15 May 2017 - 16 May 2017
New York, USA

Road maps and instruments for achieving the SDGs

At the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Forum in New York, Deputy Director General and Deputy CEO Nebojsa Nakicenovic put the spotlight on STI for the SDGs.

© UN Women/Ryan Brown

© UN Women/Ryan Brown

This week Nebojsa Nakicenovic participated in a series of meetings in New York related to amplifying the role science, technology and innovation (STI) can play in implementing the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, such as the science funding community. There he emphasized the need for support for integrated analytical approaches when assessing the SDGs.

He also organizes a side event that aimed to support the international dialogue on linking Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies and road maps to human development, in particular SDGs 1, 2, and 3 which are the focus of the forum. This will include the paradox connected with STI, with STI both representing solutions to the sustainable development challenge as well as adverse impacts which hamper sustainable development. STI policies have to encompass human development  and planetary boundaries to assure stable and safe future for all in the long-run.

 Paragraph 70 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development announced the launch of a "Technology Facilitation Mechanism" (TFM) in order to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The TFM will facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships through the sharing of information, experiences, best practices and policy advice among Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community, United Nations entities and other stakeholders.

The TFM has three components:

STI roadmaps and instruments for achieving SDGs to 2030 and beyond

Date: Monday, 15 May

Speakers:

  • Nebojsa Nakicenovic, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and 10-Member Group
  • Atsushi Sunami, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)
  • R. Alexander Roehrl, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
  • Heide Hackmann, International Council for Science (ICSU) and 10-Member Group
  • Jeffrey Sachs, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
  • E. William Colglazier, American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) and 10-Member Group 

OrganizersAmerican Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), International Council for Science (ICSU), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

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Session 2 f) Key priorities for engaging STI for building resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (Goal 9)

Nebojsa Nakicenovic also moderated this session on Monday, 15 May which was chaired by H.E. Mr. Macharia Kamau. He noted the increasing inequality between and within counties, which exists on a backdrop of economic growth, and highlighted that the biggest challenge is how to secure investment in infrastructure, including investment from pension funds and insurance companies.

Speakers: 

  • Mr. Kevin Lee: Innovation pitch “Mobilized Construction in Africa”
  • Dr. Robert Pepper, Head, Global Connectivity and Technology Policy, Facebook, US
  • Ms. Joy Tan, President, Corporate Communications, Huawei Company, Chin
  • Dr. Kamau Gachigi, Gearbox and University of Nairobi, Kenya 

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STI Forum Conclusion & Way Forward (www.IISD.org)

In the closing session, Bill Colglazier, Co-Chair of the TFM 10-Member Group, said the side events this year have been extremely good and welcomed the innovation pitches that opened many of the Forum’s sessions. He invited Member States to support the TFM politically and financially and saluted the idea of a roadmap for the TFM, which was suggested by a civil society representative. He invited participants to think of incentives for strengthening the science-policy interface through the UN and for catalyzing effective collaboration. As main take-aways from the Forum, he identified: the crosscutting potential of STI; the importance of capacity building and stakeholder engagement; the need to make the business case for private sector investment in innovation for the SDGs; the importance of roadmaps for tracking progress; the centrality of ICT infrastructure expansion to current development and STI efforts; the need to focus on match-making between existing problems and existing solutions; and the necessity for the STI Forum to conduct a “horizon-scanning” exercise on the changes happening in the STI field.

For a full report on the STI Forum please visit http://enb.iisd.org/sdgs/sti/forum2/.

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Last edited: 19 May 2017

CONTACT DETAILS

Nebojsa Nakicenovic

Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Second STI Forum 2017, 15-16 May

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313