27 April 2015
In a new comment in Nature, IIASA Deputy Director General Nebojsa Nakicenovic and co-authors argue that “science must be at the heart” of plans for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the UN is set to adopt in September 2015. With 17 goals and 169 targets, the researchers say, the SDGs are far more complicated than the Millennium Development Goals they are replacing. Many of the aims still need to be defined in more detail, and new monitoring and evaluation procedures will be needed.
Nakicenovic says, “Industrial revolution has catapulted humanity to unprecedented wealth and has left some three billion behind. The SDGs have the ambitious but achievable goal of leading to a sustainable future for all. Science must be at the heart of this process so as to help achieve synergies and void conflicts among the 17 SDGs.”
In the paper, the group of international researchers lay out five priorities for the scientific community to participate in the planning and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals:
Reference
Yonglong Lu, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Martin Visbeck& Anne-Sophie Stevance. 2015. Policy: Five priorities for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Nature 520, 432–433 (23 April 2015) doi:10.1038/520432a
International research for a sustainable future
IIASA has recently launched two major international research projects focused on sustainable development: the World in 2050 Project, and the Nexus Solutions for Sustainability Project.
The two research projects are complementary efforts among leading global research institutes and financing and development organizations to bridge a gap between science and policy. They aim to address outstanding questions on sustainability, climate, social equity and the environment, and provide pathways for the world to reach the future we want.
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