UNGA 78: The Perilous Path to Realizing the 2030 Agenda

2030

2023 COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

UNGA 78 THE PERILOUS PATH TO REALIZING THE 2030 AGENDA

2025

2020

2015

MASTHEAD CEO & PUBLISHER ANA C. ROLD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SHANE SZARKOWSKI ART DIRECTOR MARC GARFIELD

EDITORS JEREMY FUGLEBERG MELISSA METOS SPECIAL SERIES EDITOR KELLY R. BAILEY

MULTIMEDIA MANAGER WHITNEY DEVRIES

CORRESPONDENTS MILLIE BRIGAUD ELIA PRETO MARTINI NIKOLA MIKOVIC

BOOK REVIEWER JOSHUA HUMINSKI

OPERATIONS COORDINATOR BEKI ADAMS

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD ANDREW M. BEATO FUMBI CHIMA DANTE A. DISPARTE KERSTIN EWELT

SIR IAN FORBES LISA GABLE GREG LEBEDEV ANITA MCBRIDE

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS DARON ACEMOGLU ELYAS FELFOUL DANIELLA FOSTER LISA GABLE THOMAS GARRETT PINELOPI KOUJIANOU GOLDBERG JOHN GOODWIN GILLIAN HINDE SIMON JOHNSON AUSTIN LENTSCH NIKKI LOCKE

DARIA LOI ANDREA MALEK ASH AUTUMN MCDONALD LISA MOON CAROL O’DONNELL SCOTT C. RATZAN DANI RODRIK YASMINE SHERIF AVANTIKA SINGHA ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER IAN THOMAS

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ARTWORK. Cover art by Marc Garfield for Diplomatic Courier.

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enabling human flourishing through physical, mental, spiritual, social, and intellectual health.

9 October 2023 | 10:00 am — 6:00 pm GMT The Shard, 32 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG, UK

U N GA 7 8 I S EP TEMBER 2023

Welcome So where do we find hope?

Shane Szarkowski Editor-in-Chief

I

t was already an open secret, but still jarring to hear put in such stark terms. Not only are we not on track to reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, but we’re nowhere close. In July, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the world is “woefully off track” from where we need to be to achieve the Global Goals, and he laid out why. For years, said Guterres, the world has lacked ambition, has lacked a sense of urgency, and has failed to develop any sense of solidarity in terms of reaching the goals. Worse, post-pandemic economic woes are strangling many national economies, making it even tougher to envision progress when resources are suddenly, dramatically limited.

First of all, governments aren’t the only stakeholders.

We need a whole of society approach to overcome all the challenges, old and new, laid out by the SecretaryGeneral. It might just be enough to also let us overcome another implicit challenge—time is not on our side. How do we adopt a whole of society approach? For us, the answer is simple but not necessarily easy.

Uncommon collaborations.

These were the themes we asked contributors to this year’s UNGA Special Edition to explore, focusing specifically on SDGs 3, 4, 8, and 9. How do we get back on track (or getting on track in the first place) for achieving the SDGs with the heightened challenges of our post-pandemic world? Accounting for how our individual and organizational goals align with the SDGs, how can we create uncommon collaborations to bolster progress? We engaged on this with a great group of contributors this year, thought leaders from a broad spectrum of sectors, public and private. They responded with some

compelling ideas which are intended to points of further conversation at this year’s UNGA. These ideas will definitely inform dialogue at Diplomatic Courier’s events in New York this September, and hopefully beyond.

The urgency of forming uncommon collaborations is also why Diplomatic Courier partnered this year with a larger and more far-reaching group of stakeholders. These are organizations—EY, Gallup, LinkUp Global, Readocracy, and the Smithsonian Science Education Center— which have resolved to be active players in being part of the solution. We think it’s a great start, and the quality of this edition and our events at UNGA owe a lot to their partnership.

We hope you find this edition compelling, and that it helps you to think more constructively about how we can get back on track to hit our Global Goals.

Everybody on our shared planet will live better lives if the world succeeds here, and we all can find ways to be an active part of the solution, so we hope you’ll come along.

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ESGT Megatrends Manual 2023-2024

5 Takeaways

#1 – The Mainstream Explosion of Exponential Tech.

The mainstream explosion of exponential tech creates deep urgency around finding and implementing governance guardrails in business, society, and international security.

#2 – The Socio-Ecological Triangle Lens.

Preserving “life on earth” requires a socioecological triangle lens—where regardless of what we do, we understand and deploy solutions that acknowledge the deep interconnectivity between climate, biodiversity, and society.

#3 – The Rise of New Power Centers.

The U.S. remains dominant for now but other power centers—China, the EU, the Global South—will play critical roles in determining the balance of global power over the next decade.

#4 – The Future of Democracy.

The demise of democracy has been overtouted, but vigilance is existentially necessary in a world of weaponized disinformation and polarization.

#5 – The Leadership Trust Factor.

Mission critical: finding trustworthy leaders in business, government, and society. We are in dire need of selecting and deploying more emotionally intelligent, stakeholder savvy, and systems thinking leaders.

Download the full edition for free using the QR code.

Includes the ESGT Futureproofing Blueprint for Leaders!

Contents U N GA 7 8 I S EP TEMBER 2023

SDG 3: Good health AND wellbeing

SDG 8: decent work AND economic growth

10 I Harness AI to Empower Healthcare Professionals and Patients

44 I Reinvent Job Pathways to Solve the Inequality Gap

By: Lisa Gable

14 I Rapidly Evolve Healthcare to Meet the Moment By: Daniella Foster

18 I The Crucial Role of Food Banks in the World’s Sustainability Agenda By: Lisa Moon

22 I Beyond the Pandemic: There’s More to be Done on SDG 3 By: Scott C. Ratzan

SDG 4: quality Education 26 I Education is Imperative to Achieving the UN SDGs By: Yasmine Sherif

30 I Educators Report Global Disparities in Inclusion of SDGs in Curricula By: Carol O’Donnell and Andrea Malek Ash

36 I Society Needs Innovation in Education for Business Leaders By: John Goodwin

40 I How to Assist the Next Generation of Leaders in Sustainability By: Gillian Hinde

By: Elyas Felfoul

48 I How Much Work is Enough?

By: Anne-Marie Slaughter and Autumn McDonald

52 I Sustainable Development Through the Lens of Cultural Heritage By: Nikki Locke and Ian Thomas

56 I An Immigration Wake-Up Call By: Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg

SDG 9: industry, innovation, ANd infrastructure 64 I Leverage AI to Turn SDG Ambitions into Realities By: Thomas Garrett

68 I Focus on Productivity, Not Technology By: Dani Rodrik

72 I The Hollywood Writers’ AI Fight Is Everyone’s Fight By: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and Austin Lentsch

76 I Building More Resilient Supply Chains Amid Global Uncertainty By: Avantika Singha

80 I Shared Dream, Shared Responsibility By: Daria Loi

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Illustration via Adobe Stock, created with Midjourney.

Harness AI to Empower Healthcare Professionals and Patients

By Lisa Gable

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s we approach the 2023 United Nations General Assembly, visionary leaders increasingly recognize artificial intelligence’s (AI) immense potential to improve health and wellbeing. It is time for these leaders to seize this moment to improve medical research and treatment through responsible data sharing, enabling improved collaboration between patients and institutions.

Integrating AI into the healthcare field presents tremendous opportunities to reduce the burden of global healthcare costs and improve the wellbeing of our communities. By harnessing the power of AI and prioritizing patient access to data, we can revolutionize the diagnosis and management of complex conditions.

Through a careful balance of privacy and data utilization, we can improve patient outcomes, enhance the overall quality of life, and empower patients to make informed choices about their healthcare.

AI’s remarkable capabilities aid medical and research professionals diagnose diseases more efficiently, expanding their knowledge and abilities. Through advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques, AI can identify subtle patterns and signals that human observers may miss.

Enabling information exchange is vital, allowing patients access to their data across different healthcare providers and commercial platforms. Patient permission to share this data with doctors is crucial for effective diagnosis and disease management, leading to improved outcomes.

Identifying treatments and care options for patients requires comprehensive data.

It comes through the broader sharing of non-identifying information among institutions like patient advocacy groups, medical research centers, businesses, and government researchers.

Although patient advocacy groups often use patient registries to gather disease information, current systems suffer challenges due to their cumbersome archi-

MILLIONS SPEND ENDLESS HOURS IN HOSPITALS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON SPECIALIZED FOOD PRODUCTS TO AVOID ADVERSE FOODRELATED EVENTS. tecture and the quantity of information requested. Also, these registries focus on post-diagnosis data collection and lack crucial details related to actions, behaviors, and symptoms before the disease is identified.

Furthermore, data sharing across comorbidities is limited with current systems.

An area that deserves greater attention is the exponential growth of diet-related diseases. Conditions like Crohn’s and Colitis, celiac disease, and food allergies can be challenging to diagnose without a comprehensive understanding of timing and tracking patient eating habits, emergency room visits, and different medical interventions they have explored.

Researchers, clinicians, and innovators would benefit from accessing comprehensive datasets encompassing patients’ medical history, diet, and lifestyle. Incorporating these factors in data collection and sharing efforts will improve our understanding of the relationship between diseases and enable more effective interventions and treatments.

Millions spend endless hours in hospitals and billions of dollars on specialized food products to avoid adverse food-related events. They input their symptoms in search engines or explore eating disorder programs as they struggle to understand what is wrong with them.

Consider the journey of a young adult eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE) female who, UNGA 78 | 11

for years, experienced severe vomiting and weight loss but was initially misdiagnosed with an eating disorder and high anxiety solely based on her gender. This example highlights the critical role that AI can play in improving patient outcomes and avoiding misdiagnoses. By harnessing the power of AI to analyze records from clinicians and behavioral health specialists, track eating habits, and cross-reference with comprehensive datasets, we can expedite the diagnosis of these diseases. In this instance, AI could have identified the underlying rare disease much earlier, saving the patient from mental and physical anguish, reducing financial costs, and easing the burden on the medical system. This patient journey exemplifies the potential of AI to revolutionize healthcare by enabling timely and accurate diagnoses, ultimately improving the lives of individuals.

Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM, Director, Yale School of Medicine Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, emphasizes the need for a systematic effort to learn from millions of patients’ experiences to enhance medical treatments. In 2010, he advocated leveraging existing databases and billing records to ask the right questions and obtain valuable insight for improved patient care. Today, Krumholz is one of the most prominent advocates for empowering patients with their health data and equipping doctors with the necessary information for comprehensive analysis.

Early detection can lead to faster exploration of treatment options, resulting in more accurate and timely diagnoses. Ultimately, this reduces the burden on clinical and behavioral healthcare professionals and costs to society and improves patient care.

Today, our search engines, social media platforms, and online retailers are already tracking and, in many cases, exploiting our data for commercial use. Now is the time to give medical professionals and patients access to data and use it to achieve an early diagnosis and treatment that will improve their lives.

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By fostering collaborative, responsibly sourced intelligence from our citizens and institutions, we can fully harness technology’s potential as a powerful ally in advancing healthcare and achieving improved health outcomes for our communities.

As noted, one area where we could see immediate advancement in solving and treating is food allergies or sensitivities, which impact one in four Americans, according to a study conducted by FARE, McKinsey, and Northwestern University.

Similar trends are growing worldwide.

Access to patient data in this context could make the most significant difference, but it is not limited to this disease category alone. Mental health and cognitive decline could be identified and addressed through similar access to comprehensive data sets.

In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, the integration of AI holds immense promise to transform how we diagnose, treat, and manage diseases.

