 17 SDGs. Unlike traditional SDG measurement, the Compass uses a future-oriented, cross-impact methodology to assess direct and indirect effects of new products or policies. Piloted through workshops with approximately 100 participants, the tool was used to compare options such as the use of metallurgic slags and the development of 'green' heavy-duty vehicles. The findings suggest the Swedish steel industry can significantly contribute to the 2030 Agenda and that the methodology is applicable across various industrial and government sectors.

• The Agenda 2030 Compass utilizes a future-oriented approach to assess the systemic effects of planned actions across all 17 SDGs, contrasting with common practices that focus on measuring progress for a few selected goals.
• The tool's methodology is based on a cross-impact process where participants identify affected SDGs, score impacts from +3 to -3, and then calculate dynamic effects across all goals based on expert assessments of SDG interactions.
• Piloting workshops involving about 100 stakeholders from industry, government, and academia demonstrated that the Swedish steel industry has significant potential to support the 2030 Agenda both in Sweden and globally through new processes and products.
• Although developed with the steel industry, the Compass methodology is designed to be applicable to any government or industrial sector, with a subsequent project starting in 2019 to develop a fully functional model for any actor.

APA

Hallding, K., & Blixt, E. (2020). Agenda 2030 Compass: A strategic decision-support tool grounded in the SDGs. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/sei-a2030-compass-decision-support.pdf

Chicago

Hallding, Karl, and Eva Blixt. Agenda 2030 Compass: A strategic decision-support tool grounded in the SDGs. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/sei-a2030-compass-decision-support.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hallding |first1=Karl |last2=Blixt |first2=Eva |title=Agenda 2030 Compass: A strategic decision-support tool grounded in the SDGs |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/sei-a2030-compass-decision-support.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hallding2020agenda, author = {Hallding, Karl and Blixt, Eva}, title = {{Agenda 2030 Compass: A strategic decision-support tool grounded in the SDGs}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/sei-a2030-compass-decision-support.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }