Flipping the science model: The global plan for the future is needing a global rescue plan, says UN secretary-general António Guterres

Science is explicitly recognized in two of the goals: international partnerships are a theme of SDG 17; and SDG 9 includes targets to increase spending on research and development as well as expand the number of researchers. But for the world to truly benefit, science-funding agencies in high-income countries need to place a much stronger emphasis on the SDGs for projects they fund.

The International Science Council published a report called “flipping the science model” in July of this year, which was co-chaired by New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark and UNESCO’s former directors-general. Science is mainly funded through national budgets and is often led by influential investigators.

This re-prioritization of funding will need both governments and national funding agencies to think more globally, and to not see national priorities as competing with global ones. The European Union provides one model for how this could be done. The EU has its own research programmes, but member states also contribute to the EU’s research funding scheme, which has a projected value of around $100 billion over the next ten years. More than 10 million researchers in 39,000 countries had been helped by the fund. Out of the 39% of grant recipients from universities, 29% are businesses working together on projects in health, climate, energy and food.

World leaders pledged to double their efforts on the plan to end poverty and protect the environment which is woefully behind schedule.

The UN gathered in New York in September to approve a political declaration, which says the goals remain the global plan for the future. The agreement states that the plan of action is to leave no one behind.

“The SDGs need a global rescue plan,” UN secretary-general António Guterres declared at the opening of the summit. Guterres is proposing to increase funding for sustainable development by at least US$500 billion to help countries to achieve the goals, as well as other financial aid, including debt relief for the poorest nations so they can survive and thrive after economic shocks.

Paula Caballero was involved in creating the framework for theSDG and said that the world needs to move quickly to accomplish the agenda.

At the same time, she says that 2030 should not be seen as a final ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ deadline. There’s no doubt that the end goal of the planet is 2030, but that shouldn’t be viewed as the end goal. It is a major milestone.

Sociologist Shirin Malekpour, one of the GSDR authors, agrees. The targets and goals should not be the focus of the change, according to Malekpour who is an associate professor at the university.

For Caballero, the SDG summit is also evidence that the goals are focusing minds on the integrated nature of the challenges facing humanity. But she says that the UN system is still making the mistake of treating sustainable development and climate as separate issues, including by holding separate SDG and climate summits in New York this week.

She says that you can’t meet the target of the SDGs unless you deal with climate.