Evaluating the Interconnectedness of the Sustainable Development Goals Based on the Causality Analysis of Sustainability Indicators

Gyula Dörgő, Viktor Sebestyén and János Abonyi
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Gyula Dörgő: MTA-PE “Lendület” Complex Systems Monitoring Research Group, Department of Process Engineering, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10, P.O. Box 158, H-8201 Veszprém, Hungary
Viktor Sebestyén: Institute of Environmental Engineering, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10, P.O. Box 158, H-8201 Veszprém, Hungary
János Abonyi: MTA-PE “Lendület” Complex Systems Monitoring Research Group, Department of Process Engineering, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10, P.O. Box 158, H-8201 Veszprém, Hungary

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-26

Abstract: Policymaking requires an in-depth understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships between the sustainable development goals. However, due to the complex nature of socio-economic and environmental systems, this is still a challenging task. In the present article, the interconnectedness of the United Nations (UN) sustainability goals is measured using the Granger causality analysis of their indicators. The applicability of the causality analysis is validated through the predictions of the World3 model. The causal relationships are represented as a network of sustainability indicators providing the opportunity for the application of network analysis techniques. Based on the analysis of 801 UN indicator types in 283 geographical regions, approximately 4000 causal relationships were identified and the most important global connections were represented in a causal loop network. The results highlight the drastic deficiency of the analysed datasets, the strong interconnectedness of the sustainability targets and the applicability of the extracted causal loop network. The analysis of the causal loop networks emphasised the problems of poverty, proper sanitation and economic support in sustainable development.

Keywords: sustainability goals; causal analysis; networks; World3; measure of interconnectedness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3766-:d:176658

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