Looking beyond COVID-19 at the STI Forum in 2021
The sixth STI Forum took place from 4 to 5 May 2021. This forum was organized by the UN interagency task team on STI for the SDGs (IATT), convened by UN-DESA and UNCTAD, and the 10-Member Group of high-level representatives appointed by the Secretary General.
The online event held by G-STIC on May 4, in relation to the STI Forum, was organised by the Permanent Missions of Belgium and Brazil to the United Nations.
Integrated pathways to address health, economy and climate together
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed unprecedented clarity about the way health and sustainability
challenges interconnect. We urgently need better ways to provide healthcare and education, as well as decarbonising our energy systems, making agriculture and nutrition more sustainable and ensuring our cities are both sustainable and healthful places to be.
The SDGs could serve as a framework for long-term COVID-19 recovery strategies. However, it is clear that COVID-19, at the same time, presents a major setback for the SDGs. To get back on track, we need a strong framework for guiding government actions for the immediate post-crisis recovery and framing long-term strategies.
Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity
The pandemic has caused enormous diversion from advancing towards the SDGs. How can we rethink the pathway for jointly addressing health, economy and climate? How can we better prepare for future pandemics and other sustainability crises?
For answers, we turned to Dirk Fransaer (Managing Director, VITO), Paulo Gadelha (former President & Coordinator of Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Fiocruz), Phoebe Koundouri (Co-Chair, SDSN Europe and SDSN Greece), Vibha Dhawan (Director-General, TERI) and Thulani Dlamini (CEO, CSIR).
New post-pandemic technology trends
The pandemic has already become an extraordinary catalyst for change. It has also shown that existing technology is not up to the twin challenges of attaining the SDGs and tackling health crises.
This means the need for innovation is greater than ever. Investing in innovation should be a ‘no-brainer’ as it creates jobs, increases knowledge and, if all goes well, results in new products and markets. But innovation won’t happen by itself. We need to keep incentivising the entire innovation chain. Moreover, digital innovation is crucial in all areas.
