Effective environmental governance is deemed essential in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. However, environmental dimensions have no specific reference across the SDG 16 targets and indicators. In achieving SDG 16—the realization of peace, justice, and strong institution, polycentric environmental governance involving multiple actors across scales deserves thoughtful consideration. This study illustrates the potential of a polycentric approach to environmental governance in achieving SDG 16, using case studies of forest, watershed, and transboundary bushland and seascape management in Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa, namely Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Kenya–Somalia cross-border. By highlighting four key elements of polycentric governance namely, political will, legal framework, support from higher-level governance and capacity building, the case studies demonstrate that polycentric governance play a significant role in achieving three environment-relevant SDG 16 targets, yet these targets are silent about environmental governance dimensions. Since many conflicts arise from the environment and natural resources sector, we suggest that (i) polycentric environmental governance be strongly pursued to achieve SDG 16, and (ii) SDG 16 includes indicators specifically directed on polycentric environment and natural resource governance.

A wide range of holistic frameworks are used to assess the sustainability of agricultural policies and programs, but much of the existing research tends to overlook the socio‐cultural and governance dimensions of sustainability. This article aims to address those gaps by comprehensively assessing the environmental, economic, social, and political dimensions of sustainability. We use a case study of irrigation policies for agricultural expansion that target the Pagar Alam upland region in Indonesia. The assessment reveals opportunities and threats from the policy that affect the sustainability of upland landscapes and communities. By overly focusing on productivity goals while ignoring other sustainability criteria, the policy generates risks that threaten existing sustainable development pathways. To achieve positive policy outcomes, Indonesia needs to reconcile its national food production goal with local development goals. Lastly, to optimise policy outcomes, agri‐sustainability research should apply comprehensive approaches that simultaneously address multiple sustainability dimensions.