IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v30y2022i5p916-926.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Sustainable Development Goals interlinkages influence European Union countries’ progress towards the 2030 Agenda

Author

Listed:
  • Mariia Kostetckaia
  • Markus Hametner

Abstract

The analysis of interlinkages between the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the assessment of countries' progress towards the goals are two prominent research areas in the debate around the 2030 Agenda. The central questions are whether countries are progressing towards the goals at sufficient speed, and whether the SDGs can be achieved in their entirety. While it is evident that trade‐offs between the 2030 Agenda's objectives might prevent countries from achieving all 17 SDGs simultaneously, the extent to which interactions (synergies and trade‐offs) between the goals facilitate or hinder countries' progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda has so far received little attention. The present study combines the two topics by linking the analysis of synergies and trade‐offs between the SDGs in the European Union (EU) member states with a longitudinal assessment of these countries' progress towards the goals. SDG interlinkages are assessed through Spearman's rank order correlation, while progress is calculated according to Eurostat's progress measure. Using regression analysis, we find a significant negative relationship between countries' progress and the shares of trade‐offs among SDG indicators and a moderate positive relationship between progress and synergies, suggesting that trade‐offs have a bigger influence on the pace of countries' progress towards the goals than synergies. In order to achieve the SDGs by 2030, it is thus crucial to not only exploit synergies between the goals but also to overcome trade‐offs.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariia Kostetckaia & Markus Hametner, 2022. "How Sustainable Development Goals interlinkages influence European Union countries’ progress towards the 2030 Agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 916-926, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:30:y:2022:i:5:p:916-926
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2290
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2290
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2290?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. Paolo Pasimeni, 2013. "The Europe 2020 Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 613-635, January.
    2. Pasimeni, Paolo, 2011. "Measuring Europe 2020: a new tool to assess the strategy," MPRA Paper 53508, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Mar 2012.
    3. Evropi‐Sofia Dalampira & Stefanos A. Nastis, 2020. "Mapping Sustainable Development Goals: A network analysis framework," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 46-55, January.
    4. Hauke Jan & Kossowski Tomasz, 2011. "Comparison of Values of Pearson's and Spearman's Correlation Coefficients on the Same Sets of Data," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 30(2), pages 87-93, June.
    5. Jason Hickel & Giorgos Kallis, 2020. "Is Green Growth Possible?," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 469-486, June.
    6. Joachim H. Spangenberg, 2017. "Hot Air or Comprehensive Progress? A Critical Assessment of the SDGs," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 311-321, July.
    7. Thomas Wiedmann & Manfred Lenzen & Lorenz T. Keyßer & Julia K. Steinberger, 2020. "Scientists’ warning on affluence," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    9. Daniel W. O’Neill & Andrew L. Fanning & William F. Lamb & Julia K. Steinberger, 2018. "A good life for all within planetary boundaries," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(2), pages 88-95, February.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Miola, Apollonia & Schiltz, Fritz, 2019. "Measuring sustainable development goals performance: How to monitor policy action in the 2030 Agenda implementation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    13. Biggeri, Mario & Clark, David A. & Ferrannini, Andrea & Mauro, Vincenzo, 2019. "Tracking the SDGs in an ‘integrated’ manner: A proposal for a new index to capture synergies and trade-offs between and within goals," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 628-647.
    14. 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.
    15. Jason Hickel, 2019. "The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 873-884, September.
    16. Prerna Jain & Pragati Jain, 2020. "Are the Sustainable Development Goals really sustainable? A policy perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1642-1651, November.
    17. Reinhard Steurer & Markus Hametner, 2013. "Objectives and Indicators in Sustainable Development Strategies: Similarities and Variances across Europe," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 224-241, July.
    18. 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.
    19. Kristin Linnerud & Erling Holden & Morten Simonsen, 2021. "Closing the sustainable development gap: A global study of goal interactions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 738-753, July.
    20. Mehmet Çolak & Aylin Ege, 2013. "An Assessment of EU 2020 Strategy: Too Far to Reach?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 659-680, January.
    21. Guillaume Lafortune & Grayson Fuller & Guido Schmidt-Traub & Christian Kroll, 2020. "How Is Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Measured? Comparing Four Approaches for the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    22. Hametner, Markus & Kostetckaia, Mariia, 2020. "Frontrunners and laggards: How fast are the EU member states progressing towards the sustainable development goals?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    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. Idiano D'Adamo & Massimo Gastaldi & Ilhan Ozturk, 2023. "The sustainable development of mobility in the green transition: Renewable energy, local industrial chain, and battery recycling," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 840-852, April.
    2. Tadashi Hirai, 2022. "A balancing act between economic growth and sustainable development: Historical trajectory through the lens of development indicators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1900-1910, December.
    3. Rosa Puertas & Luisa Marti, 2023. "Regional analysis of the sustainable development of two Mediterranean countries: Spain and Italy," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 797-811, April.
    4. Rita Nerland & Heidi Rapp Nilsen & Bjørn Andersen, 2023. "Biosphere‐based sustainability in local governments: Sustainable development goal interactions and indicators for policymaking," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 39-55, February.

