To what extent does the usage of science and technology help
us achieve the sustainable development goals?
Introduction
In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
[1] Us humans like to enhance our world by any means possible, it could be modernizing the cities,
building new possible routes for transportation of goods, building new facilities, and many more.
This method of developing is good for the economy and society in the short term, however,
considering the amount of pollution and greenhouse gasses we emit, considering the environments
we destroy, considering the wants exceeding the supply of goods and services, this all causes a
major drawback for our future generations.
Now, in order to achieve sustainable development, technology is essential. It is impossible to
dispute the importance of technology in achieving the goals of sustainable development, whether
they be social, economic, or environmental. Governments and others are very reluctant to make
the political and social adjustments required to slow the development in output and consumption.
Here is when reliance on science and technology is relevant. The majority of nations are now
utilizing science and technology to find solutions to their current environmental issues and help
them achieve a sustainable future.
To take this issue into a broader manner we need to take a look at the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) by the UN, and how we can use S&T (science and technology) to improve on them
for the better.
[2] - SDG Logo and
Guidelines United Nations
Development
Fig. 1
Science and technology helps us alleviate poverty (1st sustainable development goal)
Growing levels of poverty and marginalization in the South are directly related to the destruction
of commerce, jobs, and environmental stability brought on by the North's supremacy in science
and the South's ineffective remedies. Therefore, science and its technologies must be viewed as
urgent imperatives rather than merely desired alternatives in order to abolish poverty in all of its
forms and expansion.
Sub-Saharan African smallholder farmers frequently experience low agricultural yields and lack
access to the same technologies as farmers in other regions. The detailed monitoring services
required to apply "precision agriculture" approaches to farms, boosting yields and lowering input
costs, may be provided through geospatial technology, including satellites and drones. [3]
Precision agriculture determines the exact amounts of water, fertilizer, pesticides, and other
inputs that should be delivered to crops as well as the proper time using remote sensing data
(pictures and information acquired from satellites or drones) and machine learning.
In remote places, many kids, particularly underprivileged females, have restricted access to
school. Additionally, a lot of the schools that rural kids might attend suffer with low-quality
instructors and scarce funding. However, modern tools like solar-powered laptops and projectors
enable students to take part in interactive lectures with qualified instructors in real time. Making
Ghanaian Girls Great! (MGCubed), an interactive distance learning initiative launched recently
in Ghana with assistance from the British Department for International Development in Ghana,
according to Ghana Web. [4]
Science and technology meeting the 3rd Sustainable Development Goals: Good health and
wellbeing
Goal 3's definition of health care as a global development priority makes it a crucial part of the
agenda. The creation of changes in the standard and inclusivity of healthcare depends critically on
research, technology, and innovation, even if there are many other factors that must be taken into
consideration. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and
Well-being for All identifies seven accelerator themes that progress can be accelerated along,
particularly in primary healthcare, diseases associated with poverty, and early detection and
response to disease outbreaks.
Data, digital health, research and development, and innovation may all support the provision of
efficient primary healthcare. More than 5 million children under the age of 5 pass away each year
from ailments that may be treated or avoided. Early identification and diagnosis of diseases that
may have an impact on a child's long-term health are made possible through prenatal detection and
newborn screening. Early access to prenatal care and testing can also prevent the transfer of
illnesses like HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis from mother to child. Through its National Maternal and
Child Care Programme and National Health System, Cuba was the first nation to totally eradicate
such transmissions. [5]
Innovation, science, and technology are crucial for disease surveillance and early warning systems.
Data aggregation systems offer epidemiological information in addition to case identification
through online symptom reporting, and they were crucial in COVID-19 surveillance. [6] The
Global Early Warning and Response System for large Animal Diseases, involving Zoonoses,
WHO, and the World Organization for Animal Health have been keeping an eye on large animal
disease outbreaks all around the world since July 2006. Data dashboards are being utilized more
often to enlighten the public and assist policymakers in adjusting their policies. [7] Several nations
have developed online COVID-19 informational systems to track the dynamics of morbidity and
mortality, as well as the availability of medical professionals and specialty beds. One of these
nations is the Russian Federation.
