United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Towards this end, UN is advocating for sustainable patterns of production and consumption while managing the natural resources efficiently to ensure that the socio-economic development does not compromise environmental sustainability. The SDGs are accompanied by targets and will be further elaborated through indicators focused on measurable outcomes. The goals constitute an integrated, indivisible set of global priorities for sustainable development while the targets are defined as global targets, with each government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. The goals and targets integrate economic, social and environmental aspects and recognize their interlinkages in achieving sustainable development in all dimensions.

The SDGs require a joint and long-term outlook by society that integrates social, economic and environmental objectives. Achieving SDGs require development, transfer and adoption of technologies and solutions that are environmentally sound, ecologically efficient and productivity enhancing. Countries need to deploy science, technology and innovation as the primary tool for achieving SDGs. Effective management of natural resources, especially energy resources is critical for countries to achieve SDGs. The approach should be balanced to ensure that over exploitation of energy resources is minimized while the energy required for socio-economic development of countries is generated without affecting the equilibrium.

The regional consultation on “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through Science, Technology and Innovation” is being organized by Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of the Royal Thai Government to provide an enabling platform for ASEAN countries to discuss best practices, share experiences and success stories and deliberate on challenges in achieving sustainable development goals. The specific focus of this regional consultation would be on effective management of resources in ASEAN countries and how enhanced cross-border cooperation among ASEAN countries would benefit the region in achieving SDGs.