Science and technology in the framework of the sustainable development goals
| Date | 03 January 2017 |
| Pages | 2-17 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-04-2016-0030 |
| Published date | 03 January 2017 |
| Author | Mariana Imaz,Claudia Sheinbaum |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Environmental technology & innovation |
Science and technology in the
framework of the sustainable
development goals
Mariana Imaz
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Coyoacan, Mexico, and
Claudia Sheinbaum
Instituto de Ingenieria, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Coyoacan, Mexico
Abstract
Purpose –In September 2015, the UN member states approved an ambitious agenda toward the end of
poverty, thepursuit of equity and the protection of the planetin the form of 17 Sustainable DevelopmentGoals
(SDGs) and 169 targets. The purpose of thispaper is to raise a concern about the context and frameworkthat
science, technology and innovation have in the finalized text for adoption that frames the SDGs especially
regarding environmental degradation.The authors argue that emphasizing technology transfer in the agenda
has the risk to donot recognize other technologicalalternatives such as eco-technologies, and endorsea limited
vision of therole of science and innovation inthe achievement of the SDGs. Sciencefor sustainability has togo
further than technology transfer, evenquestioning the limits of the currentpatterns of intensive use of natural
resources and inequity in consumption. By discussing the historical backgrounds of this paradigm and
elaboratingon the role of science to achievesustainability in a broader sense.It is in these terms that inter-and
intra-discipline and the roles of researchers in sustainability transitions acquire relevance.
Design/methodology/approach –Although many theories regarding human developmentare in place and
under discussion, the dominant view, reflected in the UN agreement, is that the progress of a country can be
measured by the growth in the per capita gross domestic product. This variable determines if a society is able
to reduce poverty and satisfy its basic needs for present and future generations (Article 3: United Nations
(UN), 2015). Progress and economic growth in several aspects of human development has been substantial
over the past 40 years. However, at the same time, the state of the environment continues to decline (UNEP,
2012). The obvious inquiry of these opposing trends is whether progress irremediably comes at the cost of
environmental degradation. In 1972, the Club of Rome’s report entitled “Limits to growth”(Meadows et al.
1972) confronted the viability of perpetual economic growth. The report alerted of the impossibility of endless
growth in population and production in a finite planet (Gómez-Baggethun and Naredo, 2015). The essay
forecasted future crises of food and energy if the population and economic growth continued to grow at the
same rate of the first half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the catastrophic projections were not met,
mostly because of great advances in agriculture, water and energy technologies.
Findings –The SDGs constitute a relevant international recognition of the importance of the three edges of
sustainable development. However, the pathways toward the achievement of the SDGs need to fully recognize that
poverty, inequalities and global environmental problems are expressing a deeper crisis in the shape of economic
growth, patterns of production and consumption and, in general, the logic of no limits in the exploitation of natural
resources (Sheinbaum-Pardo, 2015). For this reason, the science of sustainability requires a deep understanding of
the technological change and that technology is not the only approach toward sustainability.
Research limitations/implications –The paper reflects a conceptual discussion of the narrow vision of
science and technology in the SDGs and their UN framework. The most important objective in the UN documents
is technology transfer. This has the risk to do not recognize other technological alternatives such as
eco-technologies, and endorse a limited vision of the role of science and innovation in the achievement of the SDGs.
Practical implications –An important discussion of the key points regarding SDGs is developed.
Social implications –“Transformingour world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development (UN, 2015)”
presents a narrow vision and a limiting role to the science of sustainability. Moreover, if these issues are not
recognized, the achievement of the SDGs will continue to gain only marginal success.
Originality/value –It brings out a very important discussion of the role of science and technology in the
ambitious UN agenda of the SDGs.
Keywords Technology, Sustainable development goals, Science, Limits
Paper type Conceptual paper
World Journal of Science,
Technology and Sustainable
Development
Vol. 14 No. 1, 2017
pp. 2-17
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2042-5945
DOI 10.1108/WJSTSD-04-2016-0030
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2042-5945.htm
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WJSTSD
14,1
1. Introduction
One of the key outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
(Rio+20), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, was the agreement among the member states to
launch a process to develop a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs; United Nations,
2012). Following a route of inter-governmental negotiations and based on the proposal of the
open working group on SDGs, the member states agreed on a finalized text for adoption
called “Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development (UN, 2015).”
The text of the SDGs constitutes an ambitious agenda toward the end of poverty, the
pursuit of equity and the protection of the planet. In contrast to the Millennium Development
Goals launched in 2000, the SDGs show empathy in the three dimensions of sustainable
development, i.e., the economic, social and environmental aspects, in a future vision that engage
all of the countries of the world. Nevertheless, there are certain concerns about the SDGs and
the finalized text for adoption. For example, the International Council for Science and the
International Social Science Council (2015) raised the concern that the SDGs are presented in
“silos”with the danger of conflict among different goals and even trade-offs between
overcoming poverty and moving toward sustainability. Namely, an action to meet one target
could have unintended consequences on other goals if they are pursued separately.
In addition to the concern about the inter-linkages among SDGs in this paper we raised
another important concern very much related to the how and the means to achieve the
SDGs, and it is the context and normative framework that science, technology and
innovation (STI) have in the finalized text for adoption, as well as in SDG 17th (Table I).
In the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on SDGs, the main focus of
science and technology is “promoting the development, transfer, dissemination and
diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries”(target 17.7) and
the creation of “technology facilitation mechanisms (TFM)”(Article 70) to enable knowledge
and technology transfer. Although this emphasis is important, it strongly supports the ideas
that science operates only for the development of technology, which limits its role in the
sustainable development vision and exalts technology transfer from north to south. It is
interesting to note that in the finalized text for adoption (UN, 2015) that consists of 29 pages,
the word culture appears five times, the word science appears ten times, and the word
technology appears 36 times.
In this paper, we elaborate on the role of science for sustainability in a broader sense,
beyond science for technology innovation and transfer. Under this context we recall that
science is a human activity and that the choices we face are not only technological but
mainly societal ones. In this view, the question of how to achieve the SDGs is indivisible
with the SDGs themselves and, therefore, philosophical, social and economic sciences as well
as other sources of knowledge must contribute as much as the natural and technical
sciences toward an approach where the quality of life and sustainable patterns of
Targets
17.6 Enhance north-south, south-south and triangular regional and international cooperation on and
access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed
terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the
United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
17.7 Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound
technologies to developing countries on favorable terms, including on concessional and preferential
terms, as mutually agreed
17.8 Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building
mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in
particular information and communications technology
Table I.
Targets regarding
technology SDG 17th
3
Science and
technology
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