Increasing policy coherence between NDCs and SDGs: a national perspective

The document analyzes policy coherence between the Paris Agreement's NDCs and the 2030 Agenda's SDGs in Germany, Kenya, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and the Philippines. It finds that while synergies exist, significant conflicts often emerge around energy transitions, economic growth, and inequality (SDG 10). These incoherencies are driven by institutional fragmentation, conflicting national ideologies, and vested interests. The authors argue that achieving both agendas requires moving beyond institutional fixes to address deep structural changes and political dynamics.

• SDG 10 (reduced inequality) consistently conflicts with other goals across all six studied countries, particularly during just energy transitions, poverty alleviation efforts linked to economic growth, or the implementation of fuel taxes that create urban-rural divides.
• The water-energy-land-food nexus is a primary source of both synergies and conflicts in all six countries, often intersecting with economic growth and poverty. Examples include competing water demands for irrigation and hydropower in Kenya and Sri Lanka, and conflicts between biofuel land use and food production in Sweden.
• Policy incoherence is driven by three interrelated factors: ideas (values and norms), institutions (organizational structures), and interests (material preferences and power). For example, in Germany, the cultural identity associated with coal employment creates barriers to just transition plans.
• Institutional fragmentation significantly hinders coherence. Sri Lanka's government is highly fragmented with 470 departments, and there is limited coordination between the Climate Change Secretariat and the Sustainable Development Council. Kenya also faces challenges with non-operational coordination structures for SDG implementation.
• Vested interests can block joint action on climate and development. In South Africa, the state-owned electric utility's reluctance to invest in renewables and trade unions' efforts to protect mining jobs prevent coherence between energy, jobs, and climate goals.

APA

Shawoo, Z., Dzebo, A., Hägele, R., Iacobuta, G., Chan, S., Muhoza, C., Osano, P., Francisco, M., Persson, Å., Linner, B.-O., & Vijge, M. J. (2020). Increasing policy coherence between NDCs and SDGs: a national perspective. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/increasing-policy-coherence-between-ndcs-and-sdgs-a-national-perspective.pdf

Chicago

Shawoo, Zoha, Adis Dzebo, Ramona Hägele, Gabriela Iacobuta, Sander Chan, Cassilde Muhoza, Philip Osano, et al. Increasing policy coherence between NDCs and SDGs: a national perspective. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/increasing-policy-coherence-between-ndcs-and-sdgs-a-national-perspective.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{shawoo2020increasing, author = {Shawoo, Zoha and Dzebo, Adis and Hägele, Ramona and Iacobuta, Gabriela and Chan, Sander and Muhoza, Cassilde and Osano, Philip and Francisco, Marie and Persson, Åsa and Linner, Björn-Ola and Vijge, Marjanneke J.}, title = {{Increasing policy coherence between NDCs and SDGs: a national perspective}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/increasing-policy-coherence-between-ndcs-and-sdgs-a-national-perspective.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }