ABSTRACT
The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be treated as an indivisible and integrated whole. This presents an implementation challenge, as actions to promote the 2030 Agenda must account for the complex interactions between the SDGs. To support the implementation process, a growing body of scientific literature aims to provide policy-relevant knowledge about how the SDGs interact in terms of synergies and trade-offs. The present chapter provides a reading guide to this literature, focusing on what policy challenges the literature is responding to, how interactions between the SDGs are understood and conceptualized, and what approaches could be used to analyze SDG interactions. Further, this chapter reviews gaps identified in the early stages of SDG implementation, including knowledge about international spillovers resulting from SDG implementation and studies that engage stakeholders in the research process. The chapter concludes with recommendations for improving the ability of the scientific literature to facilitate systems thinking and integrated governance of the SDGs.
