14 July 2016: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has introduced the Framework for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD), a screening tool to support governments in designing and implementing coherent policies. The report, titled ‘Better Policies for Sustainable Development 2016: A New Framework for Policy Coherence,’ explores policy coherence in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and suggests options for monitoring and tracking progress for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 17.14 (Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development).

The report also includes government contributions on their policy mechanisms and institutional arrangements for implementing the SDGs at the national level.

The PCSD Framework provides general guidance and a checklist for: an Analytical Framework, to identify policy coherence issues and interactions among the SDGs and targets and their implications, and how certain policy actions might support or hinder their achievement; an Institutional Framework, to align existing institutional mechanisms for policy coherence to the needs and vision of the 2030 Agenda; and a Monitoring framework, with key elements for tracking progress on PCSD, to contribute to national efforts to monitor and report progress on SDG target 17.14.

Chapter 1 explores the experience of OECD countries over the past ten years promoting policy coherence for development (PCD), and identifies good practices for building institutional mechanisms for coherence, better adapted both for the 2030 Agenda and for shifting from PCD to PCSD. Chapter 2 aims to support governments to advance PCSD by providing a tool to: map out SDGs and targets to identify and manage sectoral interactions between the economic, social and environmental spheres; ensure consistency of decisions across different governance levels; consider policy effects both “here and now” and “elsewhere” and “later”; and track progress on the diverse elements of PCSD.

Chapter 3 applies the PCSD Framework to food security. Chapter 4 provides a simplified framework and self-screening tool for countries to help them plan for, avoid, and resolve the most significant trade-offs or policy inconsistencies, as well as to apply existing international standards in a coherent and effective way. It also addresses PCSD for international financial flows (IFFs).

Chapter 5 shows how the PCSD Framework can be used to support countries’ efforts to design and implement coherent green growth policies. Chapter 6 provides an overview of 18 countries’ efforts to “nationalise” the 2030 Agenda and adapt it to their own country context and priorities. [Publication: Better Policies for Sustainable Development 2016: A New Framework for Policy Coherence]