Exploring connections between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This policy brief introduces the NDC-SDG Connections tool, developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the German Development Institute. The tool analyzes 161 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to identify synergies and overlaps between climate actions under the Paris Agreement and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.

• The NDC-SDG Connections tool was created by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) to analyze how climate actions contribute to the SDGs. The analysis disaggregated 161 NDCs into over 7,000 "activities," which were then coded against the 17 SDGs and 169 SDG targets.
• The strongest connections between NDCs and the SDGs are found in the sectors of water, food, and energy. Specifically, the SDGs linked most extensively to NDC activities are SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).
• There is a significant disparity in how different environmental SDGs are represented in NDC commitments. For instance, activities related to SDG 14 (Life Below Water) are four times less frequent than those related to SDG 15 (Life on Land).
• Social SDGs are under-represented in NDC commitments when compared to economic and environmental goals. The areas with the most room for improvement include health, education, and gender equality (SDGs 3, 4, and 5).
• Analysis of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) shows that climate-smart and sustainable agriculture is the highest priority, with target 2.4 (sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices) being the most frequently addressed target. Conversely, target 2.3 (doubling agricultural productivity for small-scale food producers) was not addressed in any of the studied NDCs.
• NDC activities often generate co-benefits across multiple SDGs, reinforcing the interlinked nature of sustainable development. For example, the theme of agriculture connects SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

APA

Dzebo, A., Brandi, C., Janetschek, H., Savvidou, G., Adams, K., Chan, S., & Lambert, C. (2017). Exploring connections between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PB-2017-NDC-SDG-Connections.pdf

Chicago

Dzebo, Adis, Clara Brandi, Hannah Janetschek, Georgia Savvidou, Kevin Adams, Stephanie Chan, and Claire Lambert. Exploring connections between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PB-2017-NDC-SDG-Connections.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{dzebo2017exploring, author = {Dzebo, Adis and Brandi, Clara and Janetschek, Hannah and Savvidou, Georgia and Adams, Kevin and Chan, Stephanie and Lambert, Claire}, title = {{Exploring connections between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PB-2017-NDC-SDG-Connections.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }