The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the twelfth of which is “Responsible consumption and production,” namely: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Under this major goal, there are 11 targets, the 12.a of which is “Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.”

●Current Situation

About the World

United Nations Global South-South Development Expo builds new collaborative global partnerships for sustainable COVID-19 recovery

The eleventh edition of the United Nations Global South-South Development Expo (GSSD Expo), an event highlighting Southern innovations in tackling crosscutting challenges, was held in Bangkok in September 2022 with a resounding call for leveraging South-South and triangular cooperation for sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing other challenges toward achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since its inception in 2008, the GSSD Expo has actively showcased and promoted best practices from hundreds of partner countries, United Nations agencies, private sector enterprises and civil society organizations. Past Expos have taken place in New York, Washington DC, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, Nairobi, Dubai, and Antalya.

“The world is at a critical time. The pandemic, the climate crisis, the longstanding and new conflicts, economic inequalities and rising inflation are jeopardizing many of the development gains we have struggled for decades to achieve,” said Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the General Assembly in his opening message to the GSSD Expoin Bangkok. “Without the Global South’s comprehensive recovery, we cannot get back on track to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The world needs their global south’s energy, ingenuity, and cooperative spirit.”

“South-South and cooperation are critical for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate disruption, address the global health crisis, including COVID-19 recovery, and achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.South-South and triangular cooperation must play an ever-increasing role in resolving our common challenges.” said U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.

VijavatI sarabhakdi, vice minister for foreign affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, opened the conference by pointing out, “We, as global community, must pull together if we aspire to a more livable and prosperous world thus fulfilling our promise of leaving no one behind… The GSSD Expo 2022 provides a valuable forum for us to exchange new ideas, share adaptable solutions, reinforce existing networks and explore new partnerships for development cooperation.”

Source: unsouthsouth.org

About China

The online seminar “South-South Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation”

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the scale of the digital economy has expanded, and the global digital transformation has accelerated. Vigorously developing the digital economy has become a strategic choice to grasp the new round of scientific and technological revolution and new opportunities for industrial reform. At the 17th G20 Summit recently, it was widely agreed to accelerate the development of the digital economy and boost global growth. South-South cooperation in the digital economy has also become an integral part of international development cooperation, which will inject more new impetus into global economic development and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.

On November 18, 2022, the China Observation Think Tank of China Daily and the Technology and Management Development Research Center of Oxford University jointly held an online seminar on “South-South Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation”. Qu Yingpu, president and chief editor of the China Daily, pointed out in his speech that China attaches great importance to scientific and technological innovation, and the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has made strategic plans on education, science and technology, and talent development. In the past decade, scientific and technological progress has significantly increasingly contributed to China’s economic growth, laying a solid foundation for promoting the Chinese path to modernization. China’s development experience has provided new options for other countries seeking to achieve modernization, and it is also of great significance to enhance the independent development capacity of countries. While winning the battle against poverty, China actively supports and helps underdeveloped countries to eradicate poverty, becoming an important driving force for the transformation of international development cooperation.

Sources: china.org.cn

●Cases

About the World

South-South Galaxy

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation along with development partners has developed a global knowledge sharing and partnership-brokering platform – South-South Galaxy.Powered by artificial intelligence, the platform aims to respond systematically and effectively in supporting developing countries’ demand to connect, learn and collaborate with potential partners. It serves as a consolidated South-South solutions platform for Southern partners in the UN system and acts as a one-stop-shop for all partners to use. The platform compliments, rather than substitutes or duplicates existing national or regional institutional arrangements.Southern partners can publish their Southern development solutions and needs, exchange knowledge, foster partnerships, access to cutting-edge research, feature and engage in capacity building initiatives, and connect the UN system and South-South partners.South-South Galaxy also connects Southern partners with financing mechanisms, and most importantly, it provides advisory services by linking Southern partners with thematic experts from UN agencies to provide implementation support, when requested.

Lower Mekong Basin Project strengthening access to water, food and energy in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the Republic of Korea Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) launched the collaboration project of the “Triangular Cooperation on Sustainable Development in the Lower Mekong Basin based on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus”. Dr. Anoulak Kittikhoun, chief executive officer of the MRC Secretariat, addressed some of the unprecedented challenges faced by “a basin of one of the world’s greatest rivers” – the Mekong basin – including loss of wetlands, reduced sediment nourishment, and rising salinity that is increasingly impeding rice cultivation. He noted that these adverse impacts have been coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, climate change and human activities that are creating hardship for millions of vulnerable fishing and farming families. Therefore, Adel Abdellatif, UNOSSC director a.i. expressed his appreciation to the Government of Republic of Korea (Ministry of Science and ICT), the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and its secretariat. He also commended the dedication of the Republic of Korea and the countries represented by the MRC to uphold a strong focus on helping people in the Lower Mekong Basin “through science, technology and innovation (STI) towards mitigating the impacts of climate change and development activities that have triggered challenges to people’s livelihoods, the environment they live in, and in particular, women and the vulnerable.”

Source: unsouthsouth.org

About China

Ministry of Science and Technology and Shenzhen jointly build Southern Center of National Technology Transfer

On November 15, 2014, the Ministry of Science and Technology signed a cooperation framework agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to jointly build the Southern Center of National Technology Transfer, marking the official landing of the center in Shenzhen. The construction of the center aims to promote the close integration of science and technology with the economy, takes deepening the reform of the science and technology system as a breakthrough point, carries out the exploration and practice of effective market allocation of global innovation resources, and constructs a new pattern of cross regional, cross domain and cross institutional technology circulation and transformation with Shenzhen as the core.

According to a person in charge at the Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Commission, the Southern Center will strive to build an international, market-oriented and open cluster of national technology transfer in the south. According to the construction plan, Shenzhen will focus on organizing and implementing eight projects: building a gathering space, establishing a scientific and technological service research institution, establishing a joint fund for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, building an international technology transfer system, promoting innovation in the technology transfer system and mechanism of colleges, universities and research institutions, accelerating the commercialization of intellectual property rights, building a public service platform, and improving the technology transfer policy system.

Source: sznews.com, Shenzhen Economic Daily

China’s South-South cooperation projects praised by UN

As one of the initiatives in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the United Nations Development Programme, the South-South Center was officially unveiled at UNDP’s representative office in China in September 2019. The South-South Center aims to provide South-South partners with appropriate sustainable development technology solutions by building a technology transfer platform and database to accurately connect technology demand and supply; to build a think tank for South-South cooperation in the field of technology transfer, conduct strategic and policy research, and explore the application of China’s development experience and best practices to solve common problems faced by technical cooperation; to establish technology demonstration and promotion hubs along “the Belt and Road” and share China’s experience in technological innovation and development with countries along the line; and to build a technology transfer capacity building base, organize and implement technology transfer and developing country assistance projects entrusted by governments, UNDP and other international organizations, and carry out capacity building activities such as knowledge sharing, training exchange seminars and technology demonstration.

A press conference of “Excellent Practices of South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Least Developed Countries” hosted by the United Nations was held online in 2022, and “China-Ghana/Zambia Renewable Energy Technology Transfer Project” and “China-Ethiopia/Sri Lanka Renewable Energy Triangular Project” were both selected into these excellent practices. “The ongoing triangular cooperation project of China, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka on technology transfer of biogas, biomass and solar energy will not only provide renewable energy for communities throughout Ethiopia and power for families, hospitals and schools, but also provide a large number of employment and livelihood improvement opportunities,” said Achim Steiner, administrator of the UNDP.

Source: stdaily.com

●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.