Developing a Sustainable Development Strategy for 2020-2030 calls for a new kind of cross-sectoral policy cooperation. The 17 SDGs and their 169 targets are closely linked. This means that the goals can only be achieved if other goals progress simultaneously – for example, clean energies (SDG 7) make an important contribution to climate protection (SDG 13) and the preservation of ecosystems (SDG 15). Conversely, if one goal worsens (e.g. if social inequalities increase, SDG 10), it could negatively impact the achievement of other goals (e.g. increasing poverty, SDG 1, and increasing conflicts, SDG 16).

What would cross-sectoral policy mean in concrete terms for Switzerland? When formulating the new Sustainable Development Strategy, measures must be identified that generate as many synergies as possible between individual sectoral policies.