Acceso usuarios
Jorge Gutiérrez Goiria, Irati Labaien Egiguren, Andrés Fernando Herrera Herrera
En el marco de la Agenda 2030, la Coherencia de Políticas para el Desarrollo Sostenible (CPDS) va tomando relevancia como enfoque necesario para abordar los múltiples retos propuestos. El artículo analiza las posibilidades de impulsar la CPDS desde las políticas de cooperación al desarrollo de las Comunidades Autónomas (CCAA) en España. El objetivo principal es examinar cómo estas entidades subestatales pueden contribuir a la CPDS, en un contexto en que los desafíos globales requieren enfoques integrales, multinivel y multiactor.
En su vertiente teórica, el trabajo parte de la evolución del concepto de Coherencia de Políticas para el Desarrollo (CPD) hacia el de CPDS, destacando su consolidación en el ámbito institucional (Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico, OCDE, y Unión Europea, UE) y su incorporación en marcos normativos como la legislación española sobre cooperación. Se subraya que la CPDS implica no solo evitar contradicciones entre políticas, sino también integrar el enfoque de desarrollo sostenible en toda la acción gubernamental.
Metodológicamente, el artículo combina una revisión documental y normativa con un análisis Delphi. En primer lugar, se examinan veintidós leyes autonómicas de cooperación y veintiséis planes directores, evaluando su tratamiento de la CPDS en tres dimensiones: compromiso político, mecanismos de gobernanza y herramientas de implementación. En segundo lugar, se aplica la metodología Delphi a un panel de veintiún personas expertas (administración, academia y ONGD), con dos rondas de consulta estructurada, para identificar consensos y divergencias sobre el papel de las CCAA en la promoción de la CPDS.
La estructura del artículo incluye cinco epígrafes. El primero aborda el origen y evolución del concepto de CPDS y su institucionalización. En segundo lugar, se examina la cooperación descentralizada, con su especificidad, y atendiendo a su relación con la CPDS. El tercer epígrafe analiza el tratamiento de la CPDS en las leyes y planes de cooperación autonómicos, destacando avances desiguales y una implementación aún incipiente. En cuarto lugar, se presenta el planteamiento del estudio Delphi, y los temas identificados para su consulta (compromiso político, gobernanza, implementación y aporte específico del nivel subestatal). El quinto epígrafe sintetiza los hallazgos del Delphi, señalando la necesidad de estructuras de alto nivel, acciones concretas en políticas clave (educación, medioambiente, transición energética), y el papel palanca de la cooperación autonómica.
En conclusión, el artículo identifica tanto potencialidades como obstáculos para avanzar en la CPDS desde las CCAA. Propone fortalecer estructuras, transversalizar la CPDS más allá del área de cooperación, y fomentar espacios de intercambio de buenas prácticas. Se reconoce la necesidad de ampliar el estudio a otros niveles administrativos y territorios para consolidar una agenda coherente de desarrollo sostenible.
This paper critically examines the degree to which the Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) approach has been incorporated into the development cooperation policies of Spain’s Autono-mous Communities (CCAA). Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the study analyses the role of regional governments, as sub-state actors, in articulating coherent and sustainable policies that transcend the fragmentation and limited scope of traditional Offi-cial Development Assistance (ODA).The main objective is to examine how these sub-state entities can contribute to the PCSD, in a context where global challenges require comprehensive, multi-level and multi-stakeholder approaches. The pa-per aims to identify the instruments, institutional structures, and political factors that facilitate or hinder the integration of the PCSD approach into regional cooperation policies. The research is based on the hypothesis that global economic, social, and environmental challenges require coordinated, cross-cut-ting, and coherent public action across different levels of government. In this regard, the Autonomous Communities are understood as strategic spaces due to their proximity to citizens, their normative capacity, and their competences in key sectors for sustainability such as education. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that, despite its normative maturity and trajectory, decentralised development cooperation, driven by sub-state institutions, has not been sufficiently examined from the perspective of policy coherence.The study is grounded in the conceptual evolution from Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) to Poli-cy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD), understood as a structural principle of public gover-nance oriented towards sustainable development. This approach, consolidated following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, entails the transversal integration of the SDGs in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of all public policies. In this sense, the OECD (2021) identifies three key pillars for implemen-tation: (a) a strategic vision aligned with the SDGs; (b) institutional and intersectoral governance and coordination mechanisms; and (c) adaptive tools for evaluation and organisational learning. In the Eu-ropean context, the principle of policy coherence was strengthened in the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), while in Spain it was formally recognised in the Law on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity (2023), which explicitly links it to the 2030 Agenda and the Spanish Sustainable Development Strategy (2021). However, the effective translation of these principles into the regional sphere remains uneven, with rhetorical commitments prevailing over operational practices.The study adopts