Guidelines for Operationalizing Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) as a Methodology for the Design and Implementation of Sustainable Development Strategies

Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) is considered a pillar of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. It aims to promote whole of government approaches to sustainable development. Despite its prominence in development cooperation discussions, many national development professionals or stakeholders have not heard of PCD, indicating that its effectiveness is significantly limited. This article contends that the impact of PCD has not been maximized because it has been presented as a political objective or a policy tool by multilateral organizations and their member states. Instead, the article argues that PCD should be implemented as a methodology that can be adopted by domestic government and non-governmental actors alike, in order to understand trade-offs and co-benefits within and between policy sectors, thus promoting a participative approach. I-GAMMA is a research project in Mexico that examines data-driven public policy in order to promote PCD. It is based on in-depth reviews of policy documents and interviews with development actors. It is committed to open data, evidence-based policymaking, and collaborative dialogue between academics, government officials, and representatives of civil society organizations in sustainable development discussions. In the results section of this article, the project proposes participative PCD as a methodology for policy analysis through which a plurality of actors can identify mechanisms that either reinforce or undermine sustainable development strategies. This section then applies the methodology to the governance of protected natural areas in Mexico. The discussion section and the conclusions highlight the relevance of this approach for participative policymaking in sustainable development.