As government, nonprofit, and business leaders convene at the upcoming gathering, let us engage in meaningful discussions on ethical considerations, regulatory frameworks, and patient-centric approaches to ensure responsible and equitable AI implementation. Together, we can shape a future where AI-driven healthcare becomes a reality, empowering patients, improving health outcomes, and paving the way for a more efficient and accessible healthcare system. ***** About the author: Lisa Gable is Chairperson of Diplomatic Courier’s World in 2050. She is a former U.S. Ambassador and Bestselling Author of “Turnaround – How to Change Course When Things Are Going South.”

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Where nations connect Effective diplomacy requires influence and in DC’s international circles no place says influence like the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Whether an economic summit, trade negotiation or a private diplomatic affair, our international trade experts and expansive network of leaders enable embassies and governments to amplify their message and strengthen their impact, locally and globally. Expand your reach. Grow your influence with us.

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Rapidly Evolve Healthcare to Meet the Moment

By Daniella Foster

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ealth systems are issuing an SOS. This was the case before, during, and now after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Deloitte 2022 Global Health Care Outlook, “The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the dynamics of public health. The scope and persistence of this global crisis have exposed vulnerabilities in countries’ public health systems and impacted their ability to effectively detect and respond to the continually shifting emergency in a multidimensional way that could have mitigated its impact.”

HEALTH SYSTEMS LARGELY FOCUS ON “SICK CARE.” AS SUCH, ONLY 3% OF HEALTHCARE SPENDING IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES IS FOCUSED ON PREVENTATIVE CARE.

The world is not only continuing to recover from the pandemic. Our health systems are also seeking to mitigate the health impacts of climate change and build healthy, resilient communities. To meet these challenges, we need practical solutions that evolve the continuum of care and take a more integrated approach to health.

mends self-care interventions for every country and economic setting as critical components on the path to reaching UHC, promoting health, keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable.”

Self-care enables people to take care of themselves, at home, with or without the help of a healthcare provider, supporting all eight recommendations identified in the UHC2030 Action Agenda.

Given projected health workforce shortages and the complex global health challenges the current system is insufficient and inefficient. Climate change and its growing impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, and health—alongside geopolitical conflicts, food insecurity, and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases globally—are all long-standing challenges with various intersections complicating public health. As world leaders convene, they should consider three practical areas to move beyond the doctor’s office and strengthen health systems: self-care as healthcare, incentivizing preventative care, and fully addressing determinants of health beyond the body itself.

Self-Care is Healthcare Health systems largely focus on “sick care.”

As such, only 3% of healthcare spending in Europe and the United States is focused on preventative care. Conversely, in the guideline on self-care interventions for health and wellbeing, 2022 revision, the World Health Organization (WHO) “recom-

Shifting resources towards self-care can: •

help improve the effectiveness of health systems;

•

free up healthcare providers to care for patients in critical need;

•

empower people with the tools they need to take better care of the health today, helping them to avoid sickness—and entering the system—tomorrow.

The United for Self-Care Coalition is mobilizing a WHO resolution to codify the value of self-care. The goal is to improve overall integration of self-care into the healthcare continuum, with community, state, and federal governments working together to both educate and change habits. This comes at a critical time when the health impacts f rom climate change are on the rise and the people most impacted are ill-equipped to cope with them. Self-care becomes their only form of healthcare.

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Policy Should Incentivize, Support Preventative Care One of the best ways to prevent disease— whether it be the common cold, heart disease, or the next COVID-19—is to take care of your health every day. We need to bridge the gap between care in the doctor’s office and care at home. In order to enhance people’s health, particularly as they face increased symptoms and ailments due to climate change, they require health literacy know-how with relevant science-based self-care products and tools, which can be delivered through improved policy f rameworks.

For instance, more could be done to foster the safe shift of certain prescriptions to over-the-counter drug status. These transitions have been proven to reduce doctor visits, thereby easing the burden on strained national healthcare budgets.

According to an article published in the Brazilian Journal of Economics and Health (JBES), every $1 spent on over the counter drugs saves $7 for Brazil’s public health system—about the same ratio as observed in similar studies in the U.S. Countries that have started to integrate self-care into their public health systems are seeing improvements in community health. For instance, in Indonesia, prior to 2000, more than 40% of children under five years old were stunted due to malnutrition.

Working with public and private stakeholders, the government prioritized accessibility of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation as a part of their public health programs, leading to a 10%+ decrease in under-five stunting, that will likely continue to improve as a more systematic approach to antenatal care is progressing.

Improving Health Goes Beyond the Body It’s known that promoting healthy choices and improving access to healthcare, alone, won’t improve wellbeing given the diverse determinants of health. Healthcare must move beyond symptoms, diagnosis and treatment to improve the community ecosystem that enables health—from 16 | D IPLOM AT I C COU RIE R

harnessing digital technologies (enabling telehealth and health research), providing accessible, affordable and sustainable transportation (helping someone get to a doctor’s appointment or pharmacy) to healthy foods available in local stores (to improve nutrition). By engaging in multisectoral action, stakeholders need to be in lock-step with health agencies to improve health for all.

Additionally, when we consider determinants of health, there is an amplif ier added to the ecosystem: climate change.

Extreme weather and increased temperatures are causing poor air quality (leading to respiratory issues), extreme heat (impacting heart health), and impacting agriculture yields (leading to food insecurity and malnutrition), among many other health impacts. Similar to the other vectors in the ecosystem, “solving” climate change is often looked at in a silo—lowering carbon emissions. A more integrated approach, connected to health and wellbeing, is needed to prepare health systems for these concurrent permacrises and ensure we improve livelihoods globally.

As world leaders convene to shape the future of healthcare, behavior change is needed. People need to be empowered to take care of their own health and there’s opportunity for health system frameworks to support this in a more holistic and integrated way. ***** About the author: Daniella Foster is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability for Bayer’s Consumer Health Division, and is a member of the division’s Executive Board.

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Photo via Adobe Stock.

The Crucial Role of Food Banks in the World’s Sustainability Agenda

By Lisa Moon

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uch of the news today is dominated by disturbing headlines. Searing heat waves, ongoing conflict, and growing food insecurity are all taking a toll on people and communities around the world. These challenges are pushing back progress in many vital areas of human development, hindering advancement toward a more prosperous, healthy, and equitable world.

Among the critical challenges is food security, which is at the core of the United Nations SDG 2 (to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030). However, trends are largely heading in the wrong direction. Roughly 122 million more people have been pushed into hunger since 2019, according to new UN f igures. At the same time, rising climate shocks and economic insecurity threaten to further engrain poverty and vulnerability in both high-and lowincome countries, limiting national responses to these pressing challenges.

Food banks—which recover wholesome surplus food f rom all parts of the food system and distribute it via community organizations to people facing hunger— are a potent solution waiting to be more fully leveraged. The good news is that food banks have a proven track record of having a positive impact which cuts across many of the Sustainable Development Goals.

For example, during interrelated crises in 2022, locally led food banks provided more than 93 million people with food and essential supplies, according to data f rom the European Food Banks Federation, Feeding America, and The Global FoodBanking Network. Of these, The Global FoodBanking Network helped more than 32 million people get access to food across more than 50 countries, mostly in developing and emerging market economies. Food banks also played a vital role in responding to urgent humanitarian and food security needs, whether in response to the conflict in

FOOD BANKS—WHICH RECOVER WHOLESOME SURPLUS FOOD FROM ALL PARTS OF THE FOOD SYSTEM AND DISTRIBUTE IT VIA COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO PEOPLE FACING HUNGER—ARE A POTENT SOLUTION WAITING TO BE MORE FULLY LEVERAGED. Ukraine, earthquakes in Turkey, drought in East Af rica, and other crises.

To begin with, food banks clearly offer a vital buffer against food insecurity and malnutrition for millions—helping to build a secure and nutritious future for the world’s population through more inclusive food systems.

Food banks serve as a vital safety net for communities in vulnerable situations, providing the food and nutrition needed to lead healthy lives, achieving the goals of zero hunger and also those of SDG 3— good health and wellbeing for all, which cannot be achieved without f irst meeting basic dietary needs.

Food banks are also playing a key role in providing children in vulnerable communities with the food needed to achieve a quality education and upbringing—a key goal of SDG 4. Research shows that children’s educational attainment and broader development can become stunted due to hunger, yet food banks’ partnerships with schools—for instance, in Australia and Kenya—are ensuring children around the world are not missing out on a vital education for fear of going hungry.

Secondly, food banks also have a key role to play in building more circular UNGA 78 | 19

ONE-THIRD OF ALL FOOD PRODUCED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION WORLDWIDE CONTINUES TO BE LOST OR WASTED, CONTRIBUTING SIGNIFICANTLY TO CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH FOOD WASTE EMISSIONS.

ties. In Turkey, food banks helped to create a national disaster response coalition in the immediate aftermath of devastating earthquakes, leveraging their key presence in impacted communities.

From hubs of local capacity building to gateways to further safety-net resources, food banks are critical tools for building resilience and protecting against vulnerability in local communities.

economies, while ensuring future growth and production is sustainable for planetary needs, represented by SDG 9.

Food banks are one such tool that have yet to be fully appreciated in too many countries, despite the fact that they help build healthier lives, greener outcomes, and improved livelihoods for millions.

Even as the world gears up for the next global climate conference, COP28 in Dubai, still one-third of all food produced for human consumption worldwide continues to be lost or wasted, contributing signif icantly to climate change through food waste emissions.

This wasted food not only represents signif icant wastage f rom producers and consumers, but also a huge missed opportunity for addressing prevailing hunger challenges in our societies.

Recovering food that would otherwise be unnecessarily wasted not only reduces the environmental impact of our global food system, achieving the SDG 12.3 target of halving global per capita food waste, but also ensures the food we produce can better serve all communities.

Finally, food banks can support vulnerable communities beyond just providing food, building resilience and community capacity to deal with pressing challenges, such as economic insecurity.

Being embedded in local settings, food banks are flexible f irst responders to the pressing needs of vulnerable communi-

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Ultimately, achieving the SDGs before the end of this decade means making the most of the plethora of solutions available.

It is now in the hands of governments to fully leverage these existing tools in our communities—through supportive policies, funding, and more—to ensure food banks can generate the most good for the most people. Doing so can provide a needed boost toward achieving many of the SDGs. ***** About the author: Lisa Moon is President and CEO at The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN).

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Illustration via Adobe Stock.

Beyond the Pandemic: There’s More to be Done on SDG 3

By Scott C. Ratzan

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OVID-19 has changed our world—our ways of working, traveling, communicating, and living will never be the same.

The damage done by the pandemic and the threats to global health stretch beyond the 765 million confirmed cases and roughly 7 million reported deaths. The pandemic emergency may now have been declared over, but viral mutations still exist and many who suffered from COVID-19 still suffer its effects.

As the world convenes to assess progress toward the Global Goals, we must remember our COVID-19 failure. As the world scrambled to address the pandemic, our system failed us. In May, 2021, the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness issued a stark warning: “Current institutions, public and private, failed to protect people from a devastating pandemic... and... without change, these institutions will not be able to prevent a future pandemic.”

The lack of an authoritative and trusted communication strategy and system makes societies vulnerable to disease outbreaks and disinformation designed to undermine effective public health responses.

The diminishing trust in government institutions apparent during the pandemic has not abated, and mis/dis-information about vaccines and disease continue to threaten public health. While efforts are being made to understand how the global response to COVID-19 could have been improved, we have pandemic fatigue and complacency, while people continue to die while effective vaccines still are not equitably distributed. This also has spilled over to our future hope for innovation, competitiveness, and overall security.

