Leading academics call for the expansion and reformulation of sustainable development goals

A group of leading academics is calling for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to be extended beyond their 2030 target date and updated to take into account the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and with greater input from communities affected by the goals, among other recommendations. Halfway to the 2030 target completion date, many of the UN's ambitious 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are lagging or progressing too slowly due to the global economic slowdown due to the COVID disease and international conflicts. Ahead of the Future Summit in New York in September, the authors recommend extending the goals to 2050 and modifying them with an ambitious timeline and clarity on specific targets – such as those related to climate and “planetary health” (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, more at phys.org)