GLOBALGOALS delivered one of the most wide-ranging and analytically rigorous investigations to date of the political steering effects of the SDGs, combining comprehensive analyses across international and national levels of governance. At the international level in particular, the project generated a wealth of influential insights into how global institutions engage with the SDGs, revealing in detail how these international actors integrate, reinterpret and operationalize the goals within their existing frameworks.
Methodologically, GLOBALGOALS has successfully combined quantitative, qualitative and computational approaches. One flagship activity was its innovative application of social network analysis, which offered a new empirical lens on how international organizations, governments and private actors engage with SDG-related initiatives. This approach allowed the project to trace power dynamics, identify key actors and uncover patterns of policy diffusion with a high degree of analytical sophistication. A major contribution is GLOBALGOALS’ large-scale network analysis of 276 international organizations, one of the most ambitious mapping exercises of global sustainability governance to date. Beyond network analysis, GLOBALGOALS has driven a suite of methodological advances that collectively provide one of the most comprehensive empirical foundations for assessing SDG implementation and effectiveness to date. These include large-n text analysis of policy documents and institutional reports from more than 159 international organizations; extensive expert elicitation through in-depth interviews and global online surveys with policymakers, stakeholders and civil society representatives across multiple regions; detailed discourse analysis of SDG negotiations; and longitudinal policy tracing that enabled GLOBALGOALS to track the evolution of SDG-related initiatives over time, revealing shifting political priorities and the uneven attention afforded to different goals.
Using these methods, GLOBALGOALS examined among others how global governance institutions, such as the World Bank or the International Labour Organization, operationalize the goals, revealing a consistent gap between rhetorical alignment and substantive policy integration. Many organizations strategically invoke the SDGs to legitimize and reinforce their existing mandates, rather than to drive genuinely new governance approaches. GLOBALGOALS also critically examined the inclusiveness and representation in SDG governance. Through systematic empirical analysis, the project demonstrated that, despite widespread commitments to broad and diverse participation, many governance mechanisms continue to reproduce entrenched power asymmetries, frequently marginalizing the voices of Least Developed Countries and grassroots organizations.
GLOBALGOALS also brought a critical perspective on SDG implementation at the national level, particularly in relation to policy coherence and sustainability trade-offs. The team examined how different countries – such as Australia, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia and the Netherlands – integrate SDGs into domestic policy frameworks, identifying often tensions between economic growth priorities and environmental sustainability. While many governments have adopted SDG-friendly rhetoric, their actual policies often fail to reflect the systemic changes needed for sustainability transitions.
The project’s influence extends well beyond academia. GLOBALGOALS has achieved significant policy impact, with its core findings presented at high-level UN conferences in New York, Geneva and other key venues, and its conclusions cited in reports of the United Nations Secretary-General. Through an active and far-reaching dissemination strategy, including its international webinar series, and various public outreach activities, the project has served as a scholarly authority and a trusted source of evidence for policymakers engaged in shaping the future of global sustainability governance.