Learning From the Flawed Pandemic Responses This difficult context only increases the importance of investing in multisector approaches to attain Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3)—“Good health and well-being.” Given this challenge,

THE LACK OF AN AUTHORITATIVE AND TRUSTED COMMUNICATION STRATEGY AND SYSTEM MAKES SOCIETIES VULNERABLE TO DISEASE OUTBREAKS AND DISINFORMATION DESIGNED TO UNDERMINE EFFECTIVE PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSES. the Business Partner Roundtables (BPR) hosted a convening under the auspices of the USCIB Foundation, gathering input from private, public, and academic leaders to address global health threats. Attendees offered ideas building upon the widely read multinational Delphi consensus recommendations by 386 established experts from more than 100 countries to end the COVID-19 public health threat.

Along with the priorities of the global consensus report for a Whole-of-Society approach, the BPR ranked communication as an imperative globally, foundational for trust including the need for investment at the global, national and community level.

Experts from the WHO, CDC, Council of Foreign Relations, business leaders, academics, and others echoed the meeting theme—There’s More to be Done—proclaiming the need to engage multiple disciplines, sectors, and actors (e.g., business, civil society, engineering, faith communities, mathematical modeling, military, media, psychology) and develop true multisectoral collaboration.

In short, to achieve SDG 3 we need new approaches and capabilities to ensure that our future is protected with strategic health diplomacy, effective health communication, and science-based responses to disease threats. This cannot be done if UNGA 78 | 23

TO ACHIEVE SDG 3 WE NEED NEW APPROACHES AND CAPABILITIES TO ENSURE THAT OUR FUTURE IS PROTECTED WITH STRATEGIC HEALTH DIPLOMACY, EFFECTIVE HEALTH COMMUNICATION, AND SCIENCEBASED RESPONSES TO DISEASE THREATS. we do not begin post haste to rebuild the public’s trust in government and the institutions we have to protect and safeguard our health.

This will not be easy, as we need to reengage the population and rebuild trust, beginning with a strategy that enhances health and vaccine literacy—people’s understanding of the importance of health as our common currency for investment at the community, national, and global level. The economic arguments are strong, but the value-based arguments are tantamount. We could start with the success demonstrated with eradicating smallpox, and nearly ending polio, reminding people of the success demonstrated with COVID-19 vaccines that stymied the pandemic.

Yet, to build trust we need confidence in the equitable distribution of health and future vaccination to overcome the systematic threats to our health with the mis and disinformation that cloud future health decision-making.

All of us in society would benefit from clear communication from a trusted source for SDG 3—advancing good health and wellbeing. We could begin to develop an Initiative to Strengthen Information on Global Health Threats (INSIGHT) with a clear objective to develop a recognized,

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credible, and trusted source of information. INSIGHT could leverage the world’s best technology innovation with AI, integrating identification, tracking, and realtime communication for effective responses concerning public health threats.

Finally, we should realize our role in society. The BPRs bring people together to elicit innovative ideas to address all the SDGs including Goal 17—Partnerships for the Goals. Together, we can empower those in the multilateral system, NGOs, government scientists, diplomats and others with expertise to become more active as “trusted sources” of information and dialogue on addressing future health crises, acting as “welcome messengers” to convey public health messaging on resilience and preparedness to businesses, employers, employees, and supply chains.

Employers for example, have a coveted trusted role that can specifically enhance vaccine literacy and advancing health at the workplace. (The USCIB Foundation has developed free Learning Modules for employers of all sizes).

While we wait for the next global health threat to emerge, we can all work together to bolster confidence in our global system and protect our most precious asset—our health and wellbeing. ***** About the author: Scott C. Ratzan MD, MPA leads the Business Partner Roundtable series with the U.S. Council for International Business Foundation. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives. He is currently on the Board of Global Health for the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and recently was Co-Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Every Woman Every Child Innovation Working Group.

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Cushman & Wakefield

is proud to support the The Diplomatic Courier and LinkUp Global and to host Education Reimagined: Investing in Youth to Help Achieve SDG4 We look forward to sharing insights and gaining new perspective from our esteemed colleagues Alejandro Alvarez Director, Global Brokerage Services

LIFE IS WHAT

MAKE IT

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Education is Imperative to Achieving the UN SDGs

By Yasmine Sherif

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he Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in peril. Converging challenges of climate change, armed conflicts, mass displacement, and other protracted crises are derailing global efforts to achieve human security through the SDGs. With its power to transform minds, build resilient economies, and ensure human rights for all, education must be put front and center as we make the sprint towards 2030. SDG4, an inclusive and equitable quality education for all, is the single best investment we can make in delivering on each and every one of the SDGs. For every U.S. dollar invested in girls’ education, we see a substantial return of $2.80, thus, ensuring girls complete secondary education could boost GDP by an average of 10%, according to the World Bank.

By supporting universal education, we are also building the necessary environments, systems, and transformative pathways to deliver on global promises outlined in the 2030 Agenda, Paris Agreement, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other international accords.

The Global Learning Crisis The challenges are enormous. New global estimates from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, indicate that as many as 224 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents are in need of quality, holistic education worldwide. Of these, as many as 72 million are out of school altogether. That’s more than the total population of the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.

On the frontlines of conflicts and crises in places like Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond, there have been either dramatic setbacks or stagnating progress toward SDG4 as well as a significant learning achievement gap. More than half of the world’s crisis-impacted girls and boys

BY SUPPORTING UNIVERSAL EDUCATION, WE ARE ALSO BUILDING THE NECESSARY ENVIRONMENTS, SYSTEMS, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PATHWAYS TO DELIVER ON GLOBAL PROMISES OUTLINED IN THE 2030 AGENDA. are failing to achieve minimum learning proficiencies even when they are in school, according to the new ECW estimates.

It’s a global crisis. Initial findings from the public, unedited report on SDGs from the UN Secretary-General indicate that, “Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was already off-track to achieve its education targets. If no additional measures are taken, only one in six countries will meet SDG4 and achieve universal access to quality education by 2030.” He goes on to say, “In 2020, approximately a quarter of primary schools globally do not have access to basic services such as electricity, drinking water and basic sanitation facilities.”

In addition to building schools, temporary learning environments, and basic services for the world’s learners, more efforts need to be made on delivering quality interventions that make a difference. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 147 million children missed over half a year of in-person instruction and 24 million learners may never return to school at all. Furthermore, the climate crisis is creating an even more pressing learning crisis, disrupting the education of 40 million children every year—according to the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

While the vital importance of education is clear, it remains one of the most underfunded areas of Overseas Development UNGA 78 | 27

THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS CREATING AN EVEN MORE PRESSING LEARNING CRISIS, DISRUPTING THE EDUCATION OF 40 MILLION CHILDREN EVERY YEAR—ACCORDING TO THE UNITED KINGDOM’S FOREIGN, COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.

ately affected by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. With more than 140 active grants across 20-plus countries, ECW and its partners are working to create solutions that address the root causes of learning loss. In particular, investments through ECW’s Multi-Year Resilience Programs crowd-in resources from traditional donors, the private sector, and strategic global partners to provide a wide array of holistic educational support—including gender empowerment, school feeding, mental health and psychosocial support services, disability inclusion, teacher trainings, and other interconnected supports—that provide crisis-impacted girls and boys with a safe environment and continued quality education.

Assistance, private-sector funding, and individual giving. Each year we spend over $2 trillion on the military—more than $6 billion a day. With just $1.5 billion, ECW could provide 20 million crisis-impacted girls and boys with a quality education over the next four years. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), with just $4.85 billion annually, we could provide education for the all the world’s refugees.

With just seven years left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, the necessary environments, systems, transformative pathways, and partner coordination are in place. The addition of proper financing, including fully funded education joint programs, would allow us to take a leap forward towards the 2030 Agenda. The ultimate test will be investing in the 224 million children and adolescents who are impacted by conflicts, climate change, and forced displacement.

Not theirs, but ours.

Hope on the Horizon The pathway toward SDG4—and, thus, all the other SDGs—requires that we embrace a new way of working, ensure localized interventions that build resilience in the young generation and communities, and invest in humanity. We must break down silos; deploy joint programming; and make use of the United Nations coordination structures, then crowd-in resources.

A coordinated and collaborative education investment between governments, humanitarians, and development actors is at the humanitarian-developmentpeace nexus, and with financing, we can translate it in action.

For example, investments from ECW have reached more than 8.8 million children worldwide since 2016, along with an additional 31 million who were disproportion-

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***** About the author: Yasmine Sherif is the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW). A lawyer specialized in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law (LL.M), she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs.

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Educators Report Global Disparities in Inclusion of SDGs in Curricula

By Carol O’Donnell and Andrea Malek Ash

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ormal education in schools is an important opportunity to communicate the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to students, ultimately building crucial understanding of sustainable development and action among young people (and their parents) at a local level. However, a recent survey by the Smithsonian Science Education Center and Gallup of educators in Brazil, Canada, France, India, and the United States reveals high variability in whether nations are including the SDGs in school curriculum. The low attention to SDGs in some countries, particularly the U.S., may be improved through better support from education stakeholders as well as attention to policy decisions that drive curriculum standards (that is, academic topics and content taught in the classroom).

Wide Disparities in Countries’ Inclusion of the SDG’s in School Teachers’ perceptions of the inclusion of the SDGs in K-12 curriculum across five countries shows wide disparities, with no country consistently outpacing the others in every SDG. When asked if the SDGs were included in their school curriculum, the U.S. consistently ranks near last, where roughly 40% (on average) of educators say each of the SDG’s is either a standalone topic in classroom curriculum or incorporated into other subjects, as shown in Figure 1. Each of the other countries studied ranks higher, with Brazil educators being the most likely (average 79%) to say the SDG’s have a dedicated place in curriculum.

Figure 1: Inclusion of sustainable development topics in curriculum across five countries.

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When asked about how each of these SDG-related values aligns with their school goals, U.S. teachers are again most likely to see good health and wellbeing and reducing inequality as aligned with their school values and principles (77% and 63%, respectively), but less likely to say the same about the science-related SDGs, such as climate action (11%), clean energy (11%), clean water

(17%), responsible consumption (16%), and sustainable communities (19%), as shown in Figure 2. These data demonstrate that the U.S. is often the least likely to say that science-related sustainable development topics are a dedicated part of the curriculum and aligned with their school goals, especially when compared to Brazil, Canada, and India.

Figure 2: Alignment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to K-12 school values or principles across five countries shows wide disparities, with the U.S. near the bottom in almost every science-related SDG.

Policy Implications Why the disparity among nations? When asked about whether they have the support from key decision makers to incorporate sustainable development topics into their teaching, only 17% of U.S. teachers 32 | D IPLOM AT I C COU RIE R

agree they have the necessary support, as shown in Figure 3. Teachers in other countries, particularly India and Brazil, however, report having more support from education stakeholders to incorporate sustainability into their teaching subjects (77% and 66%, respectively).

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Figure 3: U.S. teachers are the least likely of five countries studied to say they have support from stakeholders to incorporate sustainability topics into their teaching subjects.

Both Brazil and India have made intentional, policy-level efforts to advance sustainability education in their schools. While various Brazilian policies have been enacted, a notable example is the National Curricular Guidelines on Environmental Education, which include explicit instruction of sustainable development and its link to environmental education. In India, environmental education has been compulsory since a supreme court judgment in 2003, although implementation challenges still exist. The country’s revised National Education Policy, released in 2020, specifically names sustainable development and living as a ”vision of the Policy” (p. 6) and calls for sustainable development to be integrated into teacher education (p. 23).”

