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Prof Jeffrey Sachs at the 6th World Sustainability Forum #WSF2017 Photo credit: @WSF2017 via twitter

We are facing a number of irreversibilities if we do not achieve the SDGs: increasing temperatures and rising sea levels, as well as decreasing biodiversity, so said Professor Jeffrey Sachs during his keynote address at the 6th World Sustainability Forum (WSF) taking place in Cape Town from 27 – 28 January 2017.

Sachs, who is a Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, USA, is also Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

“The things we – the Sustainable Development community – want cannot be solved by greed,” said Sachs, who called on nations to mobilize community-based health workers and invest in community-based health systems. “It is our job to create health systems that reach everyone and to focus on reducing inequalities as a social norm,” he said.

He concluded his talk by calling on universities to play leadership roles as conveners of sustainable development stakeholders and suggested establishing a Cape Town-based Centre of Excellence in SDGs.

Several researchers affiliated to the CoE in Food Security will also be contributing to discussions at the two-day conference which brings together researchers; policymakers, practitioners, the private sector, and civil society actors, to uncover innovative approaches that can contribute to the sustainability discourse. This is the first time that the WSF is held in Africa.