VIENNA, 22 October 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled the advancement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It is creating many challenges, yet also it unveils opportunities to build back better. In this context, inclusive and sustainable industrial development, which is at the core of SDG9, is expected to play a critical role in overcoming the crisis and setting countries back on the path of economic development.

The achievement of the SDGs in a post-COVID-19 world will require a holistic approach, including strong commitments towards the promotion of structural changes across all sectors of society. In this context, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) jointly organized a virtual event that addressed how the pandemic is impacting the SDGs, specifically SDG 9, and the Agenda 2030 

UNIDO’s Director General, LI Yong, opened up the event by emphasizing how Agenda 2030 is and still should be the roadmap to recovery. He also touched on the importance of achieving SDG9 to create a more sustainable industrial future and the need for reliable statistics and data, including UNIDO’s Industrial Analytics Platform and SDSN’s new data platform, SDGs Today. Li stated, “We must seize the opportunity to use the disruptive impact of the pandemic on the global economy to seek collaborative solutions to drive the 2030 Agenda.”

Gerhard Küntzle, Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN in Vienna, stated, “It is crystal clear that we must make the next ten years a decade of action and aim to mainstream evidence-based policymaking in the development agenda.”

SDSN President, Jeffrey Sachs, highlighted the need for global collaboration, and how the world should turn toward six transformation pathways to achieve the SDGs amidst the pandemic. Sachs specifically highlighted the need for the first transformation relating to education, gender and inequality, and the sixth transformation relating to a Digital Revolution for Sustainable Development.

“No child can have a future without education,” Sachs said, noting how access to the tools for free digital education for children is achievable with the right global collaboration.

Lastly, Sachs highlighted the need for decarbonizing industry: “Renewable energy is our theme and we must get to zero.” 

As Ethiopia has undergone an industrial revolution from agricultural to manufacturing, the next speaker, Arkebe Oqubay, Minister and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, discussed lessons learned for the world to apply to achieve progress toward the SDGs. Oqubay highlighted three lessons: 1) Leadership and policymaking will need to be redefined in the new environment; 2) A commitment to green and carbon-neutral industrialization is vital; 3) Smart technologies will enable the wider application and use of green industries.

Last but not least, Professor Oqubay noted that global collaboration has become the foundation for averting global threats and maximizing opportunities.

Ann Rosenberg, co-founder of SDG Ambition UNGC, provided aprivate sector perspective and echoed Oqubay’s insights that all companies need to redefine production lines and industries. She said, “The hope from larger companies is that these smaller businesses and entrepreneurs will come up with new, redefined ways of doing things…There is a collective responsibility for everyone to help.”

Rosenberg stated that it is up to countries to figure out how to collaborate and how to access technology, so that all companies can advance industrially and toward the SDGs. Moreover, Rosenberg highlighted the need for tools to know where we are, so we know how we can close the gap to achieve the SDGs.

Ambassador Martha Lungu Mwitumwa, Permanent Representative of Zambia to UNIDO and to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, remarked on the need for more concentrated efforts towards achieving the SDGs, “With the crisis upon us, it will be far more difficult for Least Developed Countries and other low-income countries to achieve SDG 9. In this Decade of Action, we – as Ambassadors in Geneva – have a crucial role to play, in advocating the importance of industry and innovation, in mobilizing more resources towards it, and in fostering partnerships for leveraging trade, investment and technology to achieve that goal. And, as representatives of our countries to key UN institutions, we can foster greater UN coherence in these matters.”

It was clear that all panellists agreed that global collaboration is imperative to take the world through the recovery from COVID-19. Once out of recovery, panellists stressed how the focus should be on embracing the new, digital world to further three key initiatives: to bring access to education for all, to build sustainable industrialization, and to reach net-zero emissions.

You can watch the recording of the discussion on Youtube.

For more information, please contact:

Adnan Seric
Industrial Policy Officer, Research and Industrial Policy Advice Division, UNIDO
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