WHEN ASKED ABOUT WHETHER THEY HAVE THE SUPPORT FROM KEY DECISION MAKERS TO INCORPORATE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TOPICS INTO THEIR TEACHING, ONLY 17% OF U.S. TEACHERS AGREE THEY HAVE THE NECESSARY SUPPORT

In the U.S., where curriculum is determined locally, decentralized education regulation may make it more difficult to enact widespread change. Yet, the U.S. appears poised for action: the Smithso-

nian-Gallup survey showed a majority of U.S. teachers (81%) say teaching about sustainability is important—similar to their global peers; a handful of U.S. states have made environmental literacy and

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THE SDGS CAN BE USED AS A FRAMEWORK TO ENSURE QUALITY EDUCATION THAT BUILDS STUDENTS’ SKILLS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY SKILLS THAT HELP STUDENTS ADDRESS DEEP SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS AND TACKLE BROAD SOCIETAL NEEDS. sustainability a priority; and today, many U.S. state standards, which drive what students should know and be able to do, include topics like “climate change” and “sustainability of human populations” in their science curriculum. However, explicit connection to the SDGs is mostly absent.

Other research syntheses across 18 countries support the need for policy-level changes. While Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) pedagogies promote the learning of skills, perspectives, and values necessary to foster sustainable societies, only 7% of teacher education programs integrate ESD into their pedagogy and many educators have yet to fully integrate the SDGs into their curriculum. Incorporating SDG’s into formal education would require inclusion in curriculum, teacher training, and education programs in and out of schools.

A New Global Imperative In 1985, the U.S. government wrote a report called “A Nation at Risk,” which assessed the quality of teaching and learning and was an imperative for education reform in the mid-1980’s, asserting that education in the U.S. was failing. To remain globally competitive, the report said, the U.S. had to reform education, particularly in science, technology, and mathematics.

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Today, we have a new global imperative: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD is essential in providing the new skills sets required to achieve a sustainable future. Yet, the SmithsonianGallup survey showed that teachers in the United States in particular report a lack of inclusion of sustainable development content in their curriculum, particularly for science-related SDGs. Within other countries studied, gaps exist between the SDG’s, with some receiving more attention than others and with no country consistently outpacing the others in every SDG. The SDGs can be used as a framework to ensure quality education that builds students’ skills for a sustainable future, especially skills that help students address deep scientific questions and tackle broad societal needs. Moreover, incorporating sustainable development in the school curriculum can serve as a foundation for achieving the SDGs by 2030. ***** About the authors: Dr. Carol O’Donnell is Executive Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center, dedicated to transforming K-12 Education through Science in collaboration with communities across the globe.

Dr. Andrea Malek Ash is a Research Consultant at Gallup, where she works on original research studies with topics such as K-12 and higher education.

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Society Needs Innovation in Education for Business Leaders

By John Goodwin

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n the quest for a sustainable future, businesses and the private sector have a unique role to play in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the related, urgent global issues of our time. A new NBER study suggests those with a business degree in the private sector fall short of the skills needed to tackle these modern challenges. New CEOs holding a business degree typically share less profits with their workforce, leading to significant wage decline. CEOs with a non-business degree, however, share more profits, according to the study. This indicates that former business school graduates have not internalized the holistic stakeholder delivery that is needed for the private sector to play its essential role in collective SDG attainment.

For business school graduates to evolve, business education needs to innovate.

Many business schools still treat sustainability as an optional garnish—a sprinkle of eco-friendliness on a platter of profit—when it should be the platter itself.

Instilling holistic stakeholder delivery in the business school approach that fully incorporates sustainable thinking is the key to equipping the students with the diversity of skills needed to lead organizations and society in a more inclusive and holistic manner. If we continue to teach leadership the same way, is it realistic to assume we will have a different breed of leader for the future?

Demand and Supply Now more than ever, businesses need leaders to meet the demands in the workforce—more societal responsibility and sustainability. The LinkedIn Green Jobs report highlights that the demand for green jobs grew 8% over the last five years, but the talent pool only grew 6%. This sustainability skills gap was reflected in the 2022 UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study, where 96% of CEOs surveyed answered that the top global challenge for businesses was talent scarcity and 91% pointed to a lack of sustainability talent.

MANY BUSINESS SCHOOLS STILL TREAT SUSTAINABILITY AS AN OPTIONAL GARNISH—A SPRINKLE OF ECO-FRIENDLINESS ON A PLATTER OF PROFIT— WHEN IT SHOULD BE THE PLATTER ITSELF. These workforce demands are gradually prompting changes to accreditation standards. The EFMD Business Magazine reported that the revised accreditation standards of AACSB will now include societal impact, while the Financial Times is also exploring ‘impact’ in their rankings, changing the priorities of research. As the world changes, business schools must adapt to meet these new demands by not only adjusting research and curriculum focus, but also equipping their students with the skills they need to have a greater positive impact on SDG delivery.

The Role of Creative Praxis in Business Education Creative praxis in business education emphasizes applying theoretical knowledge to real-world challenges, with a key focus on experiential learning. This approach immerses students in practical scenarios, enabling them to comprehend the complexities of sustainable business practices and their societal and environmental impact. Through internships, field studies, and collaborative projects with organizations, students tackle actual issues, identifying innovative solutions and evaluating outcomes.

Experiential learning not only boosts students’ grasp of the SDGs but also nurtures social responsibility and ethical decision-making skills. As the revered Papua New Guinea proverb states, “Knowledge UNGA 78 | 37

is only a rumor until it is in a muscle.”

Integrating ethics training into the core business curriculum equips students to navigate moral dilemmas and embrace sustainable practices in decision-making.

Such leaders are better equipped to drive positive multistakeholder change within organizations and contribute to broader societal well-being.

Moreover, creative praxis promotes interdisciplinary collaboration within business schools, aligning curriculum with the SDGs. Bringing together students and faculty from diverse disciplines fosters a comprehensive, multifaceted approach to sustainable development. Students gain a deeper understanding of the interconnected nature of sustainability challenges, enabling them to craft holistic solutions encompassing economic, social, and environmental dimensions.

The Call for Creative Pedagogy in Business Schools Creative pedagogy in business schools entails a departure f rom traditional lecture-based teaching and rote memorization in favor of a dynamic and interactive approach that engages students in active learning experiences. The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), the education arm of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), is taking on the task of challenging the business education paradigm. Founded in 2007, the mission of PRME is to transform management education and develop the responsible decision-makers of tomorrow, specifically through curriculum change and skill set development. Educators need to embrace creative pedagogy and praxis as well as curriculum change, developing innovative teaching methodologies that inspire students to become agents of positive change.

PRME, in collaboration with The LEGO Foundation, is working to incorporate elements of meaning, joy, active engagement, social interaction, and iteration into the classroom. Educators can challenge 38 | D I PLOM AT I C COURIE R

the construct of the traditional business school paradigm by bringing engaging, authentic, and thought-provoking methods of teaching and learning to the modern classroom. This approach encourages students to explore innovative solutions to complex problems, ultimately fostering a sense of responsibility and commitment to SDG 4: Education for All and ultimately through to SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Creative pedagogy and praxis is a key to unleashing the full potential of business schools in advancing the SDGs. By embracing innovative teaching methodologies and practical experiences in combination with curriculum reform, business schools can inspire a new generation of ethical and sustainability-conscious leaders who are committed and equipped to creating a more just and sustainable world. It is insufficient for business schools to focus on research publications to address the deficiency in SDG delivery. To drive urgency and change in bridging the SDG skills gap, employers of leadership talent should seek out graduates from those business schools that are actively investing in equipping their students with both the knowledge AND the skills to have the positive impact that their organizations need to do their part for SDG delivery. ***** About the author: John Goodwin is the Executive Chairman of the Learning Economy Foundation (LEF), and is the Chairman of the i5 Project, an initiative led by the Principles of Responsible Management in Education (PRME).

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How to Assist the Next Generation of Leaders in Sustainability

By Gillian Hinde

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umanity’s efforts to reverse the impact of climate change depend on the environmental skills of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. This is the workforce that will provide the majority of skills to power green industries in a decarbonizing economy—the future leaders who will make the complex decisions required to manage the carbon transition equitably.

Around the world, we can see Gen Z speaking with a vocal and formidable political voice. It’s clear that this generation understands the challenges the world is facing because they are personally experiencing its crisis. These are the generations who will disproportionately bear the burden of climate change.

Those who are in positions of impact today— whether in education, business, or government—have a responsibility to do more to empower Gen Z and Gen Alpha with the necessary knowledge and skills to tackle climate change. To move the needle on sustainability, the younger generations need to build confidence in their ability to help, which involves a different kind of education model.

Build Sustainability Skills To give young people the skills to save the planet, we must promote scientific and environmental literacy while nurturing skills like creativity, innovation, communication, and collaboration. In combination, these skills are critical to ideate and scale better answers to the interconnected challenges of climate change and social inequality.

Importantly, their delivery does not have to come through traditional education systems.

For example, through the EY Ripples program, EY and Microsoft are collaborating to help young people participate in the green economy. The Green Skills Passport, which offers free, self-paced online learning to support the next-generation workforce to gain sustainability skills and employment in the green economy, is hosted on the Microsoft Community Training platform and accessible via mobile and web in low-bandwidth areas. It

is free to young people aged 16+ who are not engaged in education, employment, or training. Participants learn about sustainability and entrepreneurship and strengthen their employability skills through modules such as resume writing and interview preparation.

Offer Future-Focused Skills to All As low-income countries seek to address learning poverty, the opportunity is not just to improve literacy rates but to offer a futurefocused curriculum to give students the skills to succeed in the green economy and rise out of poverty. The key to delivering these skills equitably is to bypass traditional classrooms and harness digital platforms.

EY, through EY Ripples, has joined forces with education organizations, such as Teach for All, to design a Future Skills curriculum, covering topics not always taught in schools, such as environmental sustainability, emerging technology, civic literacy, financial literacy, and more. By inspiring students between the ages of 5 to 22 to explore these topics, the Future Skills modules aim to help young people unlock new passions, explore potential career paths, and develop the mindsets and skills needed for the future working world.

The program is offered in both synchronous (students and teachers in the same physical or virtual place) and asynchronous UNGA 78 | 41

ing the environmental literacy of younger generations:

(self-paced learning) formats. For example, asynchronous text message-based courses are now available, distilling Future Skills Workshop modules on entrepreneurship into bite-size learning—provided via daily text messages. These text-based courses, which are accessible to anyone with a mobile phone, have already had 10,000 completions in eight countries.

Activate Sustainable Choices Research suggests that, despite already having a strong foundation of sustainability knowledge, younger generations crave more engaging ways to receive sustainability-related content—as found by a global EY and JA Worldwide survey. Younger generations are demanding greater environmental literacy from education systems.

According to the survey, young people are hungry for information on how to reduce their carbon footprint. Their big ask is for content to be more interactive and engaging, citing workshops and hands-on activities as key missing elements from their current sustainability education.

The findings suggest important opportunities for corporations and nonprofits to support educators and governments in elevat42 | D I PLOM AT I C CO URIE R

•

Hosting expanded learning opportunities to share sustainability solutions from all the countries and regions within their network, sponsoring engaging workshops and hands-on activities.

•

Providing educators with the tools to share additional context with students to help them better grasp the information they are getting from other sources, including social media.

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Strengthening ties with groups in local communities that can complement classroom learning with real-world experience to address the desire for more workshops and relevant hands-on training.

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Working with governments to promote sustainability education and environmental action through creating new initiatives and communicating better on existing sustainability programs.

Today’s younger generations are the driving force toward achieving a more sustainable future, yet they are looking to businesses and the public sector to act as catalysts for change. Corporations, educators, and governments must prioritize sustainability and environmental literacy to prepare the next-generation workforce to tackle the climate crisis. ***** About the author: Gillian Hinde is the EY Global Corporate Responsibility Leader. Her role is to harness the organization’s resources to realize a more socially just, economically inclusive, and environmentally regenerative future for all via the EY Ripples program.

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Reinvent Job Pathways to Solve the Inequality Gap

By Elyas Felfoul

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hen I’m back in my homeland, Tunisia, I find immense joy in taking the family dogs for a walk in our neighborhood.

