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UN/DESA Policy Brief #62: The COVID-19 pandemic: a wake-up call for better cooperation at the science–policy–society interface
This brief suggests five early lessons from the response to the pandemic that can strengthen how science and technology are harnessed, including strengthening national capacities for science-based decision making.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #61: COVID-19: Embracing digital government during the pandemic and beyond
The efforts in developing digital government strategies after the COVID-19 crisis should focus on improving data protection and digital inclusion policies as well as on strengthening the policy and technical capabilities of public institutions.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #60: Commodity exporters face mounting economic challenges as pandemic spreads
Unlike most developed economies, commodity exporters—saddled with large budget deficits and high levels of government debt—will find it extremely difficult to roll out large fiscal stimulus.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #55: The Global context for the 2030 Agenda
Globalization and technological progress have enabled unprecedented gains in wellbeing across the world. However, imbalances in global flows, when they emerge, continue to plague the global economic and financial system, and cause development setbacks. The turbulence of the last decade demonstrated once again that global mechanisms remain ill-suited to protect the most vulnerable countries and populations groups from the effects of crises.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #54: Global development trends at the turn of the century
From the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, there are three major issues that shaped the world economy: the convergence of developing countries’ income with respect to the average income of developed economies; the growing unbalances in the global economy which led eventually to the global financial crisis; and the adoption and implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #51: Reflecting on the World Economic and Social Survey's 70 years of development policy analysis
In drawing the most relevant lessons for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the World Economic and Social Survey 2017 systematically reviews the seven decades of development discussions contained in the publication – the oldest continuous publication of its kind.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #50: International finance to support climate change resilience
In the past 20 years, weather-related disasters affected 4.2 billion people worldwide, with a large loss of life and livelihoods. The global annual average cost of climatic disasters, including floods, storms, droughts and heat waves, is estimated to have risen from $64 billion during the period 1985-1994 to $154 billion in the period 2005-2014. A more complete estimate of global costs, taking into account the loss associated with slow-onset climate events (e.g., sea-level rise and desertification), is likely to yield a larger figure.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #49: Data and statistics for climate change resilience
Identifying the population groups at greatest risk due to climate-related events, understanding the specific risks they incur, and monitoring the interventions to reduce their vulnerability requires basic indicators on populations in vulnerable zones. Furthermore, these indicators must meet international criteria for standardized sources and methods, frequency and continuity, and be easy to understand.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #47: Benefits of engaging stakeholders in integrated climate impact assessments
At the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the intention to build consistency across the various dimensions of development. Implementation of a holistic agenda such as this will increase the demand for integrated assessment approaches as the basis to improve policy coherence. The international community of natural and social scientists has adopted these approaches, particularly for assessing scenarios of potential impacts of climate hazards on people and their livelihoods.