This report presents the results of the Survey on applying the eight building blocks of PCSD in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, carried out on a voluntary basis among members of the informal network of national focal points for policy coherence in 2018. PCSD can be defined as an approach and policy tool to integrate the economic, social, environmental dimensions of sustainable development at all stages of domestic and international policy-making. According to this definition, PCSD has three main objectives: 1) foster synergies across economic, social and environmental policy areas; 2) identify trade-offs and reconcile domestic policy objectives with internationally agreed objectives; and 3) address spillovers of domestic policies. This definition provided the basis for designing survey questions.
The survey was divided in to eight sections with questions according to eight PCSD building blocks: (1) political commitment and leadership; (2) policy integration; (3) long-term vision and planning horizons; (4) analysis and assessments of potential policy effects; (5) policy and institutional co-ordination; (6) subnational and local involvement; (7) stakeholder engagement; and (8) monitoring and reporting.
The key messages from survey findings are:
– There is no one-size-fits-all approach to enhancing policy coherence. In line with 2030 Agenda principles, each country must determine its own institutional mechanisms and sequencing of actions according to its legal, administrative and political context.
– The eight PCSD building blocks are relevant and applicable to countries despite their different administrative cultures and political contexts.
– The essential building blocks of a robust PCSD system for SDG implementation already exist in many countries, but in many cases alignment with the principles and nature of the 2030 Agenda needs to be strengthened.
– Most countries have well-established mechanisms that can support coherent implementation of the SDGs at every stage of the policy-making process. These mechanisms could be used more proactively for policy coherence purposes.
– One can distinguish different levels of implementation across countries in terms of commitment, integration, coordination, stakeholder engagement and monitoring and reporting.
According to the Report, Greece is one of the countries that have made an explicit commitment to PCSD in their national strategies for SDGs implementation. The dedicated governmental body responsible for coordination, in Greece, is the Centre of Government (CoG) that steers and coordinates SDGs implementation.
More information:
http://www.oecd.org/pcsd/Report%20on%20PCSD%20Survey%20Findings.pdf