a qualitative mixed-methods approach, articulated in two complementary phases. First, a documentary analysis is conducted of 22 regional cooperation laws and 26 strategic plans, based on three analytical dimensions: political commitment, institutional governance, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, following the OECD’s methodological framework. Second, a Delphi consulta-tion—a qualitative technique for expert consensus—is carried out in two rounds with 21 specialists (civil servants, academics, and representatives of NGOs). This method enables the identification of areas of consensus regarding strategies, structures, and priority policies to strengthen coherence through re-gional cooperation frameworks.The documentary analysis reveals a limited incorporation of PCSD principles in the regional legal frame-works, even if the concept is gradually gaining importance. Of all the laws analysed, those published from 2015 onwards (5 laws in total) integrate the concept of PCSD in diverse ways. The laws of the Valencian Community and Galicia explicitly include coherence as a guiding principle linked to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The law of Extremadura incorporates the PCSD as a way to address development challenges. The law published by the Balearic Islands also commits to move towards policy coherence by assuming actions of the government in a global way. Moreover, the Basque Country, places this re-sponsibility at the highest level (the presidency). In the master plans, all CCAA make some reference to PCD or PCSD, although the degree of development varies: Basque Country, Navarre, and Catalonia are notable for their significant progress, having introduced interdepartmental governance mechanisms and specific actions. However, in most regions coherence remains a conceptual reference without operational articulation. The Cooperation Councils, which serve as the main monitoring bodies, lack the cross-cut-ting competences and political authority required to coordinate coherent policy processes. The Delphi panel confirms these findings and identifies the following strategic priorities to advance to-wards the effective institutionalisation of PCSD: (a) the inclusion in regional laws of precise definitions of PCSD linked to the 2030 Agenda, alongside mechanisms for evaluation and accountability; (b) the development of strategic plans containing specific and measurable actions, prioritising policies with high coherence potential—such as education, environmental protection, energy transition, migration, and ex-ternal action; (c) the placement of PCSD coordination at the highest political level, through transversal structures (secretariats, general directorates, or interdepartmental commissions); (d) the promotion of practical instruments such as economic incentives, sustainability-based grants, responsible public pro-curement, and training for technical and political staff; and (e) the strengthening of social participation and global citizenship education as key strategies for legitimacy and awareness-raising on coherence.The study also identifies several potential strengths, including the technical and experiential knowledge accumulated by the CCAA in the field of cooperation and their capacity to link local policies with global impacts. In this regard, decentralised development cooperation can be regarded as a “lever policy” ca-pable of driving the mainstreaming of sustainable development. However, structural limitations persist, hindering the consolidation of a comprehensive PCSD approach, including the limited political and bud-getary relevance of cooperation, lack of interdepartmental coordination, institutional fragmentation, and the absence of robust evaluation tools.From both theoretical and practical perspectives, PCSD emerges as a principle of multi-level governance and a strategic instrument for the reorientation of decentralised cooperation. In Spain, the CCAA could play a transformative role if they succeed in embedding coherence within the overall planning of their public policies—through interdepartmental coordination, long-term strategic planning, and the stable institutionalisation of monitoring mechanisms. Beyond its financial dimension, regional cooperation can thus serve as a vector for structural change, integrating coherence as an operative principle rather than merely a declarative one.The analysis leads to several key conclusions. First, PCSD is an essential requirement for achieving the 2030 Agenda, yet its development within Spain’s regional administrations remains incipient and frag-mented. Second, regional development cooperation can act as a strategic catalyst for policy coherence by engaging public, private, and social actors around shared sustainability goals. Third, consolidating PCSD demands deep institutional reconfiguration. This includes establishing transversal structures at the highest political level, clearer normative frameworks, better evaluation mechanisms, and an administra-tive culture grounded in learning and collaboration.Accordingly, the study recommends progressing towards the creation of regional PCSD reference frame-works, establishing stable technical units linked to the 2030 Agenda, and developing accountability systems to assess policy coherence. It also advocates strengthening applied research and interregional exchange to identify transferable good practices and foster mutual learning.Ultimately, the research reaffirms that coherence is not merely a technical or normative principle but a structural component of sustainable development policies. The Autonomous Communities, positioned between the State and the citizenry, can become laboratories of institutional innovation for policy co-herence—provided they consolidate the political, technical, and social capacities required to advance towards more integrated, participatory, and sustainable governance.
