IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-28351-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accounting for interactions between Sustainable Development Goals is essential for water pollution control in China

Author

Listed:
  • Mengru Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Wageningen University & Research)

  • Annette B. G. Janssen

    (Wageningen University & Research)

  • Jeanne Bazin

    (Wageningen University & Research)

  • Maryna Strokal

    (Wageningen University & Research)

  • Lin Ma

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Carolien Kroeze

    (Wageningen University & Research)

Abstract

Meeting the United Nations’ (UN’s) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become a worldwide mission. How these SDGs interrelate, however, is not well known. We assess the interactions between SDGs for the case of water pollution by nutrients in China. The results show 319 interactions between SDGs for clean water (SDGs 6 and 14) and other SDGs, of which 286 are positive (synergies) and 33 are negative (tradeoffs) interactions. We analyze six scenarios in China accounting for the cobenefits of water pollution control using a large-scale water quality model. We consider scenarios that benefit from synergies and avoid tradeoffs. Our results show that effective pollution control requires accounting for the interactions between SDGs. For instance, combining improved nutrient management, efficient food consumption, and climate mitigation is effective for simultaneously meeting SDGs 6 and 14 as well as other SDGs for food, cities and climate. Our study serves as an example of assessing SDG interactions in environmental policies in China as well as in other regions of the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Mengru Wang & Annette B. G. Janssen & Jeanne Bazin & Maryna Strokal & Lin Ma & Carolien Kroeze, 2022. "Accounting for interactions between Sustainable Development Goals is essential for water pollution control in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-28351-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28351-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28351-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-28351-3?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. Robin Naidoo & Brendan Fisher, 2020. "Reset Sustainable Development Goals for a pandemic world," Nature, Nature, vol. 583(7815), pages 198-201, July.
    2. Lan Xue & Lingfei Weng & Hanzhi Yu, 2018. "Addressing policy challenges in implementing Sustainable Development Goals through an adaptive governance approach: A view from transitional China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 150-158, March.
    3. ChaoQing Yu & Xiao Huang & Han Chen & H. Charles J. Godfray & Jonathon S. Wright & Jim W. Hall & Peng Gong & ShaoQiang Ni & ShengChao Qiao & GuoRui Huang & YuChen Xiao & Jie Zhang & Zhao Feng & XiaoTa, 2019. "Managing nitrogen to restore water quality in China," Nature, Nature, vol. 567(7749), pages 516-520, March.
    4. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    5. Wang, Mengru & Ma, Lin & Strokal, Maryna & Chu, Yanan & Kroeze, Carolien, 2018. "Exploring nutrient management options to increase nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies in food production of China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 58-72.
    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. Huijuan Xiao & Yue Liu & Jingzheng Ren, 2023. "Synergies and trade‐offs across sustainable development goals: A novel method incorporating indirect interactions analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 1135-1148, April.
    2. Penglong Wang & Xiao Yu & Bingxin Xu & Qinhua Wang & Xuhong Wei & Bao Wang & Xueyan Zhao & Feng Gao, 2025. "Interactions Between SDG 6 and Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study from Chenzhou City, China’s Sustainable Development Agenda Innovation Demonstration Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, April.
    3. Ronald Tenywa & Timothy Omara & Gerald Kwikiriza & Christopher Angiro & Emmanuel Ntambi, 2024. "Spring Water Quality in a Flood-Prone Area of Kampala City, Uganda: Insights Furnished by Sanitary and Limnochemical Data," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Iwona Bąk & Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła, 2024. "Urban Development and Sustainable Energy in EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Ze, Fu & Wong, Wing-Keung & Alhasan, Tariq kamal & Al Shraah, Ata & Ali, Anis & Muda, Iskandar, 2023. "Economic development, natural resource utilization, GHG emissions and sustainable development: A case study of China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Yu, Rong & Li, Jianhong, 2024. "Does fintech influence sustainable development under natural resource constraints: insights from 270 Chinese cities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Jing Yang & Lei Gao & Qi Liu & Zhaoxia Guo, 2024. "Assessing environmental impacts of response strategies for sustainable food system transformation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 2435-2453, June.
