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Article

4 Dec 2017

Author:
Hannah Koh, Eco-Business

UNDP to study impact of robotics & AI on sustainable development; businesses too should align themselves with SDGs

"What does a lipstick-wearing robot mean for the SDGs?", 24 Nov 2017

Sophia the robot was unveiled as the UNDP's [UN Development Programme] champion for innovation at the Responsible Business Forum...

...UNDP will spend the next half year examining the impact of technology, robotics and AI on...sustainable development, including developing new solutions to problems in agricultural production, and traffic management in smarter cities...

...PwC [PricewaterhouseCoopers]’s global leader on sustainability [...] said that while achieving the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] is the role of the government, businesses could align themselves with the Goals to accelerate their progress...

He advised businesses to look at the targets underpinning each Goal to find practical ways to take action on the SDGs...

...Mikkel Larsen, managing director and co-chair of DBS Bank’s sustainability council, pointed out that there is a $3 trillion financing gap in Southeast Asia sustainably.

A recent report by DBS and the United Nations Environment Inquiry stated that investment in this area would have to grow tenfold to protect people in ASEAN from climate change and other environmental pressures…

[Larsen said,] “Rather than look at this [type of investing] as a new asset class … it has to take place in existing companies”...[also refers to Hanson Robotics]