António Guterres and Gro Harlem Brundtland at the G-STIC Conference of 2020
3,700 participants and 200 expert speakers from 140 countries joined the fourth G-STIC Conference in 2020 to discuss how we can leverage technology transformation opportunities triggered by COVID-19 beyond the current pandemic.
The conference was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the online sessions and the live-streamed sessions from the studios in Brussels, world-renowned speakers and sustainability thought leaders explored how to leverage technological transformation opportunities beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Identifying technological innovations that impact the SDGs
The intersecting challenges of health, climate and sustainability have indeed never been clearer than during the COVID-19 pnademic. We urgently need better ways to provide healthcare and education, decarbonising energy systems, sustainable agriculture and nutrition, sustainable and healthful cities. The fourth edition of the G-STIC conference proved to be a unique opportunity to identify technological innovations that impact the SDGs and to discuss what needs to be done to make the science-technology-policy system capable of rapid delivery of these solutions.
Speech by António Guterres, Secretary of the UN
UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasised that science and technology are crucial to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the growing inequalities throughout the world. This pandemic is a wake-up call for a better relationship between science and policymaking, for more effective international technology cooperation, and for building public trust in science.
The revolution in science and technology continues to accelerate along with its broad impact on the economy, society and environment. We must ensure that these advances benefit all.
Speech by Gro Harlem Brundtland
As we are in the midst of a global health crisis adding enormous social and economic shocks to the burden of disease and death, the interdependence inside and between nations becomes more apparent than ever before.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, highlighted during her keynote that the COVID-19 pandemic is a stark illustration of how we need to work together for inclusiveness, equality, empowerment and sustainability to safeguard our common future. The SDGs are the best and an already agreed framework for our future.
9 main messages of the fourth G-STIC Conference
Far from undermining the case for the SDGs, the root causes and uneven impacts of COVID-19 demonstrate precisely the urgency of implementing the 2030 Agenda. COVID-19 is forcing us to design a new area of technological development that balances economic, social and environmental progress to build a greener and more inclusive future.
Speakers explored how to leverage technological transformation opportunities beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed which key actions are needed to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
Photos of the conference
