Literature on interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goals and summary of findings

The 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report presented an analysis of interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goals. The authors conducted a review of 112 scientific articles and 65 global assessments with explicit reference to the Goals. The interlinkages between the Goals were subsequently assessed using the seven-point scale developed by the International Science Council (see https://council.science/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SDGs-Guide-to-Interactions.pdf). Since 2019, the literature on the interlinkages between the Goals has grown rapidly. The 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report presents a synthesis of the literature published between 2019 and 2022. The analysis is based on a review of (i) global and non-context-specific assessments, and (ii) assessments of SDG interlinkages for different country-, income-, and population groups. Only publications that analyse interlinkages between all 17 Goals were included in the review. In total, 4,997 publications were screened for eligibility. The final sample consists of 52 publications. Many of these publications establish that there are interlinkages between the Goals without providing further information about the nature of these connections. However, the 2023 Report synthesis focuses specifically on the subset of publications that clearly identify trade-offs and synergies between the Goals. The following table provides an overview of the publications providing supporting evidence for trade-offs and synergies between the Goals.

Sustainable Development Goals:

ALL SDG Goals