Science and Technology on helping us achieve the 13th sustainable development goal:
Climate action
Science and technology has brought many benefits to the world when it comes to tackling climate
change. Innovations such as public electric transport, cheap energy storage, LED light efficiency,
and ‘carbon capture and storage’ play an important role in shaping our world towards a better
environment.
Let’s have a look at public transport, currently 85% of gas emissions from the transportation sector
come from ground transports (cars, buses, trains, etc). [8] According to the U.S department of
energy, 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gasses are released into the atmosphere from highway
vehicles, and over 1 billion cars use gasoline as fuel. [9] This can indicate a major threat to our
environment.
[10] - Motor vehicle gasoline
and gasohol consumption in the
United States 2016 to 2020
Fig. 2
Fig. 2 indicates the rising and non-affective solutions in combating the increasement of gasoline
consumption by transport vehicles from 2016 to 2019, and a quick reminder that this is only in the
USA.
Now let’s have a look at on how technology improves the environment by implementing it through
public transport:
A crucial first step toward decarbonization, better air, and the battle against climate change is the
intelligent transportation systems like electric buses. There are no emissions from electric buses'
tailpipes, they have a longer lifespan, consume less fuel, have fewer parts, and require less
maintenance. They may cost more initially, but over the course of time they become significantly
less expensive. With new electric bus deposits, which may reduce electricity use by 40% owing to
smart charging, energy prices might drop even more. [11] This was just one example of shifting
our public transportation into a better and environmentally friendly one.
Although a larger use of low-carbon power can result in significant reductions in global emissions,
some areas of energy demand (particularly in industry) cannot be met by electricity due to cost or
technical constraints. Now here comes the decarbonization method known as carbon capture,
usage, and storage (CCUS). This technology may transport and permanently store CO2 that has
been captured from high-emitting industrial sites. CCUS can also make it possible to produce
electricity and hydrogen in low-carbon methods, two essential energy sources that can aid in the
decarbonization of a variety of industries. Additional CO2 removal from the environment is
possible with the help of two CCUS applications: direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS)
and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). [12]
Carbon Capture and storage technologies can also have a positive effect on our economies, such
as industries that may take advantage of the stored CO2 and use it to make plastics like
polyurethane.
[13] - How clean are electric cars? | electric car CO2 emissions
Fig. 3
Fig. 3 shows us how battery electric based vehicles manage to keep a reduced amount of CO2
emissions, unlike gasoline cars. While an average gasoline car emits 55 tonnes of carbon dioxide
after a 200,000 km ride, an electric car produces only 15 tonnes of CO2 which is a significant
amount of difference.
Are there any drawbacks of using Science and Technology to achieve sustainable
development goals?
Yes, although there are many advantages of science and technology in improving our sustainable
development goals, there are also disadvantages. As we discussed before, on how science and
technology improved our access to data related to medicine and treatment, generally access to
faster healthcare (3rd sustainable development goal) by displaying medical information into the
internet, however on the other hand that information may be altered and can lead to incorrect
healthcare decisions. A mistaken diagnosis or treatment plan, as well as other negative outcomes,
may result from the deletion or alteration of data.
Also talking about Artificial intelligence in medicine and healthcare we must consider that many
machine learning models, for instance, are trained on historical data and do not easily adjust to
changes over time, whereas operational data has significant differences from trained data.
Similar to how overreliance on AI/ML technologies can make clinicians complacent and prevent
them from double-checking or considering alternatives to the system's predictions. The
continuing acceptance of technology within the healthcare industry is not likely to last if it is not
enhancing healthcare through speed, efficiency, or accuracy. [14]
Also referring to science and technology in combating climate change, we highlighted the usage
of electric vehicles, however the negative sides of these technologies still lie below the curtains.