    8. Zhang, Han & Zheng, Jinhui & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Zhao, Shikuan & Bouri, Elie, 2024. "How does urban land use efficiency improve resource and environment carrying capacity?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Mengru Wang & Benjamin Leon Bodirsky & Rhodé Rijneveld & Felicitas Beier & Mirjam P. Bak & Masooma Batool & Bram Droppers & Alexander Popp & Michelle T. H. Vliet & Maryna Strokal, 2024. "A triple increase in global river basins with water scarcity due to future pollution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Hongshuai Wang & Yongheng Yang, 2025. "Measuring and Monitoring Provincial Sustainable Development Goals in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 415-472, January.
    12. Jun Zhao & Guohua Fang & Xue Wang & Huayu Zhong, 2024. "Joint Optimization of Urban Water Quantity and Quality Allocation in the Plain River Network Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-17, February.
    13. Meiqian Chen & Lei Gao & Zhaoxia Guo & Yucheng Dong & Enayat A. Moallemi & Yinfeng Xu & Ke Li & Wenhao Lin & Jing Yang & Weijun Xu & Matteo Pedercini & Brett A. Bryan, 2024. "A cost-effective climate mitigation pathway for China with co-benefits for sustainability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Yuanhui Wang & Changqing Song & Peichao Gao, 2024. "Quantification of systemic importance of SDGs in Asian‐African countries: A network hierarchy analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3133-3146, August.
    15. Rongrong Li & Haixin Zhang & Yali Hou & Lingyan Gao & Dake Chu & Mingming Zhang, 2025. "Metallacage-crosslinked free-standing supramolecular networks via photo-induced copolymerization for photocatalytic water decontamination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Xinbei Huang & Chengming Ye & Hongyu Tao & Junjie Zou & Yuzhan Zhou & Shufan Zheng, 2024. "Integrating Future Multi-Scenarios to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Ecological Restoration: A Case Study of the Yellow River Basin," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, July.
    17. Safa Baccour & Gerwin Goelema & Taher Kahil & Jose Albiac & Michelle T. H. Vliet & Xueqin Zhu & Maryna Strokal, 2024. "Water quality management could halve future water scarcity cost-effectively in the Pearl River Basin," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    18. Huijuan Xiao & Sheng Bao & Jingzheng Ren & Zhenci Xu & Song Xue & Jianguo Liu, 2024. "Global transboundary synergies and trade-offs among Sustainable Development Goals from an integrated sustainability perspective," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    19. Jiayi Hua & Rachael Z. Cooper & Pablo K. Cornejo & Sarina J. Ergas & Qiong Zhang, 2024. "A Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Evaluating Strategies to Prevent Nutrient Pollution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-13, June.
    20. Muhammad Adnan & Baohua Xiao & Peiwen Xiao & Peng Zhao & Shaheen Bibi, 2022. "Heavy Metal, Waste, COVID-19, and Rapid Industrialization in This Modern Era—Fit for Sustainable Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    21. Mengxuan Yan & Yuhong Tian & Lizhu Wu & Huichao Zheng, 2024. "Analyzing the Spatiotemporal Pattern and Interaction of SDGs for Sustainable Development in Inner Mongolia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-22, August.
    22. You Li & Huan Tao & Hongying Cao & Xiaoming Wan & Xiaoyong Liao, 2024. "Achieving synergistic benefits through integrated governance of cultivated cadmium contamination via multistakeholder collaboration," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    23. Ke Li & Lei Gao & Zhaoxia Guo & Yucheng Dong & Enayat A. Moallemi & Gang Kou & Meiqian Chen & Wenhao Lin & Qi Liu & Michael Obersteiner & Matteo Pedercini & Brett A. Bryan, 2024. "Safeguarding China’s long-term sustainability against systemic disruptors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    24. Kexin Yi & Chao Li & Shaogang Hu & Xiayu Yuan & Bruce E. Logan & Wulin Yang, 2025. "High H2O2 production in membrane-free electrolyzer via anodic bubble shielding towards robust rural disinfection," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    25. Jiangyang Lin & Yuanhong Tian & Qian Yao & Yong Shi, 2023. "Structural Characteristics of Intergovernmental Water Pollution Control Cooperation Networks Using Social Network Analysis and GIS in Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.

