With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, all nations committed to a set of universal, integrated and transformational goals and targets, the Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 goals and 169 targets provide a shared vision and collective responsibility for the world we all aspire to by 2030.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an action plan for people, planet and prosperity. The SDGs represent a shared vision and collective responsibility for the world we all aspire to by 2030. The integrated nature of the SDGs requires governments and key stakeholders to work across sectors, actors, government levels and time frames. It requires breaking out of sectoral silos and strengthening institutions to facilitate coherent, whole-of-government and integrated policies for implementation.

The first year of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda has shown that countries are advancing in aligning national strategies, adapting institutional frameworks and shifting policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This chapter looks at the initial steps for SDG implementation taken by the nine OECD countries that presented Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) at the 2016 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF): Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Korea, Switzerland and Turkey. The chapter applies eight key elements of the Framework for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development as a lens to identify good institutional practices, as well as challenges for enhancing policy coherence for sustainable development as called for by SDG Target 17.14. The analysis benefits from several examples from the VNRs that serve to illustrate national variations in the approaches and mechanisms used for implementation.

In this chapter, 16 countries share their experiences on how they are promoting policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) at the national level and, more specifically, how the eight building blocks for PCSD are being applied to ensure coherent SDG implementation. Their inputs, which were submitted in response to an informal and voluntary questionnaire, show that that there is no single blueprint for enhancing policy coherence. Countries are moving forward in different ways, adapting their institutional mechanisms; engaging a wide range of stakeholders; improving co-ordination across policy communities and levels of government; and developing appropriate monitoring and reporting systems. The mutual exchange of experiences can help countries to strengthen and improve their performance at different stages of SDG implementation.

The 2030 Agenda emphasises that the SDGs are integrated and indivisible and that a new approach is needed to address them effectively. This chapter applies policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) as a lens to identify key inter-linkages between the seven goals to be reviewed by the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2017 drawing on relevant OECD analysis. The chapter is intended to inform policy-making by illustrating how the implementation of the SDGs could be addressed in an integrated manner, taking into account the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) is an integral part of the means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as recognised by SDG target 17.14. This chapter aims to support country efforts to develop national indicators and targets for tracking progress in policy coherence. It applies the Framework for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development to the six thematic SDGs to be reviewed by the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2017. Specifically, the framework encourages countries to consider three elements of the policy making process: institutional mechanisms; policy interactions; and policy effects on other countries and future generations. It also urges them to identify different sets of indicators for each PCSD element, depending on the particular challenge or objective they wish to monitor.

This chapter represents a collective effort by the members of the Multi-Stakeholder Partnership for Enhancing Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (the PCSD Partnership). They have shared with us in an online dialogue and in written contributions their views on the role of policy coherence for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the chapter looks at (i) evidence to inform coherent policy making; (ii) institutional practices to enhance policy coherence for SDG implementation; (iii) integrated approaches to address the interconnected SDGs; and (iv) quantitative and qualitative tools for tracking progress on policy coherence, as called for by SDG target 17.14. A report on progress by the PCSD Partnership will be submitted on the occasion of the 2017 United Nations High-Level Political Forum.