Pollinators are critical to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a major focus for policy globally. Pollinators provide an informative nexus between natural ecosystems and human society, upon which both are highly dependent. Many SDGs are thought to have intrinsic links with pollinators because of their importance to crop production and ecosystem maintenance. However, the magnitude of these relationships, and the reciprocal impact of progress towards these SDGs on pollinators, have not been evaluated. Here, through an expert elicitation approach we quantify bi-directional relationships across 58 shortlisted targets. 24 targets were found to have strong links with pollinators, Seven of have important bidirectional relationships, whereby they both influence and are influenced by pollinators, six targets impact pollinators but are not influenced by them, and eleven are influenced by pollinators. Understanding and measuring the strength and direction of these links identifies synergies and avoids trade-offs from actions designed to achieve sustainable development that may affect biodiversity. This process, however, is complicated by the design of the SDG targets, many of which lack obvious, measurable links with biodiversity.