Fig. 4: Accounting for interactions between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for water pollution control in China.

a Six SDGs that are highly relevant to nutrient pollution in Chinese water systems; b the interactions between SDG 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation”, 14 “Life Below Water” and other SDGs; c six scenarios that may contribute to the achievement of six SDGs that are highly relevant to nutrient pollution in Chinese water systems in 2050. The details of the interactions between SDGs are presented in Figs. 2 and 3 and Supplementary Tables 3, 4. Bold lines in b present the interactions between the SDGs in a that are highly relevant to nutrient pollution in Chinese water systems. “Yes” in c indicates that the scenario includes options that may contribute to meeting the SDGs. “No” in c indicates that the scenario does not include options that may contribute to meeting the SDGs. Six scenarios are explored: baseline SSP5-RCP8.5 (Shared Socio-economic Pathway 5-Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5), and alternative SE (improved sewage treatment), AG (improved nutrient use efficiencies in agriculture), AG + SE (a combination of AG and SE), AG + SE + SFC (sustainable food consumption in addition to AG + SE), and AG + SE + SFC + CLI (climate mitigation in addition to AG + SE + SFC) scenarios.