Identifying holistic actions for implementing the sustainable development goals related to livelihood–energy–ecosystem–water nexus in the Asian water tower region

Abstract

The five Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to livelihood, energy, ecosystem, and water (LEEW) are highly interlinked, and their progress is a strong stepping stone to achieve other SDGs. However, research about the effective actions for promoting them in the Asian Water Tower (AWT) region (16 countries) is limited. Here, we measured the interactions (synergies and trade-offs) among and the performances of 24 SDG targets related to LEEW based on calculating correlation coefficients, network analysis, and index-based and benchmarking analysis. By aggregating the results, we eventually prioritized the 24 targets to provide evidence-based support for identifying holistic and synergistic actions across scales. Targets 2.3 (agricultural productivity), 7.1 (modern energy services), 7.2 (renewable energy), 15.2 (sustainable forests), 15.5 (habitat and biodiversity conservation), 15.6 (sharing benefits from genetic resources), and 1.a and 15.a (resources mobilization) were top-prioritized. Mainstreaming them along with numerical target values into strategies across scales can be a useful starting action. Additionally, we highlighted several obstacles for these SDGs’ progress (e.g., trade-offs among basin water and energy resource management in the future energy-oriented LEEW actions) and some keys to support their achievements (e.g., interdisciplinary research, sectoral transformation, and transnational and cross-basin collaboration).