7 June 2016: Innovation can contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the development of new approaches, tools and partnerships, according to a recent report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Innovation Facility. The report, titled ‘2015 Year in Review: Innovation for 2030,’ showcases 62 initiatives in 45 countries that tested or scaled new approaches and emerging technologies to eradicate poverty, protect the planet, manage climate risk and natural hazards, advance gender equality and prevent conflict.

The report highlights examples of innovations that: harness big data and technology to address e-waste in China; use technology to reduce pollution and ease traffic congestion in Bangladesh; mobilize new sources of engagement and financing, such as generating seed capital to support solar energy, in Burkina Faso; and crowdfund support for social innovation in Croatia. Seventy percent of the initiatives were tested in least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), small island developing States (SIDS) or crisis-affected countries.

Speaking at the report’s launch, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said “we must be calculated risk-takers” in order to contribute to sustainable and equitable development. She called for the UN system to invest in innovation in both programing and in its ways of working, such as by improving its processes, becoming more agile and building new partnerships.

Among lessons learned, the report highlights that social enterprises must leverage new technologies to address development problems and influence key economic actors to achieve transformational change, and that impact investment and crowdfunding can help unlock necessary capital. The report also points to “huge potential to leverage behavioral insights to trigger changes in policy and in individual behavior,” pointing to trials in North America and Europe that encouraged citizens to consume less energy.

UNDP established its Innovation Facility in 2014, with support from the Government of Denmark and has created 13 innovation hubs co-hosted with governments, the private sector or academia, to support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), SDG 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all), and SDG 16 (Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels). [UNDP Press Release] [Publication Website] [Publication: 2015 Year in Review: Innovation for 2030]