For instance electric vehicle chargers rely on power plants which still use fossil fuels. Materials
that need a lot of energy to extract, such as nickel, lithium, cobalt, and others, are used in EV
batteries. Many other disadvantages can be seen from electric vehicles.
Conclusion
In conclusion, science and technology plays a crucial role in aiding humanity to achieve the 17
sustainable development goals. S&T helped the globe to alleviate big numbers of poverty by its
advanced technological innovations. Farmers in poor areas managed to enhance their skills by
discovering new agricultural lands using technology. S&T managed to improve health care for
the society with its spreading of new information across online platforms, and finally S&T
created a better environment for the globe in the means of tackling climate change. Although
S&T had some drawbacks in playing their roles, such as medical data errors, AI in medicine not
being updated, and electric cars still burning fossil fuels; it is imperative that we consider S&T
fulfilled its roles no matter the negative consequences. There is still a room for improvement for
S&T on improving the sustainable development goals since larger-scale problems will be present
in the near future.
References
[1] - United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainability | United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/academicimpact/sustainability#:~:text=In%201987%2C%20the%20United%20Nations,to%20meet%20th
eir%20own%20needs.%E2%80%9D
[2] - https://www.undp.org/myanmar/sdg-logo-and-guidelines
[3] - TechnoServe. (2023, April 20). 5 Ways Technology Is Fighting Global Poverty.
TechnoServe. https://www.technoserve.org/blog/5-ways-technology-is-fighting-global-poverty/
[4] - Project, B. (2019). 10 Technological Solutions to Poverty. The Borgen Project.
https://borgenproject.org/10-technological-solutions-poverty/
[5] - Using science, technology and innovation to close the gap on Sustainable Development
Goal 3, good health and well-being. (2021, May 17). Commission on Science and Technology for
Development, 2–10. https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ecn162021d2_en.pdf
[6] - Budd, J., Miller, B. S., Manning, E. M., Lampos, V., Zhuang, M., Edelstein, M., Rees, G.,
Emery, V. C., Stevens, M. M., Keegan, N., Short, M. J., Pillay, D., Manley, E., Cox, I. J.,
Heymann, D., Johnson, A. M., & McKendry, R. A. (2020, August 7). Digital technologies in the
public-health response to COVID-19 - Nature Medicine. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591020-1011-4
[7] - ibid
[8] - Area Transportation Authority, K. C. (n.d.). Environmental Benefits of Public Transit | The
Environment | About KCATA | KCATA. Environmental Benefits of Public Transit | the
Environment | About KCATA | KCATA.
https://www.kcata.org/about_kcata/entries/environmental_benefits_of_public_transit
[9]-https://www.pistonudos.com/en/how-much-co2-do-carsemit#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Department,contributing%20to%20global%
20 climate%20change. (2022, September 16). https://www.pistonudos.com/en/how-much-co2do-cars-emit
[10] - U.S. gasoline & gasohol consumption by vehicles | Statista. (n.d.). Statista.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/856726/motor-vehicle-gasoline-consumption-in-the-us/
[11] - Electric buses: definition and benefits | Enel X. (n.d.). Enel X.
https://corporate.enelx.com/en/question-and-answers/what-is-electricbus#:~:text=Electric%20buses%20have%20zero%20tailpipe,decarbonization%20and%20fightin
g%20climate%20change.
[12] - What technology do we need to cut carbon emissions? - Grantham Research Institute on
climate change and the environment. (n.d.). Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and
the Environment. https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-technology-do-weneed-to-cut-carbon-emissions/
[13] - How clean are electric cars? – Transport & Environment. (2022, May 30). How Clean
Are Electric Cars? – Transport & Environment.
https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/how-clean-are-electric-cars/
[14]- Data, G. (2023). The Disadvantages of Technology in Healthcare. Galen Data.
https://galendata.com/disadvantages-of-technology-in-healthcare/