Miscellaneous

WGS forum to seek tech solutions to cut waste

The fourth annual Sustainable Development Goals in Action Forum will explore ways in which technology can be used to balance the world’s increasingly fragile ecosystems on February 9 and 10 at the seventh edition of the World Government Summit (WGS 2019) in Dubai, UAE.

The UN-ratified Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a blueprint for organizations and policy makers across the world to achieve a brighter, more sustainable future for all. They include 17 objectives, 169 goals and 230 indicators that seek to address the challenges of 836 million people living in poverty, the waste of more than a third of the world’s food and limited water resources that impact over 40 per cent of the world’s population.

The SDGs emphasize the need for an international consensus in protecting human rights and raising living standards to elevate global economic and environmental values.

The UAE’s National Committee on SDGs, formed by the UAE Cabinet in January 2017, which includes 17 federal government entities, has announced that more than 300 officials from federal and local government bodies, private sector leaders, non-profit organizations and academic experts will attend the SDGs in Action Forum 2019.

Furthermore, on February 10, as part of the Forum, a high-profile panel will examine the inclusion of youth in the implementation of SDGs throughout the world. Following the launch of the ‘Youth Council of the Global Agenda 2030’ at the UN Data Forum 2018, held in Dubai at the end of last year, 610 candidates applied for membership to the ‘Youth Advisory Board for SDGs’. Nearly 76 percent of the applicants were Emiratis, highlighting the significance the UAE’s youth accords sustainability.

Abdulla Nasser Lootah, director general of Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA), and vice-chair of the UAE’s National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, said: “In line with the directives of our visionary leadership, the SDG Forum will reflect the importance the UAE government attaches to sustainability, especially given its impact on the global citizen, which is our primary theme of the event this year.

“The Forum will include informative dialogues demonstrating initiatives that have been implemented over the past year and highlighting the efforts carried out in implementing SDGs in the UAE.  Also, the Forum offers an ideal opportunity to examine national and global best practices and is a unique platform to share knowledge with experts from all over the world with the objective of reviewing the progress in implementing SDGs globally.”

With leading government officials, experts from international organizations, and eminent personalities from the private sector set to attend, the Forum will feature several presentations on best practices and public-private partnerships. Crucially, it will also address ways to employ innovative and advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence in supporting efforts to achieve sustainability goals locally and globally.

In addition, the Forum will also review the headline figures from 2018’s report on the National Committee on SDGs. The sustainable achievements of the UAE, prominent in the findings, will be put forward as an example that the world can learn from.

The National Committee on SDGs has under its umbrella several teams and specialized committees focused on diverse aspects of sustainability. The most important of these is the World Council for Sustainable Development that seeks to support global efforts in achieving the UN’s sustainability vision for 2030. Members of the Council will participate in the Forum's activities for the first time this year.

The Private Sector Advisory Council, which is overseen by the National Committee on SDGs, will also take part in the Forum this year. The Council was one of the specialized subcommittees launched in 2018 with the aim of supporting a new era of public-private partnerships.

The World Government Summit 2019 will run from February 10 to 12 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The landmark event is set to convene more than 4,000 participants from 140 countries, including heads of state and governments, as well as top-tier representatives of 30 international organizations. – TradeArabia News Service