In September 2015, UN Member States approved the 2030 Development Agenda and a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs holistically address the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and are designed to be pursued in combination, rather than one at a time. Integrated development is therefore at the heart of the 2030 Development Agenda as reflected in the SDGs. Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) approaches and those that address the Poverty-Environment Nexus (PEN) can play a central role in advancing the SDGs.
This report seeks to further the understanding of the practicalities of embedding such integrated approaches across the planning cycle in countries at various stages of development. There is a growing country demand for such insights to inform SDG implementation. The report synthesizes a wide range of policy and programming experiences in the areas of inclusive green economy and the poverty-environment nexus, and draws on the findings of eight national scoping studies on integrated planning, commissioned as part of this study. The national scoping studies (covering Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Rwanda, Tajikistan and Viet Nam) provide an up-to-date snapshot of where some countries stand on integrated planning, the key challenges they now face, and suggested actions to accelerate their transition to an IGE in support of SDG implementation.