SDG Target Interactions: The Philippine Analysis of Indivisible and Cancelling Targets

Vena Pearl Bongolan, bongolan@up.edu.ph, University of the Philippines, Diliman
Arian Allenson M. Valdez, , University of the Philippines, Diliman
Roselle Leah K. Rivera, , University of the Philippines, Diliman

Journal: Journal of Global Business
Volume 10 Issue 2 (Published: 2021-11-04)

Abstract

The United Nations developed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 169 targets, to help solve the world`s problems and achieve a more sustainable future. This is modelled as a graph with the targets as nodes and the interaction between targets as the edges of the graph. An exhaustive binary comparison is made to analyse the intra- and inter-goal target interactions, entailing over 14000 comparisons. The task is to assign a ‘color’ to an edge: positive (indivisible), zero (consistent), or negative (cancelling). This is done via a panel of experts who will evaluate the target interactions through a developed web application for coloring the edges. The current data contains 1256 colored edges. Of this, only 36 are cancelling (negative), or 2.86%; more than 97% are positive interactions. The `most negative` interactions involve: `Climate Action`; `Life below Water`; `Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions`; and `Decent Work and Economic Growth.` The `Ugly Targets` feature might be most beneficial for planning, which lists all the negative or cancelling interactions flagged so far, and the suggested mitigation measures which could guide planners. This ongoing study contains helpful information for researchers who analyse correlations between data sets. We see how targets enable or constrain each other, what mitigation can be done to avoid conflicts, and what can be configured for a sub-national or regional study. This paper contributes to an ongoing study which extends the datasets to include more participants from different expertise.

Keywords: SDG, SDG Interactions, SDG Targets, SDG Philippines

DOI: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b85162bcc8fedc767ff5676/t/6209ecb59120b86fe87868f4/1644817591798/JGB+1557.edited.pdf