SDG Transformations and Cross-Cutting Themes

SDG Transformations & Cross-Cutting Themes
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SDG Transformations & Cross-Cutting Themes
Part II

SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellness)

SDG 4 (Quality Education)

SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production)

SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellness)


Possible synergies between SGD 3 and 4
SGD 3 and SGD 4 have a synergistic relationship. Quality education is critical for making health decisions and self-care. Educated populations are informed about disease preventive measures and thus live healthy lives. Research shows that educational policies and programs are critical public health interventions and that health and education concepts are interlinked (Hahn & Truman, 2015). By having basic education and skills such as fundamental knowledge, emotional self-regulation, reasoning ability, and interactional abilities, individuals are able to live healthier lives.

Possible synergies between SGD 3 and 8

Possible synergies between SGD 3 and 12






SDG 4 (Quality Education)

Possible synergies between SGD 3 and 4



Possible synergies between SGD 4 and 12






SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

Possible synergies between SGD 3 and 8

Possible synergies between SGD 4 and 8

SGD 3 and SGD 8 have negative interactions as efforts to grow the economy may involve industrial gas emissions that will affect the health of populations

Possible synergies between SGD 8 and 12


The possible trade-off between SGD 3 and 8

Possible synergies between SGD 4 and 8
SGD 4 and SGD 8 also have tradeoffs as having children participate in the growth of the economy will negatively affect quality education. For accelerated economic growth, children’s participation in income-generating activities has been witnessed in some countries such as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The two countries are a source of almost 60 percent of the global cocoa every year, but the involvement of over 1.56 million children in hazardous work in cocoa production impacts the quality of education (Bureau of International Labor Affairs, n.d). Therefore, while involving children in cocoa production enhances economic growth in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, SDG 4 and SGD 8 may have a negative interaction of tradeoff in implementing the goals.


The possible trade-off between SGD 8 and 12
* SGD 8 and SGD 12 have negative interactions as sustainable production through the use of clean energy will affect the economic growth of a country. The investment in green energy to replace traditional sources of energy will cost companies hence slowing the rate of economic growth. Rapid economic growth demands that counties become industrialized and produce more goods for their citizens. This industrialization will affect sustainable production as countries focus on manufacturing. For instance, China’s rapid industrialization has resulted in huge problems such as excessive consumption of energy and environmental degradation (Xiaoyun, 2014). While industrialization encourages economic growth, SDG 8 negatively interacts with SDG 12 as accelerated economic growth through industrialization leads to air pollution and worsening water quality.

SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production)

Possible synergies between SGD 3 and 12

Possible synergies between SGD 4 and 10

Possible synergies between SGD 8 and 10





The possible trade-off between SGD 8 and 12


Fig 1 Matrix showing the interactions of SDGs 3, 4, 8, and 12 (Adapted from Nilsson et al., 2016)
Part III
Q1. Difference between goals, targets, and indicators within the context of SDG and roles
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which was signed by all the United Member States in 2015 defines a mutual blueprint for peace and prosperity for persons and the planet they live in the present and the future. This agenda contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that each Member State has been called upon to participate in their implementation (United Nations, n.d). The 17 goals are divided into people-environment-, and governance-focused, and are broken down into 169 targets and 232 indicators. Each of the goals has at least 8-12 targets with each target having 1-4 indicators to measure progress. Targets specify both the outcomes, which are numbered, and implementation strategies listed in lower alphabets. For instance, Goal 12 has targets 12.1-12.8 and 12.a-12.c. While targets 12.1-12.8 are outcomes, targets 12.a-12.c are implementation strategies to achieve sustainable consumption and production as provided in SGD12 (United Nations, n.d). Each of the targets contains one or more indicators that can be used to measure the progress of that specific target and the global indicator framework was prepared by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDG) (European Environmental Bureau (EEB), n.d). Indicators are management tools that facilitate governments and organizations in creating implementation and monitoring strategies. Besides, the specified quantitative and qualitative indicators are used as “scorecards” to check the progress and success of SDG implementation. Indicators are applicable on a local, national, regional, and global scope and define the priorities that governments should take toward achieving SDGs. In general, indicators determine whether policies and programs have achieved expected outcomes and will tell whether or not the SDGs were met when they will be assessed in 2030.
Q2. The Difference between trade-offs and synergies, as defined by Nilsson et al. (2016)
According to Nilsson et al (2016), the interaction between and among SDGs may be classified as either synergies or trade-offs. Achievements of the SDGs depend on whether governments and those involved in implementation of the goals can maximize synergies while resolving the existing trade-offs (Kroll et al., 2019). Nilsson et al (2016) define synergies in the context of SDGs as the progress of one goal favoring the progress of another and trade-offs as the progress of one goal hindering the progress of another. In their example of having zero hunger as given in SDG2, the authors have examined how synergies and trade-offs interact while trying to achieve various goals. According to Nilsson et al (2016) ending hunger in sub-Saharan Africa positively interacts with many other goals such as SDG 1 (poverty eradication), SDG3 (health promotion) and SDG 4 (quality education for all). By countries committing to address malnourishment, they will be reinforcing efforts to afford quality education since children will concentrate and excel in their academics. Nevertheless, tackling food security issues by having children participate in household income will counteract education goals. Similarly, food production will directly interact with SDG 13 (climate change mitigation) since agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change. In this aspect, climate mitigation is a trade-off to food production, especially animal production with methane gas emissions. In another aspect, depending on fisheries as a source of food is reinforced by a salient climate. Finally, the authors provide an example of some parts of sub-Saharan Africa where the promotion of food consumption greatly constrains SDG7 (renewable energy produc...