Australian pavilion hosts key UN Global Goals Week event at Expo 2020
Australian thought leaders and visionaries will participate and discuss how we can support growth while mitigating damage to the planet at a series of high impact events hosted by the Australian Pavilion during Global Goals Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, 15-22 January 2022. It furthers a shared commitment between more than 130 partners across civil society, business, academia, and the UN, to accelerate action on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our collective ambitions for dignified and equal opportunities for all: THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development (un.org).
Each year, government leaders, activists and academics gather to discuss our progress on SDGs and to take stock of how far we have come. At Global Goals Week, best practices in clean energy, quality education, gender equality, last mile delivery, livelihood and enterprise development, women issues, and transformative solutions to recover from global challenges are highlighted.
Expo’s hosting of Global Goals Week this year is critically important as COVID-19 has negatively impacted the world’s progress towards reducing inequality on social and economic indicators., Australia will participate in and host over 25 events throughout Expo 2020 Dubai which relate to the advancement of the UN’s sustainability goals.
At Global Goals Week, the Australian Pavilion will host the World Majlis event ‘Power to Change the World: Fuelling a Sustainable World by 2030,’ on 16th January 2022 at 4 pm. Todd Clewett, Director of Global Affairs at Fortescue Future Industries, an Australian green energy giant will host the event. He will touch upon producing zero-emission green hydrogen from 100 per cent renewable sources and how cutting-edge technology can transform global carbon emitting industries.
Leanne Kemp, Founder and CEO of Everledger, a company that uses blockchain to track the provenance of high-value assets, was formerly Queensland’s Chief Entrepreneur. She will participate in ‘World Majlis – Extending the Revolution to Every Desk and Doorstep: Fourth Industrial Revolution for Everyone,’ on 18th January 2022 at 4-6 pm at the Terra Auditorium. Kemp sits on boards for the IBM Blockchain Board of Advisors, the World Trade Board, and the World Economic Forum’s blockchain council. She will focus on how emerging economies can reap the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and how innovative technologies will narrow or widen inequalities.
Australia has progressed in addressing key climate change issues and reducing greenhouse gas emissions across sectors including food & agribusiness, education, advanced manufacturing, resources and energy, healthcare, and infrastructure. Notable SDG related initiatives include:
- The Emissions Reduction Fund incentivises businesses to adopt smarter practices to cut their greenhouse gas emissions
- Enabling the hydrogen industry to thrive through the National Hydrogen Strategy
- Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is being enabled by The Technology Investment Roadmap
- Renewable Energy Target scheme to generate electricity from renewable sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector.
Australian experts have already participated in Expo 2020 events in line with SDGs, such as the ‘World Majlis: Engineering a Balanced City’, ‘World Majlis: Lessons from Space’ and our ‘World Food Day – Stop the Waste’ events, which aligned with SDG goals to reduce hunger, take climate action, and support life on land. In addition to our events during Global Goals Week, future events in support of SDGs include, ‘World Majlis: Farms of the Future,’ focussed on the role of agricultural technologies in reducing the environmental impact of food production, and the ‘Expo 2020 Women in Sport Forum,’ focussed on driving gender equality through sports events and sport for development programs, featuring case studies of women’s leadership in sports industries from the region and globally.
