Begovic: Serbia wants this decade declared int'l decade of science for sustainability

NEW YORK - Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Jelena Begovic attended a general debate in the ministerial segment of a political forum held at the UN headquarters in New York under the patronage of the UN Committee on Economic and Social Affairs.

"We took the opportunity to present Serbia in the best way in terms of what we have done about an investment map or, to be more precise, areas that need to be invested in and are in line with sustainable development goals," Begovic said.

She said Serbia had filed a motion for a new resolution under which the current decade would be declared a decade of science for sustainability.

"Hopefully we will get the support of the majority of countries in early September. Serbia has recognised how important science is for development of society, and we want to expand that to the global level and show how important science, knowledge, innovation and new technologies are for accomplishing the objectives of sustainable development," Begovic said.

Sustainable development goals until 2030 include eradication of poverty, equal access to education for children, solving the problem of drinking water, renewable energy sources, sustainable cities and investing in infrastructure and innovation, Begovic said.

She noted that the coronavirus pandemic had slowed the progress towards those objectives and that the UN conference had discussed ways to transform societies and accomplish the objectives as soon as possible.

Begovic also met with UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi to exchange experiences regarding how the UN sees the future of humanity in light of all global changes, development of technology and the challenges facing humanity.

"We discussed how new technologies and science can help that and he gave us enormous support and he is extremely pleased with our initiative to declare an international decade of science for sustainability as a mechanism that will provide proof of some models to look at where humanity is heading to in terms of development and where the biggest threats to the survival of humanity are," Begovic concluded.