Africa-EU Summit Science Dialogue Events

Materials, Goal 17 and Sustainability:
It can be argued that Materials are the ultimate platform to enable most if not all Sustainable Development Goals – from enablers of pandemic-protecting face masks and life-saving medicine to technologies for clean air and water to developing a new generation of materials to mitigate climate change and promote a zero-waste economy. In addition to materials science and engineering as a discipline, supply chains have proven to be lifelines especially during the pandemic. Valuable materials and minerals such as cobalt, nickel and palladium have also been caught in the crosshairs of conflict in certain parts of the world, sometimes fuelling unrest along with it
In the spirit of SDG Goal 17, “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”, we are organising only the second-ever Science Summit on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York on September 15th 2022. In the spirit of a global partnership, the Materials Day will bring together legislators, scientists, NGOs, industrialists, public sector leaders and regulators to reimagine a post-pandemic sustainable world where materials are at the heart of the sustainable movement. In the run up to this first-of-a-kind conference, the co-convenors of the conference Declan Kirrane and Sumitra Rajagopalan will preview the conference and the panel discussions of relevance and high interest to the African Union. From sustainable alternatives to cobalt and safe urban mining to smart and sustainable habitats to combat heat waves, come and join us for an hour of science, sustainability and our collective future.