GOAL 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

SDG Progress and Industry Notes

Progress

The 2018 Report of the Secretary-General on Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, notes that “Steady progress has been made in the manufacturing industry. To achieve inclusive and sustainable industrialization, competitive economic forces need to be unleashed to generate employment and income, facilitate international trade and enable the efficient use of resources.”

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2017 Thematic Review of SDG 9

“SDG-9 is built on three pillars, infrastructure, industry and innovation, all of which are strongly connected among themselves and share the common goal of achieving socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic development. Over the past decades regions such as East and South Asia have made remarkable progress in achieving development goals in the areas of infrastructure, industrialization and innovation. However, achieving Goal 9 by 2030 will require addressing a range of resource constraints, especially in the context of developing countries vulnerable countries including the least developed countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Countries will have to strengthen their capabilities and explore new ways to solve development challenges by involving various actors, processes and types of governance, source of finance and encourage collaboration and cooperation across stakeholders, sectors and regions.

“The industrial sector proves to be particularly challenging in geographical areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, whose industrialization levels remain low or have stagnated, thus undergoing a much slower pace of progress in poverty eradication. By adopting Goal 9 in particular, the global community addresses these and other challenges by committing itself to an industrial development that is inclusive and sustainable (ISID), thus highlighting close linkages with virtually all other SDGs as regards job creation, sustainable livelihoods, SME development, better health, technology and skills development, food security, green technologies, environmental protection, building resilient cities and climate change mitigation. There are many different indicators and metrics to evaluate industry, innovation and infrastructure. This [Thematic Review] discusses just a few of them – global manufacturing employment; mobile and Internet penetration, R&D expenditure & staff, and medium- and high-tech value-added in total value-added.”

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Industry Notes

The Fashion Industry has come to recognize and embrace innovation as it addresses both consumption and production impacts and explores new business models. To learn more, please read Textile Exchange’s 2017 Preferred Fiber and Materials Insider Series (Textile Exchange). The industry has also launched a number of accelerator programs that reward and fund startups and innovative business models. Examples include H&M’s Global Change Award and Fashion for Good. 

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