Welcome to the United Nations
Science, technology and innovation are crucial for advancing progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the face multiple crises.
As we approach 2030, the SDGs are off track. Developing countries and the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are bearing the brunt of the lack of SDG progress, and they stand to gain immensely from STI-driven solutions across various sectors, from healthcare and education to environmental conservation and economic development. But unleashing this potential will require tackling structural impediments to accessing new and emerging technologies, through scaling up the use of open science, affordable and open-source technologies, research and development, and through strengthened partnerships.
The Political Declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit stressed the urgency of bridging the science, technology and innovation divides and accelerating the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing nations on favourable terms. The Technology Facilitation Mechanism established by the 2030 Agenda has continued to support the application of science, technology, and innovation for the SDGs, including by bringing a focus to the STI challenges and opportunities in Africa, in small island developing States, in Landlocked Developing Countries and in Least Developed Countries. Existing efforts can be scaled up and new partners and STI finance mobilized to catalyze STI for the SDGs in the remaining six years to 2030.
This session will examine effective partnerships, concrete policies and programmes that foster innovation ecosystems and induce transformative change based on the findings of the 9th Multistakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI Forum), and other UN initiatives to advance SDG solutions and partnerships in STI.
Proposed guiding questions:
- What are the key solutions identified from the STI Forum to support achievement of the SDGs?
- How are different stakeholders following up on commitments from the Political Declaration of the SDG Summit on bridging STI divides and the responsible use of STI as drivers for sustainable development?
- What policies and partnerships are needed to incentivize the development, transfer and adoption of technologies that address specific local challenges and contexts, while aligning with the SDG goals?
- What are some promising ways to foster collaboration between scientific communities, industry stakeholders, financial institutions and policymakers to accelerate the development and deployment of sustainable, science-driven solutions?
Chair:
- H.E. Ms. Paula Narváez, President of the Economic and Social Council
Keynote/Presentation:
- H.E. Ms. Christina Markus Lassen, Co-Chair of the 2024 STI Forum, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations
Interactive panel discussion
Moderator:
- H.E. Ms. Inga Rhonda King, Co-Chair of the 2024 STI Forum, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations
Panellists:
- Mr. Carlos Henrique Brito Cruz, Senior Vice-President, Research Networks, Elsevier
- Ms. Joyeeta Gupta, Professor of Environment and Development, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, and Professor on Sustainability, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
- Mr. Subho Mukherjee, Vice President and Global Head of Sustainability, Nokia
Lead Discussant:
- Ms. Magdalena Stoeva, International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, and International Science Council Outreach and Engagement Committee (MGoS)
Interventions by ministers and other participants (up to 2-3 minutes each)
