Jean-Claude Knebeler took part in the expert discussion at the Gaidar Forum

The International and Comparative Law Research Center Head of Sustainable Development Department Jean-Claude Knebeler took part in the expert discussion “Sustainable Development: a Perfect Vision or a Realistic Projection” at the Gaidar Forum.

“Last year was one of the few years when poverty on the planet increased, the degree of food security decreased, even in mature economies. The epidemic of the coronavirus may be evidence that humanity is subjecting our planet a too strong test,” Jean-Claude Knebeler said.

“During the pandemic, the climate received some respite, as industrial production fell, transportation and air traffic volumes decreased, but this is still not enough to reach the targets set by the Paris Agreement,” the expert explained. He believes that without more attention to developing countries, it will be impossible to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals until 2030.

“We cannot move forward until we have a clear perspective in front of us. Today, there is a need to formulate very clear policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and appropriate indicators that can be measured should be ‘linked’ to them,” Jean-Claude Knebeler insists. In his opinion, the available data is too fragmented, which makes it difficult to assess the effectiveness of activities in this area.

“Good data leads to better policy formulation. The availability of data will allow governments to not only go for the low-hanging fruit but to form a longer-term agenda, necessary to go beyond electoral cycles. In order to achieve the SDGs, governments need to improve policy coherence and institutional consensus, reach out to stakeholders and build trust between government, business, and society,” according to his address.