Leveraging innovations to secure our shared future

The international community finds itself at the halfway mark of the global race towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Yet, the goals are still far off track in many areas and UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently warned, “unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been.”

But with the help of science, technology and innovation, there is hope that efforts towards the goals can be accelerated. Science also suggests that it is still possible to achieve the SDGs, provided that urgent actions to accelerate the pace of change is taking place at all levels. Innovations are needed at the global, national, and grassroots levels to change behaviours, restructure incentives, and replace “business-as-usual” with new and sustainable practices.

This is where the UN Multistakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation comes in. Taking place from 3 to 4 May 2023, the Forum will showcase several innovators who are taking action to accelerate the pace of sustainability transformation both locally and globally. These innovators are expected to share data, research and outcomes that span the fields of biodiversity, climate, energy, food systems, health, education, inclusion, emerging and frontier technologies.

Ms. Freda Korarome in Papua New Guinea is one such innovator. As the Coordinator of Ecoforestry in the Division of Natural Resources, Eastern Highlands, Provincial Administration, she is promoting the Chinese mushroom-breeding technology, Juncao, to advance sustainable agriculture while supporting marginalized populations. Ms. Freda leads workshops with local women, people with disabilities, and youth to train them on planting and cooking mushrooms, as well as how to market and sell the product. Her efforts have helped provide economic opportunities, as well as improve nutrition among the local communities.

The India-based Aquaconnect is another example. This network has developed an AI-powered mobile app to guide fish and shrimp farmers to help improve their productivity and prevent diseases. The app uses deep learning algorithms to provide context-specific farming suggestions that help advance sustainable aquaculture, overcome value-chain inefficiencies, and improve profits for local farmers, thus improving livelihoods.

Yet another example can be found in addressing biodiversity. Conservation X Labs has discovered solutions for sourcing, developing, and scaling up critical solutions to address the underlying drivers of species extinction. The company runs global competitions to harness ideas and then designs new solutions and leverages international partnerships to scale them up.

In connection with the STI Forum, an STI in Africa Day will be held on 2 May at the UN Headquarters in New York, focusing on STI4SDGs: Priority Areas, Levers and Actionable Steps for Africa. A Global Solutions Summit is another special event to be held on the margins of the STI Forum on 5 May in New York. The event will be organized in partnership with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and its Affiliate Member, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

To learn more about STI Forum and its special and side events, please visit bit.ly/STIForum2023.