    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. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    2. Patricia Urban & Markus Hametner, 2022. "The Economy–Environment Nexus: Sustainable Development Goals Interlinkages in Austria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-25, September.
    3. Hametner, Markus & Kostetckaia, Mariia, 2020. "Frontrunners and laggards: How fast are the EU member states progressing towards the sustainable development goals?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    4. Rita Nerland & Heidi Rapp Nilsen & Bjørn Andersen, 2023. "Biosphere‐based sustainability in local governments: Sustainable development goal interactions and indicators for policymaking," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 39-55, February.
    5. Yizhong Huan & Lingqing Wang & Mark Burgman & Haitao Li & Yurong Yu & Jianpeng Zhang & Tao Liang, 2022. "A multi‐perspective composite assessment framework for prioritizing targets of sustainable development goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 833-847, October.
    6. 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.
    7. Rosa Puertas & Luisa Marti, 2023. "Regional analysis of the sustainable development of two Mediterranean countries: Spain and Italy," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 797-811, April.
    8. Anne Warchold & Prajal Pradhan & Pratibha Thapa & Muhammad Panji Islam Fajar Putra & Jürgen P. Kropp, 2022. "Building a unified sustainable development goal database: Why does sustainable development goal data selection matter?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1278-1293, October.
    9. 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.
    10. Marianela Carrillo, 2022. "Measuring Progress towards Sustainability in the European Union within the 2030 Agenda Framework," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, June.
    11. Min Cao & Min Chen & Junze Zhang & Prajal Pradhan & Huadong Guo & Bojie Fu & Yue Li & Yuying Bai & Lijiao Chang & Yu Chen & Zhongchang Sun & Zhenci Xu & Rui Zhu & Michael E. Meadows & Guonian Lü, 2023. "Spatio-temporal changes in the causal interactions among Sustainable Development Goals in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. Castro, Damaris & Bleys, Brent, 2023. "Do people think they have enough? A subjective income sufficiency assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    13. Javier García López & Raffaele Sisto & Javier Benayas & Álvaro de Juanes & Julio Lumbreras & Carlos Mataix, 2021. "Assessment of the Results and Methodology of the Sustainable Development Index for Spanish Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, June.
    14. Kristin Linnerud & Erling Holden & Morten Simonsen, 2021. "Closing the sustainable development gap: A global study of goal interactions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 738-753, July.
    15. Marek Walesiak & Grażyna Dehnel & Marek Obrębalski, 2021. "Assessment of the Europe 2020 Strategy: A Multidimensional Indicator Analysis via Dynamic Relative Taxonomy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Belmonte-Ureña, Luis Jesús & Plaza-Úbeda, José Antonio & Vazquez-Brust, Diego & Yakovleva, Natalia, 2021. "Circular economy, degrowth and green growth as pathways for research on sustainable development goals: A global analysis and future agenda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    17. Wenwu Zhao & Caichun Yin & Ting Hua & Michael E. Meadows & Yan Li & Yanxu Liu & Francesco Cherubini & Paulo Pereira & Bojie Fu, 2022. "Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the post-pandemic era," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    18. Aneta Parsonsova & Ivo Machar, 2021. "National Limits of Sustainability: The Czech Republic’s CO 2 Emissions in the Perspective of Planetary Boundaries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, February.
    19. Barnabé Walheer, 2019. "Disentangling Heterogeneity Gaps and Pure Performance Differences in Composite Indexes Over Time: The Case of the Europe 2020 Strategy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 25-45, May.
    20. Teun Wolters, 2022. "Why is ecological sustainability so difficult to achieve? An in‐context discussion of conceptual barriers," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 2025-2039, December.

    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:30:y:2022:i:5:p:916-926. 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.