With time, I’ve become familiar with my fellow dog walkers, and one of them happens to be Ibrahim, a young man f rom West Africa. We quickly built a f riendship, bonding over our shared walks and conversations in the park. Ibrahim’s life story leaves me with conflicting feelings of inspiration and sadness. He arrived in Tunisia with the sole purpose of saving enough money to cross the Mediterranean by boat to Europe. Ibrahim is just one example of an extraordinary individual constrained by circumstances in his home country—someone possessing remarkable intelligence, but never receiving an opportunity to capitalize on it.

This experience illustrates the lack of opportunities for such people worldwide.

At the same time, across the globe, the labor market is experiencing its tightest conditions in fifty years, particularly evident in regions of the Global North. A case in point is Ontario, Canada, where Premier Doug Ford emphasized the abundance of employment opportunities.

He stated that “endless job opportunities exist in Ontario,” with the possibility of finding employment in every sector just by walking down any street in the province. The demand for workers is so significant that they require 380,000 individuals to fill the existing job vacancies at present, as per Ford’s remarks.

Reinventing Job Pathways Taken together, these stories beg the question of why we don’t have a system that supports and uplifts such individuals, enabling them to improve their lives by contributing their skills to address the labor shortages in developed countries.

In our increasingly interconnected world, talent knows no boundaries. Developing countries are home to countless talented individuals seeking avenues for personal

ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE LABOR MARKET IS EXPERIENCING ITS TIGHTEST CONDITIONS IN FIFTY YEARS, PARTICULARLY EVIDENT IN REGIONS OF THE GLOBAL NORTH. growth and a better quality of life.

Simultaneously, developed nations face significant labor shortages that threaten economic growth and social stability.

Creating such a platform could potentially alleviate the massive shortage of labor in various Western countries and help brilliant individuals like Ibrahim lead fulfilling lives while making meaningful contributions to society. To address these challenges and contribute to the achievement of SDG 8—promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth—it becomes imperative to reinvent job pathways for talented individuals from developing countries.

Canada, known for its prosperous economy and high standard of living, is currently grappling with a massive labor shortage, especially in critical sectors like healthcare. The aging population and an increasing demand for healthcare services have put tremendous pressure on the existing workforce. To maintain the quality of healthcare provision and ensure the well-being of its citizens, Canada needs to explore innovative solutions to bridge this labor gap.

One potential solution to address labor shortages in the healthcare sector is to focus on entry-level positions. While advanced medical roles require specialized expertise, entry-level jobs are essential for the smooth functioning of healthcare systems. Talented individuals from developing countries can fill these roles, proUNGA 78 | 45

REINVENTING JOB PATHWAYS FOR TALENTED INDIVIDUALS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO EXCEL AND BETTER THEIR LIVES IN DEVELOPED NATIONS HOLDS IMMENSE POTENTIAL FOR PROMOTING SUSTAINED AND INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH. viding valuable support and alleviating the burden on the healthcare inf rastructure of developed nations. By offering employment opportunities in entry-level healthcare positions, developed nations not only address their labor shortages but also provide pathways for career advancement and skill development for individuals from developing countries.

As we evaluate whether we are on the right track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the reinvention of job pathways for talented individuals f rom developing countries represents a significant step forward. By enabling individuals to contribute their skills in developed nations, we promote inclusive economic growth and reduce global disparities. However, it is important to approach this initiative with careful consideration for various factors and establish partnerships that facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity building between developed and developing countries.

To ensure the successful attainment of SDG8, it is crucial to implement robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

These frameworks should evaluate the number of employment opportunities provided, the impact on economic growth, and the well-being of both devel-

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oped and developing nations. Collaboration among governments, international organizations, and civil society plays a pivotal role in fostering transparency, accountability, and the alignment of efforts towards achieving SDG8.

Reinventing job pathways for talented individuals from developing countries to excel and better their lives in developed nations holds immense potential for promoting sustained and inclusive economic growth (SDG8). By filling job vacancies, particularly entry-level roles in healthcare, with talented individuals from developing countries, developed nations can address labor shortages while providing opportunities for personal growth and skill development. However, ethical considerations and partnerships that foster knowledge exchange are crucial for ensuring a balanced approach. By monitoring progress and evaluating the impact, we can stay on the right track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, fostering a more prosperous and equitable world for all. ***** About the author: Elyas Felfoul is the Director of WISE. He leads the Summit platform, the Partnerships, and the EdTech Accelerator Program. Formerly a political advisor to Canada, Quebec’s Vice-Prime Minister, Elyas also worked in M&A.

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How Much Work is Enough?

By Anne-Marie Slaughter and Autumn McDonald

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he COVID-19 pandemic might be officially over, but much like a railway switchyard, it has already diverted countless lives onto wildly different paths. Millions of individuals will never revert to their pre-pandemic work routines, compelling both employers and employees to establish new models that cater to their evolving needs. But amid the ongoing experiments with hybrid models, we find ourselves confronting a deeper question: How much work is enough?

At least in developed countries, these post-pandemic shifts and experiments could trigger a labor-market revolution as profound as the changes in workplaces, schedules, and compensation that marked the transition f rom the agricultural age to the industrial era.

These changes can be viewed on two levels. At the macro level, the legally mandated eight-hour workday and 40-hour workweek are gradually giving way to a new equilibrium. This will likely be a long process, given that it took half a century of labor struggles, union action, and corporate experimentation to reduce daily working hours in the United States f rom 14 to eight and workweeks f rom seven days to five.

In 1914, the Ford Motor Company stunned its competitors by shortening the factory workday to eight hours while paying its workers a minimum wage of $5 per day.

Congress codified this innovative practice in 1938 through the Fair Labor Standards Act, creating what cultural historian Fred Turner calls the “industrial-era social compact.” Similarly, recent experiments with a 32-hour workweek resulted in less fatigue, improved mental health, and enhanced life satisfaction. In fact, most participants say they will not revert to the old model.

At the micro level, millions of individuals have used the past three years to reevaluate the tradeoff between time and money. During the pandemic lockdowns, many workers adjusted to new working

MILLIONS OF INDIVIDUALS HAVE USED THE PAST THREE YEARS TO REEVALUATE THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN TIME AND MONEY. habits and relished the ability to pause, spend more time with their loved ones, or exercise and pursue leisure activities without the stress of commutes and office environments. These experiences later contributed to the so-called Great Resignation and the increase in “quiet quitting.”

So, when companies began to demand that workers return to the pre-pandemic status quo, the question, “How much work is enough?” prompted another: “Enough for what?” To earn a living? To meet our employers’ productivity expectations? To support our pursuit of happiness, or perhaps to retire? The answers vary, depending on who asks and who responds. For millions of low-income workers, the answer is simple: “Enough” means earning a living wage that enables them to support themselves and their families.

Among those privileged enough to be able to consider the tradeoffs between time and money, two groups of workers have, through their words and their actions, emerged as key players in the broader discussion about what constitutes an adequate amount of work.

The first group consists of caregivers, a sector still dominated by women but gradually attracting more men. In labor economics, “work” traditionally refers to paid labor involving the production of goods and services in return for monetary compensation. But following the integration of women into the workforce (including the workforce of labor economists), the field has expanded its focus to encompass unpaid work. This includes raising a family, making a home, and meeting the needs of those who cannot care for themUNGA 78 | 49

IT SHOULD COME AS LITTLE SURPRISE, THAT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY, MANY WOULD OPT TO REDUCE THEIR PAID WORKING HOURS IN ORDER TO CARE FOR OTHERS. selves. This care work, as activist Ai-jen Poo reminds us, is the “work that makes all other work possible.” For many, this form of labor holds as much meaning as their formal employment, or even more.

Suppose we expand the question “How much work is enough?” to encompass both paid and unpaid work. In that case, it becomes apparent that millions of people with caregiving responsibilities and paid jobs often find themselves working well beyond the conventional eight-hour workday. It should come as little surprise, then, that given the opportunity, many would opt to reduce their paid working hours in order to care for others. Given the social importance of care work, economic statistics and government benefit programs must recognize and account for this critical but unpaid form of labor.

Another signif icant group of workers asking, “How much work is enough?” comprises young people, particularly younger Millennials and Gen Z workers, many of whom entered the workforce during the pandemic. Just as many young people in the 1960s “turned on, tuned in, and dropped out,” embraced the counterculture, and rejected what they saw as the conformist striving of their parents’ generation, many Gen Z’ers are now questioning and rejecting “hustle culture” as yet another toxic Silicon Valley export.

Gen Z’ers were raised during two tumultuous decades marked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the introduction of the smart50 | D IPLOM AT I C CO URIE R

phone and social media, the 2008 financial crisis, and the pandemic. Today, they face downward social mobility, democratic backsliding amid intensifying political polarization, and a looming climate catastrophe. Given this historical backdrop, it is natural for them to question their parents’ habits and focus on maintaining their own mental and physical health.

Gen Z icons like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, who withdrew from major sporting events to protect their mental health, embody the drive, grit, and grind necessary to excel at the highest levels of their fields. But by rejecting the notion that their self-worth—particularly as trailblazing women of color—hinges on meeting others’ expectations of them, they demonstrated a profound understanding that personal well-being should not be sacrificed for external validation. Their insistence that life must be about more than producing and winning is an act of defiance against capitalism itself.

Since the emergence of ChatGPT and its competitors, discussions about the future of work have revolved around the extent to which human labor will remain necessary. To be sure, the integration of generative artificial intelligence into the labor market will bring about significant disruption, rendering traditional industrial-era work and workplaces obsolete. But regardless of what lies ahead, we cannot address the questions of where and how long we work without first answering the fundamental question of why we work. ***** About the authors: Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning in the U.S. State Department, is CEO of the think tank New America.

Autumn McDonald is a senior fellow at New America.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2023.

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Sustainable Development Through the Lens of Cultural Heritage

By Nikki Locke and Ian Thomas

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ultural life is essential to human wellbeing and dignity. Inclusive fulfillment of culture enhances our quality of life, offers a vital point of connection for individuals and communities, and is a key element in pursuing sustainable development demands. Essential to attaining cultural life, and a driver of sustainable development, are the symbols of our cultural heritage— both tangible and intangible.

Through the Mondiacult 2022: Declaration for Culture, 150 UNESCO Member States called for culture to be integrated as a specific goal in the post-2030 development agenda. They committed to “...foster an enabling environment conducive to the respect and exercise of all human rights, in particular, cultural rights and cultural heritage … in order to build a more just and equitable world and reduce inequalities.”

Cultural heritage can be defined as a collective inheritance that people wish to carry forward, adapt, and use creatively as the basis of their self-determined development. It informs and enriches contemporary culture as an inextricable part of society that shapes our diverse and constantly evolving cultural life. It is “living” and active in the here and now. This can be seen in The British Council’s Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth program in Vietnam, Kenya, and Colombia. These projects are community—and people-led; cocreated and managed with local partners with a range of on-the-ground collaborations made up of local NGOs, community groups, heritage organizations, and indigenous communities. All of these support local communities by promoting their own cultural heritage, leading to inclusive economic growth and improved social welfare and wellbeing that aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 and 8.

A focus on cultural heritage can change perspectives, highlighting the path to the future. What people wish to protect; what they value; what informs their art and self-expression; and what they wish to

WHAT PEOPLE WISH TO PROTECT; WHAT THEY VALUE; WHAT INFORMS THEIR ART AND SELF-EXPRESSION; AND WHAT THEY WISH TO PASS ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS, WILL SHAPE THEIR PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPMENT. pass on to future generations, will shape their perspectives on development. It is rooted in places and societies as heritage projects naturally support culturally sensitive approaches and solutions, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. They’re well placed to make local people active players and ensure projects are relevant to them.

