Welcome to the United Nations
Li Yong
Director General
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
At the core of the mandate of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development is growth within an environmentally sustainable framework. Thus, we must decouple industrial activities from negative environmental impacts and natural resource use.
In line with the Agenda 2030 principle of “leave no one behind”, we must promote equal opportunities and an equitable distribution of the benefits of industrialization to all countries, all people, and all parts of society.
Against this backdrop, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 11, 12 and 17 is vital for the achievement of inclusive and sustainable industrial development which lies at the heart of SDG 9 – and vice versa. While much progress has been made in implementing the SDGs, we still need to intensify efforts to promote sustainable industrial development, provide clean and affordable energy for all, develop solutions for sustainable and thriving cities, and reduce the environmental footprint of production and consumption.
The creation of sustainable and resilient societies is inextricably linked with industrial development. This interlinking is especially pertinent in relation to SDG 7.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that unless there is a dramatic switch from current practices, greenhouse gas emissions from industry will increase by somewhere between 50 to 150 percent by 2050. At the same time, industry is an important driver in the development of technical solutions and business models in the field of renewable energies and other clean technologies that support the implementation of SDG 7.
In May 2018, UNIDO and its partners convened a special session of the Vienna Energy Forum which brought together over 430 experts and activists. They discussed SDG 7 and generated inputs ahead of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
It has been emphasized that there are three emerging mega-trends shaping today’s energy landscape: decarbonization, digitization and decentralization. In this context, we must:
dramatically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from industry by increasing energy efficiency and switching from fossil fuels to alternatives;
use modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) and digital technologies to efficiently manage energy systems that have large shares of renewables and depend on multiple renewable energy producers;
move towards decentralized energy systems which entail decentralized energy generation and storage, as well as community involvement.
The advent of new climate technologies and the urgent need to move towards a low-carbon development path is driving the growth of new green industrial sectors, creating new jobs and new opportunities. But entrepreneurs and start-ups in developing countries need support so that they can develop innovations and take their place on the global market. Therefore, to empower and catalyze entrepreneurial eco-systems for climate innovation in developing countries, we must urgently:
support innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises;
ensure equal and equitable access to and control over sustainable energy services for women and men;
make technology transfers to developing countries and emerging economies more effective by sharing knowledge, developing capacity in energy-related projects, and fostering robust science, technology and innovation policy frameworks.
In order to ensure vital partnerships between government, the private sector, industry and academia to support the integration and application of clean technologies, we have to:
support local innovation hubs for clean technologies;
work with city administrations to support the retrofit of existing industries and the implementation of innovative digital technologies and policies;
introduce funding options to enable investment for low-carbon infrastructure and the deployment of leap-frogging technologies;
If we can take these steps, which are instrumental to increasing access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all and to accelerating inclusive and sustainable industrial development, then we will be well on the way to establishing sustainable and resilient societies.
