The Nexus between International Law and the Sustainable Development Goals

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12148
• Date: 01 April 2016
• Published date: 01 April 2016

The Nexus between International Law and

the Sustainable Development Goals

Rakhyun E. Kim*

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169

targets did not emerge from, and were not inserted into,

a normative vacuum. They are grounded in inter-

national law and made consistent with existing commit-

ments expressed in various international legal

instruments. Naturally, a nexus exists between inter-

national law and these global priorities. This article

explores how to harness that nexus for sustainability. It

examines to what extent the SDGs might be instrumental

in orchestrating international institutions towards the

common objective of sustainable development, and how

international law provides a normative environment for

the SDGs. The article argues that, although self-pro-

claimed as integrated and indivisible, the SDGs and tar-

gets ref‌lect the fragmented structure of international

law, and therefore would have limited utility for orches-

tration. The article then discusses how international law,

despite its fragmented nature, provides integration tools

that could address trade-offs between competing targets

in a principled manner. A clear, long-term vision for sus-

tainable development beyond 2030 is a necessary but

absent leverage point in the SDG framework. It would

def‌inethepointwheretheinteractingSDGsandtargets

should ultimately converge.

INTRODUCTION

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169

targets did not emerge from, and were not inserted into,

a normative vacuum.

1

They are grounded in inter-

national law and made consistent with existing commit-

ments expressed in various international agreements

and other soft law instruments. Naturally, a nexus

exists between international law and the SDGs. What is

the nature of their relationship? To what extent, and in

what ways, could international law and the SDGs com-

plement each other to enhance systems integration?

2

This article explores these questions in two directions

with a view to harness the nexus for global sustainabil-

ity.

First, are the SDGs instrumental in orchestrating various

international institutions towards the ultimate objective

of sustainable development? Immersed in their own

mandates and objectives, most international institutions

operate in relative isolation and may pursue competing

interests.

3

Some commentators have suggested that goal-

setting –as a governance strategy to prioritize, motivate

and provide direction –could help reform or rearrange

existing institutions so as to enhance their overall per-

formance in promoting sustainable development.

4

How

effective are the SDGs likely to be in lending coherence

to what otherwise might be a disparate and even incon-

sistent collection of institutional arrangements? Will the

SDGs bring into line existing regimes and organizations

that are established for different purposes?

Second, is international law likely to be helpful for the

implementation of the SDGs in an integrated manner?

Despite being self-proclaimed as ‘integrated and indi-

visible’,

5

the SDGs themselves have been criticized for

lacking coherence.

6

This is a concern because the ex-

periences with the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) have shown that addressing such governance

goals independently may lead to unintended conse-

quences.

7

Some MDG targets were met,

8

but the spirit

of the MDGs was not. Then, to what extent and in what

ways could international law, despite its fragmented

nature, integrate the SDGs and targets and help achieve

long-term sustainable development?

9

* Corresponding author.

Email: rakhyunkim@gmail.com

1

Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Devel-

opment (UNGA Resolution A/RES/70/1, 21 October 2015) (‘The 2030

Agenda’).

2

Systems integration refers to ‘holistic approaches to integrating vari-

ous components of coupled human and natural systems’. J. Liu et al.,

‘Systems Integration for Global Sustainability’, 347:6225 Science

(2015), 1258832-1, at 1258832-1.

3

Fragmentation of International Law: Diff‌iculties Arising from the

Diversif‌ication and Expansion of International Law –Report of the

Study Group of the International Law Commission (UNGA Doc.

A/CN.4/L.682, 13 April 2006) (‘ILC Study Group report’).

4

N. Kanie and F. Biermann (eds.), Governance through Goals: New

Strategies for Sustainable Development (MIT Press, 2016, forthcoming).

5

The 2030 Agenda, n. 1 above, at paragraph 5.

6

ICSU and ISSC, Review of Targets for the Sustainable Development

Goals: The Science Perspective (International Council for Science, 2015).

7

D. Griggs et al., ‘An Integrated Framework for Sustainable Develop-

ment Goals’, 19:4 Ecology and Society (2014), 49.

8

United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015

(United Nations, 2015).

9

Similar questions were raised in the context of the MDGs in E. Hey,

‘The MDGs, Archeology, Institutional Fragmentation and International

Law: Human Rights, International Environmental and Sustainable

(Development) Law’, in: H.R. Fabri, R. Wolfrum and J. Gogolin (eds.),

Select Proceedings of the European Society of International Law,

Volume 2, 2008 (Hart, 2010), 488.

ª2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

15

RECIEL 25 (1) 2016. ISSN 2050-0386 DOI: 10.1111/reel.12148

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