Heritage can open up difficult conversations, amplifying the voices of marginalized people. By giving value to alternative ways of telling uncomfortable histories, such conversations unsettle ongoing legacies of colonialism, persisting inequalities, and marginalization as well as support the building of new collaborations.

As we approach the UN SDG Review Conference in September, and head towards the next COP in December in the UAE, there is a global opportunity to explore and learn from various approaches to sustainable development. The existing SDGs framework is facing significant challenges in a post-COVID world.

In July 2023, The British Council brought together a range of its cultural heritage projects and organizations in Kenya to explore the theme of cultural heritage and Sustainable Development through an international Learning Gathering.

During the gathering, we explored two aspects of cultural heritage that can enable sustainable development in a post-COVID world: UNGA 78 | 53

CULTURAL HERITAGE SHAPES A PERSON’S VALUES AND SENSE OF WHO THEY ARE, THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRESENT AND HOW IT CAME ABOUT, AND THEIR VISIONS OF WHAT DIFFERENT PEOPLE BELIEVE THE FUTURE SHOULD LOOK LIKE. •

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Cultural heritage is at the heart of human development. The fulfillment of people’s right to cultural life is an essential part of sustainable development because cultural life, in all its forms, is essential to human wellbeing. People all over the world want the spaces around them to be developed in ways that reflect their history—most simply where they’ve come from and where they hope to go. Cultural heritage shapes a person’s values and sense of who they are; their understanding of the present and how it came about; their visions of what different people believe the future should look like; and how they feel that change should be achieved.

Cultural heritage is a dynamic focus for a sustainable future.

This approach brings communities together based on the principle of mutuality and co-creation.

We call this the Cultural Relations approach. Cultural Relations serve sustainable development by creating trust, mutual understanding, and sustained cooperation which then promotes peace, justice, and tolerance. By building

54 | D IPLOM AT I C CO URIE R

reciprocal and sustained relationships with external parties, people are better able to fulfill their cultural rights and realize community development objectives.

Anchoring these networks in a shared understanding of cultural diversity, empowers people to lead on development that meets their own aspirations while protecting and advancing the rights of others and contributing to action on global environmental and development challenges.

Sustainable Development thus involves the interaction of different communities and organizations from both the local area and across national and cultural boundaries. For those relationships to flourish and be equitable, and for development to succeed and be appropriate for its context, a deep understanding of cultural differences needs to be at the center of the process.

Incorporating heritage into sustainable development can provide pathways that will transcend the paternalism that has defined past development paradigms and support more inclusive and effective solutions with self-determination at the fore. ***** About the authors: Nikki Locke is the Senior Relationship for Culture Responds and the global lead for the Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth program for the British Council.

Ian Thomas is the Head of Research and Insights, Arts at the British Council and developing the What Works Approach for Cultural Heritage.

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An Immigration Wake-Up Call

By Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg

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or around a week in late June, Western media were obsessed with the fate of the Titan, a small submersible carrying a few billionaires and others to the sunken Titanic and later found to have imploded within hours of beginning its descent.

Meanwhile, a boat carrying some 750 economic refugees capsized off the Greek coast, killing hundreds who had boarded in Libya after making perilous journeys from places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria. Pakistan declared a national day of mourning for its citizens lost at sea.

But the West paid hardly any notice.

MOST GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT THEY CAN NO LONGER IGNORE CLIMATE CHANGE AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE. BUT IGNORING THE HUGE GAP IN LIVING STANDARDS BETWEEN THE GLOBAL NORTH AND SOUTH HAS SIMILARLY BECOME UNSUSTAINABLE.

Of course, it is unfair to fault the press for responding to the demands of its audience. The relatively scant coverage of the migrants’ tragedy is symptomatic of a larger tendency to ignore the plight of those who happen to have been born in less privileged parts of the world. The mood has changed since the 2015 refugee crisis, when chilling photos of a migrant boy who had washed up on the Turkish coast elicited outrage and a vigorous response from policymakers in rich countries. In the intervening years, the Western public has become inured to such images, more often looking inward, or focusing on other priorities.

these differences remain, they will keep pushing north in search of a better future.

No border, no wall, and no sea will keep them where they are. The ongoing immigration crisis at the United States’ southern border and the continuing drama on the seas around Greece and Italy have made that clear.

True, a cynic might say that the intense coverage of the 2015 refugee crisis was motivated less by idealism than by pragmatic concerns about Europe being overwhelmed by millions of people fleeing from violence. But even if that was the case, the same concerns dictate that advanced economies pay more attention to the developing world’s problems today.

But the quest for a better life is just the supply side of the equation. On the demand side, labor market shortages have created a strong incentive to bring people into advanced economies to do the work that natives no longer do. In the absence of wellconsidered immigration policies that can satisfy this need, reckless smugglers have filled the void.

Most governments around the world have recognized that they can no longer ignore climate change and other environmental damage. But ignoring the huge gap in living standards between the Global North and South has similarly become unsustainable. Owing to advances in communications technology and access to social media, the poor today are keenly aware of the vast differences between their lives and those of people living in rich countries. As long as

The labor market shortages in advanced economies are not some temporary or short-run phenomenon. In the U.S., a recent Brookings Institution study documents a shortfall of 2.4 million workers as of December 2022, relative to the 12-month average ending in February 2020. Most of this decline would have happened without the pandemic, owing to changes in the age and education of the population. But there was also a decline in the average weekly hours UNGA 78 | 57

A WELL-DESIGNED IMMIGRATION POLICY THAT ALLOWS FOR THE CONTROLLED ENTRY OF WILLING WORKERS, AND THAT HELPS INTEGRATE THEM INTO HOST COUNTRIES, WOULD GO A LONG WAY TOWARD EASING LABORMARKET TIGHTNESS AND PREVENTING HUMANITARIAN TRAGEDIES. worked, producing an additional laborsupply shortfall equivalent to another 2.4 million people.

This reduction in work hours cannot be attributed solely to COVID-19 or the fear of long COVID. While its causes are not yet fully understood, a re-evaluation of worklife balance seems a plausible hypothesis.

In any case, the bottom line is that labor shortages experienced in the aftermath of the pandemic are likely to persist, both in the U.S. and in Europe, where low fertility and aging populations present similar demographic challenges.

While advances in automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence may mitigate some labor-supply challenges, not every job can be replaced by a robot or a computer-generated service. Many of the jobs that remain in demand are in sectors like construction, housekeeping, health care, and hospitality, where the work is usually not pleasant or glamorous. If Americans and Europeans are unwilling to take these positions, it makes sense to offer them to motivated, hardworking immigrants. This is not about providing humanitarian assistance; it is just sound economic policy, especially at a time when repeated interest-rate hikes by 58 | D IPLOM AT I C COU RIE R

central banks have not yet resolved one of the primary contributors to inflation: tight labor markets.

A well-designed immigration policy that allows for the controlled entry of willing workers, and that helps integrate them into host countries, would go a long way toward easing labor-market tightness and preventing humanitarian tragedies caused by smugglers’ shameless exploitation of migrants and refugees. But policymakers will need to look beyond the next election cycle and rise above partisan political interests.

At the same time, it is neither possible nor desirable to move the entire populations of low-income countries to America and Europe, so it is imperative to reject shortsighted economic nationalism. Advanced economies must do more to address the huge imbalances that still exist across the world economy. Reducing global inequality is essential to a sustainable future. ***** About the author: Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, a former World Bank Group chief economist and editor-in-chief of the American Economic Review, is Professor of Economics at Yale University.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2023.

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Placing People at the Center to Accelerate Progress

By Gregoire Verdeaux 60 | D I PLOM AT I C CO URIE R

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s global leaders convene in New York for the 78th United Nations General Assembly, calls for accelerated action to achieve sustainable development are louder than ever.

Traditionally, discussions of solutions to the world’s pressing challenges have focused on international collaboration and f inancial investment. These are essential, of course, but there’s one critical element that should take center stage today: people-centered policymaking.

We’ve all seen technological breakthroughs heralded for the life-changing impacts they promise. Too often, however, the potential of these innovations to drive real, sustained progress is signif icantly curtailed because they are not designed, regulated, and delivered in a way that centers on the people who need them most. Consider, for example, decarbonization and the European Union’s plan to stop the production of combustion engines for cars by 2035. An admirable aim, without question, but the transition to electric vehicles will only succeed if e-mobility innovations are accessible and affordable for consumers across socioeconomic brackets, not just the early adopters or the privileged few.

A people-centric mindset is critical to impactful change. In practical terms, it calls for policies that boost innovation adoption by addressing four vital components: access, awareness, availability, and affordability—the latter factor being especially crucial in times of economic hardship and hyperinflation, as we see across much of the world today.

Many current challenges could be addressed more effectively if we were to apply this f ramework consistently. I experience this f irsthand in my work at Philip Morris International, where we are transforming for good—seeking to deliver a smoke-f ree future. Thanks to years of scientif ic research and signif icant in-

A PEOPLE-CENTRIC MINDSET IS CRITICAL TO IMPACTFUL CHANGE. IN PRACTICAL TERMS, IT CALLS FOR POLICIES THAT BOOST INNOVATION ADOPTION BY ADDRESSING FOUR VITAL COMPONENTS: ACCESS, AWARENESS, AVAILABILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY. vestments by companies like mine, today, we know that the harm caused by cigarettes can be signif icantly reduced by offering better, noncombustible alternatives to those adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.

Now, a prevailing global question is: how should they be regulated?

A people-centric approach would prioritize policies that make it easier for people who don’t quit nicotine completely (the best choice a smoker can make) to switch to these better products and move away f rom cigarettes.

Consumption shifts of this magnitude require public policies that encourage the adoption of innovative products, accurate information coupled with appropriate safety standards to give consumers conf idence, and regulatory safeguards to protect the public interest—in our case, to ensure smokef ree products are not adopted by adults who don’t already use nicotine or minors. Such regulatory policies, designed with the consumer at their center, can catalyze better, fairer, and impactful outcomes.

In contrast, when inaction, or worse, a prohibitionist approach prevail, proUNGA 78 | 61

PA ID ADVERTORI AL gress is severely stalled with signif icant consequences for the very people the innovation is meant to serve.

In the case of smoke-f ree alternatives, we estimate that if these products are assumed to be 80% less risky than cigarettes—and if adults who currently smoke were to switch to these better products completely—then over their lifetime, there’s a potential for a tenfold reduction in smoking-attributable deaths compared with having in place historical tobacco control measures alone. This hypothetical analysis uses World Health Organization’s data, estimates, and methodologies, as well as other third-party data, and despite its limitations, it begins to show the potential impact of governmental inaction and misguided policy.

In addition, a lack of pragmatic policymaking can be especially detrimental to those in lower socioeconomic groups, who typically lack the resources and means to access reliable information and the products themselves. The COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout showed us how critical it is to have the broadest possible access. That applies equally well to sustainable solutions and, for adults who smoke, better alternatives to cigarettes.

The need for people-centered policymaking is clear. It is our best avenue through which to multiply the positive effects of innovation and accelerate progress to the benef it of all. ***** About the author: Gregoire Verdeaux is Senior Vice President External Affairs at Philip Morris International.

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Leverage AI to Turn SDG Ambitions into Realities

By Thomas Garrett 64 | D IPLOM AT I C CO URIE R

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U N GA 7 8 I S EP TEMBER 2023

he 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) comes at the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda. The 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are highly ambitious and apply to all countries, unlike the earlier Millennium Development Goals, which pertained to developing nations. The SDGs aim to leave no one behind.

Yet, as the SDG Summit occurs during the UNGA High-level Week, essential targets contained within each of the 17 Goals, such as once-declining poverty rates or increasing access to electricity and power, are reversing from initial positive trajectories.