    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. Jan Anton van Zanten & Rob van Tulder, 2020. "Beyond COVID-19: Applying “SDG logics” for resilient transformations," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(4), pages 451-464, December.
    2. 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.
    3. Mengru Wang & Benjamin Leon Bodirsky & Rhodé Rijneveld & Felicitas Beier & Mirjam P. Bak & Masooma Batool & Bram Droppers & Alexander Popp & Michelle T. H. Vliet & Maryna Strokal, 2024. "A triple increase in global river basins with water scarcity due to future pollution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Solène Guenat & Phil Purnell & Zoe G. Davies & Maximilian Nawrath & Lindsay C. Stringer & Giridhara Rathnaiah Babu & Muniyandi Balasubramanian & Erica E. F. Ballantyne & Bhuvana Kolar Bylappa & Bei Ch, 2022. "Meeting sustainable development goals via robotics and autonomous systems," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Fabrizio De Francesco & Valérie Pattyn & Hannah Salamon, 2024. "The monitoring and evaluation challenges of the sustainable development goals: An assessment in three European countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 1913-1924, June.
    6. Chara Vavoura & Ioannis Vavouras, 2022. "Sustainable economic development in the European Union and COVID-19," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 449-467, April.
    7. Holland, Claire & McCarthy, Adam & Ferri, Priscila & Shapira, Philip, 2024. "Innovation intermediaries at the convergence of digital technologies, sustainability, and governance: A case study of AI-enabled engineering biology," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    8. Gregory Poelzer & Stefan Linde & Sverker C. Jagers & Simon Matti, 2021. "Digging in the dark: reviewing international literature to address impending policy challenges for Swedish and Finnish mining," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(2), pages 225-238, July.
    9. Dirk Schoenmaker & Hans Stegeman, 2023. "Can the Market Economy Deal with Sustainability?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 25-49, March.
    10. Paulina Schiappacasse & Bernhard Müller & Le Thuy Linh, 2019. "Towards Responsible Aggregate Mining in Vietnam," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Pina Puntillo, 2023. "Circular economy business models: Towards achieving sustainable development goals in the waste management sector—Empirical evidence and theoretical implications," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 941-954, March.
    12. Schlör, Holger & Venghaus, Sandra & Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich, 2018. "The FEW-Nexus city index – Measuring urban resilience," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 382-392.
    13. Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea & Pegdéwendé Nestor Sawadogo, 2019. "Assessing the effects of combating illicit financial flows on domestic tax revenue mobilization in developing countries," CERDI Working papers halshs-02019073, HAL.
    14. Nelson, Ewan & Warren, Peter, 2020. "UK transport decoupling: On track for clean growth in transport?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 39-51.
    15. Ibrahim Ari & Muammer Koc, 2018. "Sustainable Financing for Sustainable Development: Understanding the Interrelations between Public Investment and Sovereign Debt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    16. R. Ebrahimi & S. Choobchian & H. Farhadian & I. Goli & E. Farmandeh & H. Azadi, 2022. "Investigating the effect of vocational education and training on rural women’s empowerment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Lampros Lamprinidis, 2025. "Socially Responsible Public Procurement and the Social Economy: European and Global Institutional Approaches," Journal of Public Policy and Administration, IPRJB, vol. 10(1), pages 46-62.
    18. Benjamin Nölting & Bettina König & Anne B. Zimmermann & Antonietta Di Giulio & Martina Schäfer & Flurina Schneider, 2022. "Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity to reflect on sustainability research," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 11-27, December.
    19. Nakakawa, Frances & Mugisha, Johnny & Kaaya, Archileo N. & Tumwesigye, Nazarius M. & Hennessey, Martina, 2024. "Nutrition education effects on food and nutrition security for women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    20. Rashmi Jaipal, 2017. "Psychology at the Crossroads," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 29(2), pages 125-159, September.

    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:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-28351-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    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.