The goal of sustainable development remains at the heart of international policy dialogue, with attention focused on drawing up sustainable development goals. Achieving sustainable development calls for the simultaneous pursuit of poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. As illustrated in Figure 1 (overleaf), these twin priorities have many mutually reinforcing linkages (indicated by + signs), but also some potentially counteracting pressures (indicated by – signs). The net effect largely depends on how policies for pursuing both social and environmental goals are designed and implemented.