The year 2015 was a significant turning point for both the sustainable development and climate agendas. Two major international processes were concluded: the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the adoption of a new international climate agreement, the Paris Agreement, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The challenge now becomes one of implementation. The Paris Agreement is underpinned by 1621 intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs)*that reflect the national climate policies and actions of 189 countries. At the same time, the SDGs, which encompass 17 goals and 169 targets, need to be translated into national and subnational plans. This creates an unprecedented moment to pursue implementation of these two agendas in a way that can generate significant mutual benefits and move beyond the view that these agendas are somehow distinct or different avenues to achieving the transformational goals they share.

This working paper explores the extent to which the two agendas are aligned in a concrete way by identifying examples of climate actions in the INDCs that have the potential to generate mutual benefits with the SDGs.