Former UN General Assembly President Visits International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals
Dec 07, 2023
On December 6, 2023, Csaba K？r？si, the 77th President of the United Nations General Assembly, visited the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS).
During this visit, K？r？si was awarded the CBAS Fellow. The CBAS Fellowship Program was initiated in September 2023 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions worldwide to sustainable development through technological innovation. This fellowship is CBAS' highest academic honor, and K？r？si is among the inaugural recipients.
As a highlight of the visit, K？r？si delivered a keynote address at the Sustainable Development Goals Lecture Series, focusing on "Measuring What Counts: Do We Have the Tools Supporting Sustainability Transformation". Illustrating challenges geological conflicts as well as cascading conflicts, he noted since the launching of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN 2030 Agenda) in 2015, only 12%-15% SDGs targets are on track to be achieved by the 2030, 20%-40% SDGs targets cannot be evaluated since the lack of data. His presentation highlighted the crucial need for an all-round validated methodology, real-time and standardized data, as well as integrated impact analysis in measuring and facilitating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
This visit strengthened the ongoing relationship as K？r？si led a UN delegation to CBAS in this February, stressing the significant role of scientific data, particularly in water resource protection. In March, responding to K？r？si’s invitation, Prof. Guo Huadong, Director General of CBAS, led a delegation to the UN 2023 Water Conference, presenting K？r？si with the "Global Water Resources Data Product", which showcases CBAS's latest research on water safety, water quality, water-use efficiency, as well as water-related ecosystem conservation, contributing to global and regional progress evaluation on sustainable development goal (SDG) 6: clean water and sanitation.
CBAS, founded in 2021 and hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), dedicated to facilitating the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda. The SDG Lecture Series, one of CBAS flagship lecture program, serves as a global platform for academic exchange, regularly inviting experts worldwide to discuss new theories, technologies, and discoveries across interdisciplinary fields.
Prof. GUO Huadong presents the CBAS Fellow Certificate and the Medal to Csaba K？r？si. (Image by AIR)
K？r？si delivers a keynote address at the Sustainable Development Goals Lecture Series, titled "Measuring What Counts: Do We Have the Tools Supporting Sustainability Transformation" (Image by AIR)
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