This brief proposes ways to use the water-energy-food nexus framework to facilitate cross-sectoral integration in the Sustainable Development Goals process, with the purpose of making the SDGs more cost-effective, efficient and sustainable in the long term. It shows how to identify interactions among goals, and examine different types of interactions: for example, how the achievement of targets under one goal might affect targets under another goal, or how individual targets might serve multiple goals. It also proposes ‘nexus targets’ – targets that cut across sectors – as helpful entry points for developing an integrated framework beyond water, energy and food objectives.