SDG Blog

From the Internet Governance Forum to Our Common Agenda

By Krzysztof Szubert, High Representative of the Prime Minister for European Digital Policy, Member of the UN IGF Leadership Panel, Republic of Poland

Last December, Poland was the proud host of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The global, multi-stakeholder platform that we all know, was this time held under quite unusual circumstances, as we all had to face the COVID pandemic rules and restrictions. At the same time, we wanted the IGF annual meeting to be available and accessible to everyone who would like to join the global discussion. And we did it!

Crisis in education for SDGs: The long-term impact of COVID-19 and the digital transformation

By Eun Mee Kim, President of Ewha Womans University

Population trends are both a key driver and a consequence of development

By Anastasia J. Gage, Professor at the Department of International Health and Sustainable Development, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University and member of the UN High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs

Now is the time to save our ocean and protect our future

By Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General of UN DESA and Secretary-General of the 2022 UN Ocean Conference

Our ocean is a beautiful blue wonder. It regulates our climate, fills our lungs with oxygen and provides food and jobs for millions of people around the globe.

Most of us have a connection to the ocean. And we all depend on it for our survival. In fact, according to the latest SDG data, more than 3 billion people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods.

An inclusive vision of computing will help us accelerate progress on the SDGs

By Josiah Hester, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, and Director of the Ka Moamoa Ubiquitous and Mobile Computing Lab

Financing for the way forward for sustainable development

By Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, the world faces gross inequalities, a climate crisis and an economic depression not seen in decades. Worse still, the conflict in Ukraine will be a major blow to the global economy. Once again, developing countries least able to cope with the impacts of these interrelated and cascading crises will be hit hardest.

Healthy forests offer a path to a better climate and greener future for all

By Ms. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, Director, United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat, UN DESA

The world we live in is beset with crises of epic proportions – from the global pandemic that has upended life as we knew it, to the looming threats of irreversible climate change and biodiversity extinction, coupled with rising pollution and unsustainable consumption and production.

Partner with us for Partnership Forum 2022

By Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Partnerships mean different things to different people. To some, partnerships can mean sharing the financial burdens and profits of joint ventures. To others, partnerships may entail a deeper commitment to common objectives and working with others to find solutions to shared problems.

Ride the Rising Wave to the 2022 UN Ocean Conference

By Ambassador Peter Thomson, UN SG’s Special Envoy for the Ocean

By now you would all have heard the mantra, there can be no healthy planet without a healthy Ocean, and the Ocean’s health has been measurably in decline for some time now. We need to take to heart that all of us have been party to driving the decline in the Ocean’s health. Thus, we all have a role to play in developing and implementing the solutions.

Building an open, free and secure digital future for all

By Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Officer in Charge of the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology

If you are reading this online, you are fortunate to be in the third of humanity that has access to Internet. 2.9 billion people, particularly in Least Developed Countries, are not as lucky and they are being left behind even further in our brave new digital world.