After modest gains in the last few years, the world is back to the hunger levels of the mid-2000s. UN Secretary-General Guterres said in his April 2023 SDG Progress Report that only 12% of the targets are on track to realization; much worse is that 30% of the SDG targets are in reverse. Guterres starkly noted the “SDGs are disappearing in the rear-view mirror.”

The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s unjustified war on Ukraine, climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss are often cited as factors contributing to the reversal of the advancement of the SDGs. The pandemic left many developing nations, unable to vaccinate their citizens or endure the global lockdown, behind financially. Russia’s wartime atrocities, such as the recent attacks on Ukrainian grain exports vital to the developing world, and undeniable climate disruption are wreaking havoc on economies and people across the globe.

The 2023 SDG Summit will need to look directly and honestly at what SecretaryGeneral Guterres says is “a moment of truth and reckoning.” A frank assessment doesn’t have to be followed by defeated acceptance of difficult circumstances. Instead, an opportunity to accelerate SDG action is possible through Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Accelerating SDG Progress Through AI Governing Council member states of the Community of Democracies (CoD), an in-

AS WITH CHALLENGES IN HUMAN RIGHTS, THE USE OF AI FOR THE GOOD OF PEOPLE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF SDG IMPLEMENTATION SHOULD BE GOVERNED

BY A SET OF RULES TO WHICH ALL UN MEMBERS CAN SUBSCRIBE. tergovernmental coalition of nations which seeks to coordinate action on issues of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, in a 2021 Bucharest Ministerial Declaration recognized the significant role of new technologies to support effective and accountable democratic governance, including resilient recovery from the pandemic.

This has continued as in July 2023, CoD Governing Council member, the United Kingdom, convened as chair the first-ever debate on AI in the UN Security Council.

During the discussion, Guterres urged UN member states to join forces and develop AI for good. He pleaded for an “AI that is reliable and safe, and that can end poverty, banish hunger, cure cancer and supercharge climate action [and] an AI that propels us towards the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Did AI arrive just in time for the ailing SDGs, after three years of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the planetary climate change crisis, pollution, and biodiversity loss? From its potential to help mitigate climate disruptions to its ability to forecast trade, AI-driven technology is increasingly utilized by the private sector and public authorities to assist in providing services and making informed decisions faster. The rise of smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT) to increase efficiencies in resource usage, waste management, traffic control, water conservation, and climate hazard warnings are but UNGA 78 | 65

COOPERATION AMONG GOVERNMENTS, CIVIL SOCIETY, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, AND ACADEMIA IS CRUCIAL TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE AND EMERGING AI QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY. a few of the many positive services that AI is already improving and will continue to augment. A 2020 study from Nature indicated that AI could enable 154 of the SDG targets, but there is an important caution: it also may inhibit up to 59 of them. AI can enhance progress on the large majority of the SDGs and the decision must be made whether AI is worth utilizing to enable a majority of the targets at the potential expense of some.

That the SDGs are significant is without question, with their critical objective to leave no one behind in eradicating poverty and resolving discrimination and exclusion. This primary principle has to be reaffirmed and regulated to the greatest extent possible in using AI. Cooperation among governments, civil society, the private sector, and academia is crucial to address this challenge and emerging AI questions effectively.

Dealing with both challenges and opportunities in AI is already a decision point for democracy and human rights policymakers. There are and will be countries tempted towards the ill-use of AI against internal opponents and other states. The world has witnessed some of these attempts. Security companies have already reported Chinese and Russian cyber spies utilizing AI to scan for vulnerabilities in other nations’ security posture. Other cyber bad actors have recently co-opted ChatGPT to write destructive malware as well as utilize generative AI for misinformation and disinfor66 | D IPLOM AT I C CO URIE R

mation campaigns. These events will only increase in both frequency and impact on democratic institutions, critical infrastructure, and everyday lives of civilians. Ensuring that human rights and democracy are strengthened and not undermined by AI is a critical factor that will define our world today, in 2030, and beyond.

As with challenges in human rights, the use of AI for the good of people within the framework of SDG implementation should be governed by a set of rules to which all UN members can subscribe. These risks can be mitigated by promoting regional and national regulations on the use of AI systems, embedding human rights impact assessments, adopting procurement laws ensuring that AI systems have safeguards to prevent biased and discriminatory outputs, and reassuring public participation in law and policy-making.

AI and sustainable development function together in a fast-evolving technological and social reality. So the SDG Summit in 2023 and the 2024 UN Summit for the Future come at a serendipitous time to discuss the opportunities and risks related to implementing SDGs in the AI era.

AI must be treated as a close ally to help us regain ground in the advancement of the SDGs as we march towards a new, more advanced world in 2030. This alliance will help nations better execute the actions needed to meet the targets of the SDGs more efficiently and implement a more effective approach to sustainability for our planet. ***** About the author: Thomas E. Garrett is Secretary General of the Community of Democracies, an intergovernmental coalition founded in 2000 by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek.

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Focus on Productivity, Not Technology

By Dani Rodrik 68 | D IPLOM AT I C CO URIE R

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conomists have long argued that productivity is the foundation of prosperity. The only way a country can increase its standard of living sustainably is to produce more goods and services with fewer resources.

Since the Industrial Revolution, this has been achieved through innovation, which is why productivity has become synonymous, in the public imagination, with technological progress and research and development.

Our intuition about how innovation promotes productivity is shaped by everyday experience in business. Firms that adopt new technologies tend to become more productive, allowing them to outcompete technological laggards. But a productive society is not the same as a productive firm. Something that promotes productivity in a business may not work, or may even backfire, at the level of a whole country or economy.

Whereas firms have the luxury of focusing on the productivity of only those resources they choose to employ, a society needs to enhance the productivity of all of its people.

But many economists (and others) have failed to appreciate this distinction, owing to the assumption that technological progress will eventually trickle down to everyone, even if its immediate benefits accrue only to a small group of firms and investors. As economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson remind us in their useful new book, this belief has not quite been true historically. The Industrial Revolution may have inaugurated the period of modern economic growth, but it did not produce advances in well-being for most ordinary workers for the better part of a century.

Worse, the conventional narrative may have become even less true with the most recent wave of technological advances. New technologies may fail to lift all boats because their benefits can be overwhelmingly captured by a small group of players—be it a few firms or narrow segments of the workforce. One culprit is inappropriate institutions and regulations, which skew bargaining power in the economy or restrict entry by outsiders to modern sectors. Another is the nature of technology itself: innovation

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION MAY HAVE INAUGURATED THE PERIOD OF MODERN ECONOMIC GROWTH, BUT IT DID NOT PRODUCE ADVANCES IN WELLBEING FOR MOST ORDINARY WORKERS FOR THE BETTER PART OF A CENTURY. often empowers only specific groups, such as highly skilled workers and professionals.

Consider one of the paradoxes of the hyperglobalization era. After the 1990s, as trade costs fell and manufacturing production spread around the world, many firms in low- and middle-income countries became integrated into global supply chains and adopted state-of-the-art production techniques. As a result, these firms’ productivity increased by leaps and bounds. Yet the productivity of the economies in which they were domiciled stagnated in many cases, or even regressed.

Mexico provides a startling case study, since it was once a poster child for hyper-globalization. Thanks to the government’s liberalizing reforms in the 1980s and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s, Mexico experienced a boom in manufactured exports and inward foreign direct investment. Yet the result was a spectacular failure where it really mattered.

Along with many others in Latin America, Mexico experienced negative total factor productivity growth in subsequent decades.

As a recent analysis by the economists Oscar Fentanes and Santiago Levy demonstrates, Mexican manufacturing did indeed become more productive as it was forced to compete globally. While less productive firms that failed to adapt eventually shut down, many remaining firms adopted new technologies and became more productive.

UNGA 78 | 69

RAISING THE BOTTOM—

BY PROVIDING TRAINING, PUBLIC INPUTS, AND BUSINESS SERVICES TO SMALLER, SERVICEORIENTED FIRMS—CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN LIFTING THE TOP. The problem was twofold. First, manufacturing firms—especially formal ones—shrank in terms of employment, absorbing an eversmaller share of the economy’s labor force.

Then, the rest of the economy, which was dominated by small, informal firms, became less and less productive. The upshot was that productivity gains in the (shrinking) globally oriented manufacturing sector were more than offset by the poor performance in other activities, mostly informal services.

Fentanes and Levy attribute these consequences to Mexican labor and social-insurance regulations, which they claim encouraged informality and hampered the growth of formal-sector firms. Yet one can find the same pattern of productivity polarization in many other Latin American economies, as well as in Sub-Saharan countries.

An alternative explanation concerns the changing nature of manufacturing technology itself. So great are the skill and capital requirements of integrating into global value chains that countries poorly endowed with these resources face sharply rising cost curves, preventing their firms from expanding and absorbing much labor. Workers flocking to the cities from the countryside have little choice but to crowd into low-productivity petty services.

Whatever the underlying cause, this issue exemplifies why government strategies to boost productivity can miss the mark.

Whether it comes in the form of plugging into global value chains, subsidizing R&D, or

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investment tax credits, conventional policies often target the wrong problem. In many cases, the binding constraint is not a lack of innovation in the most advanced firms, but rather the large productive gaps between them and the rest of the economy. Raising the bottom—by providing training, public inputs, and business services to smaller, service-oriented firms—can be more effective than lifting the top.

There are lessons here for the new age of artificial intelligence. Large language models’ potential to perform a wide range of tasks at greater speed has generated much excitement about significant future productivity growth. But, once again, the overall impact of this technology will depend on the extent to which its benefits can be disseminated throughout the economy.

As Arjun Ramani and Zhengdong Wang argue in a recent commentary, the productivity benefits of AI may be limited if important parts of the economy—construction, faceto-face services, human-dependent creative work—remain immune to it. This would be a version of the so-called Baumol cost disease, whereby the rising relative prices of certain activities choke off economy-wide improvements in living standards.

These considerations should not turn us into techno-pessimists or Luddites. But they do caution against equating productivity with technology, R&D, and innovation. Scientific and technological innovation may be necessary for the productivity growth that enriches societies, but it is not sufficient. Transforming technological progress into broad productivity growth requires policies specifically designed to encourage broad diffusion, avoid productive dualism, and ensure inclusivity. ***** About the author: Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School, is President of the International Economic Association.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2023.

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The Hollywood Writers’ AI Fight Is Everyone’s Fight

By Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and Austin Lentsch 72 | D I PLOM AT I C COURIE R

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rtificial intelligence is big business’s new flavor of the month.

Companies are rushing to showcase how they will be using new generative AI models, and the media is full of stories about the technology’s transformative potential. There is no denying that it could significantly increase productivity. But who stands to benefit? The ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike may offer an answer.

Hollywood screenwriters are confronting a future that all knowledge workers will soon face—and without the benefit of union representation. At issue is how AI will be used, and by whom. Will TV and movie producers see AI as a way to replace writers and cut costs, or will they use it to create higher-quality content, empowering creative workers to be more productive and earn higher incomes?

We have been down a similar road before. In the early twentieth century, rapid improvements in manufacturing technologies such as moving assembly lines and electrical machinery led to a sharp increase in productivity. Henry Ford, a pioneer in applying these technologies, estimated that motor-enabled machinery “alone has probably doubled the efficiency of industry,” while also making it possible to build much larger factories. But workers did not automatically share in these gains. On the contrary, that did not happen until new tasks had been created, and until workers had acquired enough bargaining power to demand higher wages. These are the two pillars of shared prosperity.

While Ford and his contemporaries certainly did automate some processes, their improved factories also introduced a lot of new activities that required human labor—from material preparation and machine maintenance to coordinating operations. These tasks expanded workers’ contribution to production and translated into a big increase in the demand for labor. In 1899, the U.S. car industry employed a few thousand workers, producing around 2,500 vehicles per year. By 1929, Ford and GM were each making 1.5 million cars annually (with total

HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITERS ARE CONFRONTING A FUTURE THAT ALL KNOWLEDGE WORKERS WILL SOON FACE—AND WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF UNION REPRESENTATION. AT ISSUE IS HOW AI WILL BE USED, AND BY WHOM. U.S. auto production around 4.5 million), and the industry employed more than 400,000 people.

