Maximising Benefits of Sustainable Development Target Interactions: An Integrated Priority Analytical Model Applied to China

National governance plays a pivotal role in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under limited resources. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize SDGs and their underlying targets to support informed decision-making. Among the scientific approaches, integrated priority analytical models have led to the consideration of interwoven interactions among targets and the involvement of both traditional analytical and interaction-related criteria. However, existing models have limitations in maximizing the benefits of interactions, as they tend to overlook negative and high-order interactions. To address this issue, this study proposes a new model that integrates impacts of direction-specific high-order interactions and temporal trends in a tri-dimensional framework to assign target-specific “temporal priorities” and “resource priorities” at the national scale. We applied this model to the priority analysis of SDG targets in China to demonstrate its usefulness in leveraging the benefits of interactions within a complex sustainability framework. Our analysis shows that, for temporal priorities, 10.7% of targets require urgent action to promote progress or address trade-offs, and 23.8% demand low levels of urgency. The urgent targets focus on energy efficiency, augmented funding for forest management, and biodiversity preservation. Concerning resource priorities, 27.4% of targets necessitate elevated resource allocation, clustering primarily within Goals 12, 15, and 16. Accordingly, we recommend policy actions to enhance funding for biodiversity preservation and forest management and to foster energy efficiency measures. Additionally, allocating extra resources to the responsible consumption goal is imperative due to pronounced trade-off effects.