2016 AAAS Annual Meeting (February 11-15, 2016)

February 10 - 15, 2016

Sustainable Development Goals: Paths Forward

The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formally announced at the UN General Assembly in September 2015. SDGs comprise 17 inclusive, global aims designed to guide national and international agendas, strategies, and policies for the next 15 years. SDGs include economic and social targets such as poverty, health, nutrition, employment, gender equity, education, justice, and inequality. They also focus on how societies interact with natural resources and technology, explicitly referring to climate change, water and energy sustainability, oceans, terrestrial ecosystems, agriculture, biodiversity, industrialization, urban development, and consumption. Since they are complex and interrelated, achieving these goals will require an array of coordinated policies that draw on knowledge systems from across the spectrum of natural, social, technological, and political sciences. Analyses must account for the co-benefits and tradeoffs inherent in aiming for multiple goals. This session focuses on the science behind SDGs and how global scientific cooperation can contribute to achieving their ambitious targets for the world. Presentations from leaders of global initiatives will provide guidance on how both scientific institutions and individual researchers can contribute to the knowledge needed to inform policy processes that will help achieve Sustainable Development Goals.