Priorities for science to support national implementation of the sustainable development goals: A review of progress and gaps

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide a framework of goals, targets, and indicators designed to guide national implementation of sustainable development to 2030. Several aspects of the framework are challenging, including its complex and integrated scope and transformational character. A range of approaches developed in the sustainability sciences can assist countries to address these challenges. In this paper, we evaluate recent scientific literature as well as national practice relating to the use of science-based approaches to support and enable national SDG implementation. The review encompasses >150 articles from the peer-reviewed and grey scientific literature, identifying 22 science-based approaches developed and recommended by experts to support national implementation. We then review and evaluate recent practice and experience of 56 countries in implementing the SDGs and the extent to which these approaches are evident in Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). Overall, we find some cross-fertilization in the science-policy interface of national SDG implementation, particularly in monitoring and evaluation. While scientific methods for evaluating interlinkages between the SDGs and understanding national transformations have advanced considerably in recent years, they are yet to become a feature of the VNRs reviewed. There is evidence that demand for these approaches is increasing, and it will be critical that researchers understand the needs of policy makers and other stakeholders and design tools that provide practical and actionable evidence that assist countries to understand, quantify, and implement the transformations needed to achieve the SDGs over the coming decade.