The second pillar is bargaining power. The famous sit-down strike at GM in 1936-37 was a key step in achieving union recognition, improved working conditions, and higher compensation for workers. Over several decades, the new balance that developed between management and workers in automobile manufacturing contributed to rapid wage growth. Part of what made this possible was an emphasis on continually training and upskilling workers to handle new tasks.

Both employers and employees benefited from the productivity gains.

By the 1960s, U.S. auto production had doubled since the 1920s, with the four largest manufacturers employing 1.3 million workers—more than three times the industry’s employment four decades earlier. Moreover, inflation-adjusted profits for the dominant firms, GM and Ford, were around five times higher than in previous decades.

The rise of organized labor in the auto industry also established a model of capitallabor negotiations for other industries to follow. Imagine what would have happened if manufacturing companies attempted to adopt “worker-less factories” in the 1950s, as some had started advocating. Productivity growth (not to mention shared prosperity) UNGA 78 | 73

COULD AI BECOME A TOOL TO BOOST WORKER PRODUCTIVITY AND CREATIVITY? MUCH WILL DEPEND ON WHETHER WORKERS HAVE A VOICE, AND ON HOW SUCH CHOICES AFFECT PRODUCTIVITY AND PRODUCT QUALITY. would have suffered greatly as the human contributions to technical work, design, maintenance, inspection, and creative problem-solving were undermined or lost.

Today, we are confronting equally revolutionary changes, now that executives are considering how to apply generative AI to all components of knowledge production and distribution. Leading tech-focused companies face many of the same choices that car manufacturers had to make at the beginning of the twentieth century. Should powerful new technologies be used to automate knowledge work and sideline workers? Or could AI become a tool to boost worker productivity and creativity? Much will depend on whether workers have a voice, and on how such choices affect productivity and product quality.

There are grounds for thinking that the WGA strike could be more important even than the struggles for union recognition at Ford and GM’s factories a century ago.

For starters, Hollywood’s creative workers are uniquely well-organized and powerful compared to workers in other industries. If they fail, other knowledge workers will stand even less of a chance of shaping the future of work and technology.

The choices ahead of us are epochal, because there is an obvious temptation for movie producers to choose the low road 74 | D I PLOM AT I C COURIE R

of “just automate everything you can.”

This approach may be profitable in the short term if it allows for more shows to be cheaply produced, with fewer screenwriters, actors, and other staff. But studio profits and high-quality output are not the same thing. There still is no substitution for human ingenuity and creativity. Look past the hype, and it should be clear that predicting the next word in a sentence and aggregating the “wisdom” available on the internet are unlikely to generate superior artistic output—even if large language models could produce mediocre sitcoms.

The low road is especially costly because of what it misses. Generative AI could become a tremendously beneficial tool in the hands of creative artists, by helping with research and the development of new ideas. If we can find our way to this high road, AI could drive further technological progress and bolster the returns from human ingenuity.

Much is riding on the writers’ strike. Obviously, it would be a disaster for workers if they are sidelined by movie studios. Knowledge workers—and, indeed, all workers— should hope that the WGA and its members succeed in showing not only how unions can raise wages in the short term, but also how technology can be used to support creativity, rather than simply displacing it. ***** About the authors: Daron Acemoglu is Institute Professor of Economics at MIT. Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Austin Lentsch is a policy fellow at MIT’s Blueprint Labs.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2023.

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Building More Resilient Supply Chains Amid Global Uncertainty

By Avantika Singha

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he COVID-19 pandemic led to a global shortage of semiconductor chips as demand for electronic devices surged, causing supply chain disruptions across sectors and the global economy. Complex transnational value chains are integral to the globalized production platforms and critical for high-quality exports, contributing to economic growth, job creation, and revenue generation. With value addition at each stage, supply chains must integrate at multiple levels, with several countries working together for eff iciency to maximize output.

BOLSTERING SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CAN HELP ORGANIZATIONS ACHIEVE THEIR SUSTAINABILITY GOALS, BRING DOWN COSTS, AND CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS STRUCTURAL RESILIENCE.

SDG 9 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focuses on building resilient and sustainable infrastructure and promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization. Understanding and addressing the commitment to SDG 9 would foster the path to a resilient and sustainable global supply chain.

towards structural resilience. However, divergent awareness about issues due to narrow geographical perspectives multiplies the overall challenges, impacting the entire global supply chain.

The f irst step is to make the process and global supply chains transparent, laying the groundwork for an economic, social, and environment-conscious future.

A multitude of shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic changed geopolitical dynamics. Magnified by the war in Ukraine and coupled with climate change-triggered risks, the fragility of global supply chains has been highlighted. In March 2023, the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index fell to its lowest level since November 2008. Existing and emergent geopolitical conflicts, inflation, and climate change weather events indicate that disruptions to the supply chains are here to stay. As we inch towards 2030, the need to ensure that global supply chains remain resilient to withstand and adapt to external factors becomes paramount.

While global supply chains are not directly referred to in the United Nations 2030 agenda, Point 63 emphasizes that “national development efforts need to be supported by an enabling international economic environment, including coherent and mutually supporting world trade.” It is key to recognize that bolstering supply chain management can help organizations achieve their sustainability goals, bring down costs, and contribute

The Power of Inf rastructure SDGs recognize the importance of research and innovation in f inding solutions to the socio-economic and environmental challenges of the world. A key factor of SDG 9 is inf rastructure, which impacts business operations, communities, and livelihood. Inf rastructure-supporting technologies like communications, transportation, and sanitation are not universally developed. Under-developed, degraded, or non-existent inf rastructure hinders growth and adds risk of the supply chain. This challenge presents an opportunity for businesses to contribute towards sustainable inf rastructure and the promotion of innovation across company operations.

Global companies invest in inf rastructure development, upgrading existing local inf rastructure, and investing in resilient energy and advanced technologies in the regions in which they operate—creating employment opportunities and inclusive economic development. The development UNGA 78 | 77

THE INDUSTRY NEEDS TO PRIORITIZE FUNDING AND PROMOTION OF INNOVATION AND R&D. THIS WOULD AID SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND UPGRADE THE TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES OF INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IN ALL COUNTRIES. of reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure to support economic development and human well-being, can further be leveraged by other ecosystem stakeholders to focus on ensuring affordable and equitable access for all.

The other aspect of SDG 9 that relates to global supply chains is innovation.

The industry needs to prioritize funding and promotion of innovation and R&D. This would aid scientif ic research and upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries. On the policy f ront, f riendly policies toward such things as industrial diversif ication and value addition to commodities would support domestic technology development, research, and innovation, especially in developing countries.

Collaboration on a Supply Chain for All As demonstrated during the COVID-19 crisis, empowering technology, science, and innovation has become critical to making economies resilient. The global supply chain, backed by government support and a committed industry, offers a global network that can be leveraged during a crisis—not only supply chain disruptions but also other challenges.

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The realization of an integrated, sustainable, and resilient f ramework for the global supply chain, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, requires a concerted effort f rom governments as well as industry stakeholders. Discussion, consultation, and collaboration with stakeholders, including policymakers, think tanks, industry, NGOs, and international organizations are needed.

This would establish research-backed standards and regulations that address the need gap and ensure impact and opportunities are created for all. Lastly, collaboration among the public sector, industry, and other stakeholders across borders to share data-driven learning and technological advancement is needed to maximize impact. ***** About the author: Avantika Singha is a consultant at APCO Worldwide in the New Delhi off ice.

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Shared Dream, Shared Responsibility

By Daria Loi

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here was a time where technology primarily focused on advancing humanity, be it for utilitarian, intellectual, or aesthetic purposes. From Leonardo da Vinci’s humanism—focused on principles of dignity, education, and the search for humanity’s natural place within the universe—to the beginning of the world wide web as an egalitarian tool to connect and share information, we worked to better our time on this planet we call home. Our acumen and passion were relentlessly and uncompromisingly directed at solving real problems afflicting us individually and collectively.

Our human ingenuity was at the service of the people and the planet that hosts us.

INNOVATORS THAT TAKE SOCIAL IMPACT INTO CONSIDERATION START

BY UNDERSTANDING THEIR AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT AS WELL AS WHAT PROBLEMS ARE BEING EXPERIENCED AND HOW TO RESPECTFULLY ADDRESS THEM.

But then we lost our way. At some point we opened the door to technologists whose actions increasingly and fastidiously resemble those of greedy, irresponsible, superficial adolescents. Some claim that these individuals, frequently referred to as tech bros, ruined our work culture. Others stated that they ruined cities, or even dating. At a closer look, one could easily claim that they simply ruined it all. After all, in Hollywood they are now the latest supervillains.

their audience and context as well as what problems are being experienced and how to respectfully address them—and only after they focus on design and development phases. When greed is the primary motivator, those crucial first steps are often skipped in favor of expedited deliverables.

We are dealing with a two-headed beast.

On one hand, the tech industry is overly focused on answering questions quickly, so that it has forgotten how best to approach the question-answer endeavor.

On the other hand, are tech industry enablers alongside their purchasing and behavioral trends. We have been measuring our successes as technologists and humans using parameters that have little to do with advancing the wellbeing of humanity or our planet.

The Problems of the Tech Industry…

These usually white male technologists share similar traits: they are financially wealthy yet they have a poor moral compass and a profit-over-everything ethos. Their design style frequently prioritizes machines above people and their development approach puts money above human experience. The soulless outcome of their labor increasingly surrounds—and enslaves—us.

The sad part is that these adolescents have enabling parents: us.

In a previous publication I offered the perspective that “the high-tech sector has placed greed at the forefront of its decision making.” When greed is a key motivator, how products are designed and their impact on society matter less. On the other hand, innovators that take social impact into consideration start by understanding

…Are Also Our Problems It would be easier to launch the stone in one direction and say that tech bros ruined it all—yet the awful truth is that we ourselves share the blame. It is time we wake up and be better. To address this complex matter the solution cannot be simple or simplified. Instead, consider a multi-layered approach such as the following.

First, rethink what regulation means and its role in fostering accountability without stifling innovation. We should look at scaffolding instead of prescribing.

UNGA 78 | 81

Second, rethink technology and innovation success metrics across diverse parameters. We have been so myopically focused on accumulating money that we did not notice what was sacrificed in the process: connection, wonderment, innovation, critical thinking, depth, and the true meaning of life.

Third, rethink education and its accessibility. Not only education is and should be a human right—it should scaffold the next generation to ensure they all get the tools and techniques they need and deserve to be critical thinkers, innovators, storytellers, and global citizens.

Fourth, shift design and development processes toward human centric values, commitments and metrics. We must stop designing and manufacturing devices that not only suck value out of our everyday life but also have zero value after their short lifespan.

It bears repeating—the time has come for us to wake up and be better. It is time we remind each other of why we are here as well as what our individual yet entwined roles and responsibilities are. It is time we stop the narcissism and start thinking beyond personal interests and beyond the sole interests of our own species. We all dreamt of a world where everyone and everything could thrive, yet have forgotten that that very dream is up to us.

Our collective carelessness kept distracting us from the real prize so now it is time we get back to work, designing technologies that focus on advancing humanity, the thriving of our planet and ourselves. ***** About the author: Dr. Daria Loi is Chief Experience Officer at Astral.

Additional appointments include DemocracyLab BoD; Honorary Professor at Newcastle University; CETI Executive Council; and Columnist for ACM Interactions. Previously, she was Principal Engineer at Intel.

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