Frontier Technologies for Sustainable Development
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E/2018/50/Rev.1 ST/ESA/370 Department of Economic and Social Affairs World Economic and Social Survey 2018 Frontier technologies for sustainable development United Nations New York, 2018 Department of Economic and Social Affairs The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (UN/DESA) is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department’s mission is to promote and support international cooperation in the pursuit of sustainable development for all. Its work is guided by the universal and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with a set of 17 integrated Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. UN/DESA’s work addresses a range of cross- cutting issues that affect peoples’ lives and livelihoods, such as social policy, poverty eradication, employment, social inclusion, inequalities, population, indigenous rights, macroeconomic policy, development finance and cooperation, public sector innovation, forest policy, climate change and sustainable development. To this end, UN/DESA: analyses, generates and compiles a wide range of data and information on development issues; brings together the international community at conferences and summits to address economic and social challenges; supports the formulation of development policies, global standards and norms; supports the implementation of international agreements, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and assists States in meeting their development challenges through a variety of capacity development initiatives. In carrying out its work, UN/DESA engages with a variety of stakeholders around the world—non-governmental organizations, civil society, the private sector, research and academic organizations, philanthropic foundations and intergovernmental organizations—as well as partner organizations in the United Nations system. For more information, visit https://www.un.org/development/desa. United Nations publication Sales No. E.18.II.C.1 Copyright @ United Nations, 2018 All rights reserved E/2018/50/Rev.1 ST/ESA/370 ISBN 978-92-1-109179-3 eISBN 978-92-1-047224-1 iii Acknowledgements The World Economic and Social Survey is the flagship publication on major development issues prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (UN/DESA). Under the general guidance of Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs at UN/DESA, and the management of Pingfan Hong, Director, Economic Analysis and Policy Division (EAPD), the Survey 2018 was produced by a team led by Hamid Rashid, Chief, Development Research Branch in EAPD. Core members of the team included Hoi Wai (Jackie) Cheng, Nicole Hunt, S. Nazrul Islam, Kenneth Iversen, Alex Julca, Hiroshi Kawamura, Marcelo LaFleur, Mariangela Parra- Lancourt and Sérgio Vieira. Critical overall feedback was provided by Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at UN/DESA. Mohamed El Batran, Marilia Bassetti Marcato and Joshua Mask provided substantive support to the production process. Israel Machado and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library facilitated access to reference documents. Administrative support was provided by Gerard F. Reyes. Substantive contributions in the form of background papers were made by Tatiana Falcão, Alexander Haider, Jenna Jambeck, Anselm Kamperman Sanders, Cara LaPointe, Chris Vickers and Nicolas L. Ziebarth. Comments and inputs at various stages were provided by members of the Editorial Board at UN/DESA and colleagues—particularly the focal points—from other Divisions within UN/DESA, the United Nations Department of Management/Office of Information Communication Technology, the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations Development Programme. The following participants at two Expert Group Meetings provided valuable comments: Diana Alarcón, Abdul Alim, Americo Beviglia Zampetti, Matthias Bruckner, Kate Crawford, Ekkehard Ernst, Chiara Farronato, Victor Gaigbe-Togbe, Kevin Gallagher, Lambert Hogenhout, Alfredo Jefferson, Lars Jensen, Maren Andrea Jiménez, Raymond Landveld, Keun Lee, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Manuel Montes, Shantanu Mukherjee, Clara Oberthür, Alberto Padova, Jonathan Perry, Michał Podolski, Aikanysh Saparalieva, Benson Soon Seng Sim, Maurice Stucke, Arun Sundararajan, Deniz Susar, Joop Theunissen, Ryosuke Ujihashi, Lisanne van Wijngaarden, Henry Wei and Fang Zhang. Editorial and design input at the various stages of the publication process were provided by Michael Brodsky, Leah Kennedy, Gabe Scelta, Nancy Settecasi and the Branding and Graphic Design Unit in the Department of Public Information. iv World Economic and Social Survey 2018 Explanatory notes The following symbols have been used in the tables throughout the report: .. Two dots indicate that data are not available or are not separately reported. – A dash indicates that the amount is nil or negligible. - A hyphen indicates that the item is not applicable. − A minus sign indicates deficit or decrease, except as indicated. A full stop is used to indicate decimals. / A slash between years indicates a crop year or financial year, for example, 2017/18. - Use of a hyphen between years, for example, 2017-2018, signifies the full period involved, including the beginning and end years. Reference to “dollars” ($) indicates United States dollars, unless otherwise stated. Reference to “billions” indicates one thousand million. Reference to “tons” indicates metric tons, unless otherwise stated. Annual rates of growth or change, unless otherwise stated, refer to annual compound rates. Details and percentages in tables do not necessarily add to totals, because of rounding. The following abbreviations have been used: AI artificial intelligence LDC least developed country BEPS base erosion and profit shifting LLDC landlocked developing country MOOC massive online open course CO2 carbon dioxide EU European Union NIS national innovation system EV electric vehicle OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the PDP plant-derived pharmaceutical United Nations R&D research and development FDI foreign direct investment RETs renewable energy technologies GDP gross domestic product RTA regional trade agreement GHG greenhouse gas SDG Sustainable Development Goal GPS Global Positioning System SIDS small island developing States GVC global value chain STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematics GWP global warming potential TRIPS Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ICT information and communications technologies UIS Institute for Statistics (UNESCO) IEA International Energy Agency UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development IIA international investment agreement UN/DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United ILO International Labour Organization Nations Secretariat IMF International Monetary Fund UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change WHO World Health Organization IPR intellectual property rights WTO World Trade Organization v The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this present publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authori- ties, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The term “country” as used in the text of this report also refers, as appropriate, to territories or areas. The designations of country groups in the text and the tables are intended solely for statistical or analytical conve- nience and do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process. Mention of the names of firms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. For analytical purposes, unless otherwise specified, the following country groupings and subgroupings have been used: Developed economies (developed market economies): Developing economies: Australia, Canada, European Union, Iceland, Japan, New Africa, Asia and the Pacific (excluding Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States of America. Zealand and the member States of CIS in Asia), Latin America and the Caribbean. Group of Eight (G8): Subgroupings of Africa: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Northern Africa: United States of America. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia. Group of Twenty (G20): Sub-Saharan Africa: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, All other African countries, except Nigeria and South India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Rus- Africa, where indicated. sian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States Subgroupings of Asia and the Pacific: of America, European Union. Western Asia: European Union (EU): Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, State