Scientists meet at the UN for Expert Group Meeting on Sustainable Development Goals

The meeting opened with a presentation from David Griggs, lead author of a recently published paper in Nature on Sustainable Development Goals. It included panel presentations and plenary discussions on the conceptual framework for SDGs, as well as the usefulness of scientific tools such as scenario modelling.

There was also an interactive session with government representatives, including members of the Open Working Group on SDGs, chaired by Csaba Körösi, Ambassador of Hungary to the UN and co-chair of the OWG. Some 80-90 representatives from governments and major groups, as well as UN bodies took part.

The meeting generated key recommendations from the scientific community for governments, including how to develop a conceptual framework, priorities, and integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions for SDGs. Ambassador Körösi announced at the end of the dialogue session that the OWG would like to have continued input from the scientific community throughout the intergovernmental process of producing a set of SDGs.

The meeting was jointly organized by the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs (UN-DESA), ICSU and the International Social Science Council (ISSC).

There is also a video recording of the event.