Your Excellencies, Co-Chairs of the STI Forum,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to welcome you to the Ministerial session of the STI Forum 2022.
Our experience with science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals has shown that it is only through multi-stakeholder and multilateral cooperation that we can truly accelerate progress and reduce inequalities.
While science and technology are critically important, they alone won’t be sufficient to guarantee quick recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19pandemic and ensure achievement of the SDGs.
Deployment of technological solutions and innovations at a scale that matches the scope our global challenges is crucial for success.
Policy makers, entrepreneurs, leaders in business, investors, diplomats and civil society must all come together to promote joint actions towards our common goals. The multi-stakeholder Technology Facilitation Mechanism – or TFM – was designed to serve as a catalyst for that purpose.
Distinguished Delegates,
Today’s Ministerial session is closely aligned with the overall theme of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
To keep our discussions focused, high-level statements and interventions could focus on topics outlined in the session note:
1. Best practices for equality
2. STI for SDG roadmaps
3. STI for resilience building
4. STI toward low-carbon economies, and
5. Lessons learned towards SDGs 4, 5, 14 and 15.
Excellencies,
UN DESA is proud to support the work of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, as co-lead, with UNCTAD, of the 46-member United Nations Interagency Task Team on Science Technology and Innovation for the SDGs. The contributions of the TFM have been important since its inception. Today’s session will build on this important work to guide further progress. I look forward to learning from the experiences that will be presented.
Let us continue our collective, multi-stakeholder efforts towards making the aspirational 2030 Agenda a reality for all.
I thank you.