The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the 17th of which is “Partnerships for the goals,” namely: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Under this major goal, there are 19 targets, the 17.19 of which is “By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries.”

●Current Situation

The Worl

Measurement data is scarce

Since 2015, less than half of the 193 countries or territories have internationally comparable data. Especially for countries with few resources and underdeveloped technologies, it is often difficult to collect sufficient and reliable data to monitor progress towards the SDGs, which severely limits people’s ability to diagnose problems. At the same time, the timeliness of data needs to be highly valued. Less than 30% of the latest data is available for 2022 and 2023, while more than half of the latest data is from 2020 and 2021.

In 2024, 34 of the 169 targets lack sufficient trend data or additional analysis. There are large differences in data coverage across countries and targets. Data timeliness remains a challenge, with about one-third of the indicators lacking data from the past three years. A strong statistical foundation relies on both traditional and innovative data sources. Many countries still face challenges in establishing a robust statistical base. The lack of data and monitoring capacity affect the accurate assessment and monitoring of the effectiveness of the implementation of the SDGs in countries.

Photo: China Quality Institute

The year of 2024 also marks a new chapter in the promotion of World Metrology Day following the resolution adopted by the 42nd Session of the UNESCO General Conference in November 2023 to grant official recognition by UNESCO to its celebration on May 20 each year. This will provide new opportunities to promote metrology, and aligns with UNESCO’s mission to construct a better world through science and education.

Source: Xinhua, china.org.cn, Sina Finance, China Metrology Association

China

Applying new technologies to measure progress towards sustainable development

China is accelerating the coordinated transformation and development of digitalization and greening. The government promotes the deep integration of industrial digitalization, intelligence and greening, and deepens the application of artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and industrial Internet in the fields of power systems, industrial and agricultural production, transportation, and building construction and operation, so as to realize the green transformation empowered by digital technology.

China has made significant progress in data collection, but it still faces uneven data quality and regional data availability. According to the existing provincial SDGs indicator framework in China, the number of indicators for nine SDGs does not reach 50% of the official SDGs indicators, including SDG1 (no poverty), SDG2 (zero hunger), SDG5 (gender equality), SDG8 (economic growth), SDG10 (reduced inequalities), SDG12 (consumption and production), SDG13 (climate action), SDG16 (peace and justice), and SDG17 (partnerships). The lack of data has greatly affected the accurate assessment and monitoring of the implementation of the SDGs in various countries.

The press conference for Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (2024).

The International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) released “Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (2024)” during the Summit of the Future at the 79th United Nations General Assembly from September 22 to 23, 2024, offering a visionary roadmap for harnessing Big Earth Data to advance the Global Development Initiative and align with the UN’s “Pact with Future.”

The report used multi-source satellite remote sensing data and AI algorithms to quantitatively assess seven SDGs globally and 227 SDG indicators in China. It revealed that China has already achieved 126 indicators (55.5%) ahead of the schedule of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, the report forecasts the environmental indicators. Based on the current trend, China is likely to meet or come close to achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities).

Big Earth Data, integrating satellite remote sensing, statistical surveys, Internet sources, and basic geographic information, has emerged as an effective method for comprehensive SDG progress assessment and for addressing data gaps.

Source: Xinhua, china.org.cn, Sina Finance, Aerospace Information Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences

●Cases

The World

BNY facilitates ESG market

Photo: Newton

Newton, BNY’s subsidiary, published a series of articles to advance understanding of biodiversity as it relates to investment, such as Biodiversity: Data and Impact Measurement. BNY’s capabilities support user needs such as sourcing and integrating multiple ESG market data products with a range of indicators such as carbon emissions, regulatory metrics, physical risks, fund ESG rating, and impact measurement.

Source: BNY

Meta collects GHG data

Photo: Meta

Meta leveraged expertise in data science to increase the granularity and speed with which they track their emissions. They created a unified data model (UDM) for emissions, which consolidates several GHG data sources from their global offices and data centers into a single point of access. This consolidation helps them to streamline their data collection process, improving data governance and enabling them to quickly measure and manage their emissions.

Source: Meta

China

National EV battery and charging metrology center established in Shenzhen

Photo: WeChat official account of SZTV News

The State Administration for Market Supervision approved the establishment of the National Electric Vehicle Battery and Charging System Industrial Metrology Testing Center in Shenzhen, the only national center of the kind in China.

Based on the Shenzhen Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, the center will play a role in providing technical support and assurance for the new energy automobile industry through metrology. The center will also enhance the core competitiveness of the national electric vehicle battery and charging system industry.

Source: Shenzhen Daily

Shenzhen launches carbon footprint certification

Photo: Shenzhen Green Finance Association

Shenzhen has launched the country’s first carbon footprint labeling certification pilot project and built the country’s first public service platform for product carbon footprint labeling certification. A total of 167 companies, including Huawei Technologies, China Resources, Lenovo, Sunwoda, Hello Tech, Purcotton, Chenguang Dairy, and China Paint, have obtained 476 carbon footprint labeling certificates for the Greater Bay Area.

Source: Market Regulation Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind.